Volume 19, Issue 7

Cree Hockey News & Notes

Mistissini Senior Hockey & Broomball Tournament The 25th edition of Mistissini’s Senior Hockey & Broomball Tournament took place January 12-15. A total of 18 hockey teams and eight broomball teams participated in the event. After winning their respective pools and semi-final match-ups it was the Wemindji Ice Stars and the Waswanipi Eagles ... read more ››

Educate me

  I never knew how blind I truly was until I saw the Tories were looking at creating a formal Native education system through a First Nations Education Act. I had always assumed one was already in place as the ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development funded First Nations schools ... read more ››

Fact-finding mission

Ever since Goldcorp arrived in the Cree territory to open up the Eleonore Mine Project there have been questions about their dealings in Guatemala. The Marlin goldmine in that country has been an object of controversy from day one and continues to this day. Residents of the Cree community of ... read more ››

Join the force

  The Eeyou Istchee Cree took another step towards professionalizing their police force on January 23 with the start of the AEC Police Technology Program at Collège Ellis in Drummondville. The program is a partnership between the Eeyou Eenou Police Force (EEPF), Collège Ellis and the Cree School Board. Its goal is ... read more ››

Keeping the northern skies safe

Travelling in the north has always been a hazard for all kinds of reasons. The remoteness makes it difficult to have all the latest technologies in place. It is not like life in the south where many safety precautions are in place for the everyday traveller no matter what their ... read more ››

Legally empowered

Hope for the future: that was the theme uniting the many speakers and dignitaries who gathered in Chisasibi to open the community’s new Justice Centre on January 24. Chisasibi is the third community to inaugurate a Justice Centre in the past year, beginning with Mistissini last January, along with Waswanipi and ... read more ››

Looking for employment

It is no secret that the labour market has seen better days. There seem to be fewer and fewer jobs out there and competition is stiff. Whether you are thinking about re-entering the workforce, changing fields or getting your feet wet for the first time, everyone can benefit from a ... read more ››

Love on the run

As February rolls around our attention always turns to the realm of red heart-shaped boxes and declarations of love in the name on Valentine’s Day. While chocolates are a nice gesture and a dozen red roses are the ultimate traditional gift of the season (though very hard to come by in ... read more ››

More graduates needed

In September, Mistissini’s Voyageur Memorial School celebrated a milestone achievement: it saw its first two students – Geraldine Shecapio and Jessica Jolly – graduate since 2006. Both have gone on to study at CEGEP – Jolly in Val-d’Or and Shecapio in Gatineau. The celebration over the achievements of those students, though, ... read more ››

More than a coach

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the standings, but the Cree Nation Bears Midget AA hockey team has had a lot of positives come from the current season, during which they have accumulated a record of 3-23-2. Yes, that record is good enough for last place in the Norbord Midget ... read more ››

NDP leadership debate at Concordia University

On Wednesday, January 25, the NDP held a leadership debate in Montreal at Concordia University’s Oscar Peterson Concert Hall on its Loyola campus. However, a few faces were absent from the debate. Outrement NDP MP Thomas Mulcair and Ontario’s Paul Dewar could not attend because of previous engagements, while Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou ... read more ››

Not quite historic

Prime Minister Stephen Harper billed the Crown-First Nations Gathering as a “historic event”. So did Shawn A-in-Chut Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations. The mainstream media might be forgiven for almost unanimously declaring this meeting to be “historic”. This one meeting would, according to both Atleo and Harper, “reset ... read more ››

Patience for patients

One of the most dreaded things we don’t look forward to in life is a visit to the doctor. The probing and poking, prodding and questioning by a doctor or nurse can be frightening or calming to the nerves. This, of course, depends on what type of personality you have. ... read more ››

Roadblock

On Saturday, January 28, the Mistissini Band Council received a 10-day injunction against the roadblock on Highway 167 North. The roadblock, preventing workers from beginning the construction of an extension of the highway to the Otish Mountains as part of the Charest government’s Plan Nord, had been put up by a ... read more ››

Video contest for Quebec’s English-speaking youth

Are you an English-speaking Quebec high-school student between the ages of 13 and 18? If so, the Quebec Community Groups Network and CBC invites you to create a 2-3 minute video sharing what you feel represents your community, your roots, cultural heritage and identity for the My Quebec Roots Video ... read more ››