Volume 16, Issue 12

“I am Indian!”

Challenging the media misrepresentation of Aboriginals, Concordia University student Jobena Petonoquot curated an all Aboriginal art exhibit at the school’s Native Centre for Education. “Basically they take the stereotypical images of our people using feathers and fluff and we don’t really look like that. Yes, we are traditional but because we ... read more ››

Australia signs UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted on September 13, 2007 by United Nations General Assembly and Australia has finally become its 144th signatory. Endorsing the non-binding Declaration on April 3, the only three G8 countries that have yet to sign on to the declaration are ... read more ››

Autoworkers are being set up as road kill

Since the Second World War, to be a unionized autoworker in Canada was to belong to the labouring elite. High wages, job security, great benefits and a generous pension were guaranteed those, mostly in Ontario, who were lucky enough to get a permanent job with one of the big three ... read more ››

Community Centre Wins Awards

Mistissini’s innovative new community centre has become the talk of international engineering circles. Taking into account all of the energy-saving measures that went into the building design, the project has been awarded three prestigious awards. The building was designed by Dessau, a leading firm in engineering-construction and the second largest of ... read more ››

Cree Opera to tour Northern Ontario

The world’s first Cree opera, Tomson Highway’s Pimooteewin: The Journey, is set to hit the road for northern Ontario with more than 35 dancers, singers and musicians. The show debuted last February in Toronto and will be making its way to towns like Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Moosonee and Moose ... read more ››

Eelgrass Once More

Though it’s been a long time coming, the declining eelgrass growth in James Bay is finally being discussed once more in the House of Commons. In March 2008, Crees from Chisasibi, along with their Chief Roderick Pachano, spoke in the House about the dramatic decline of eelgrass growth within James Bay ... read more ››

Freedom In The News

I never had a big view of the world when I was young. As a Native person from an isolated community on the James Bay coast, I never really thought much about the outside world. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have a lot of access to mainstream television, radio or ... read more ››

Kick Out the Drug Dealers

In this letter, I will talk about what the drug dealers are doing to our children and especially to our people! Everyone knows what’s happening in our own backyards that drugs are escalating in our Cree communities! I know, because I am a recovering drug addict. I am getting tired of ... read more ››

Moving Forward with Cree Native Arts and Crafts

Born out of necessity and refined over time, the arts and crafts of the Crees have played a significant role in the survival of the people throughout their history. What kind of a role they might play in the future is a whole other story that depends on what happens ... read more ››

Nunavut Man Jumps from Charter Plane

Julian Tologanak, a 20 year old man from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, jumped from a charter plane that was flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut on April 16, according to the Globe and Mail. Apparently the unidentified plane passenger had become “unruly”, according to the pilot, and was causing unspecified problems ... read more ››

Patricia Menarick’s medal

It’s been a great year for, Patricia Menarick, a Cree student at Canadore College. She was one of 99 Aboriginal graduates and received one of the Ontario college’s most prestigious awards. Menarick was nominated by her professors of the Social Services Worker program and was the chosen candidate for the ... read more ››

Quebec’s 12-step solution

It’s been nearly a decade since Ouje-Bougoumou has been faced with evidence that mining residue in its territory poses a toxic risk to food animals and human health. As the Nation details this issue, the community’s frustration with inaction by the Quebec government is growing. It’s almost as if Quebec ... read more ››

Residential School Survivors to meet Pope

A delegation of residential school survivors led by Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine will travel to the Vatican on April 29 for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. Fontaine hopes the Vatican will formally apologize to the survivors for the abuse that Aboriginal children suffered in the residential schools. ... read more ››

Sockumentaries

Once in a while, a documentary comes along and just blows you away with its in-depth research, incredible scenic shots, and something that just hits you right in the jaw with its truths of life. I think that those types of documentaries should be renamed for their sock-it-to-you style and ... read more ››

Still waiting for action

Nine years after American geologist Chris Covel first raised serious concerns over mining contamination in Ouje-Bougoumou’s territory, a newly released government study is raising more questions than it answers among the community’s members. The Screening Level Environmental Risk Assessment, or SLERA, was commissioned by the Quebec government following negotiations between the ... read more ››

Taking a Page from the Crees

Though the Crees as a whole may not feel like celebrities on a day-to-day basis, they are world famous for the development of the world’s first modern treaty, the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. This is why when other Indigenous groups have been faced with the outside world looking to ... read more ››

The Government Won’t Budge

Having declared a state of emergency with a desire to evacuate on March 28, the community of Attawapiskat is still living amid contamination from diesel fumes and Indian Affairs is thwarting their every attempt to leave. In mid-March, Indian and Northern Affairs decided to go ahead and tear down the old ... read more ››

Unifying the Union

It’s one thing to be unionized but when the union organization that you belong to boasts over 300,000 members, it can be difficult to know just where you and your fellow workers stand within it. That’s why a delegation from the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) recently traveled north to ... read more ››