Volume 19, Issue 18

Breaking ground for new school

  After years of wrangling and broken promises, residents of Attawapiskat gathered in glee on June 22 to watch the groundbreaking for their long overdue school. Dozens of residents stood, cheering or weeping, thank you signs dotting the crowd. The biggest honoree, mentioned in all speeches, was Shannen Koostachin, the student who, ... read more ››

Children Needing Homes

A long-term foster home is being sought for siblings Nancy, four years old, and her infant brother Seth. Nancy is very active, imaginative and loves to play. She can be quite affectionate, eager to please and loves to be around people. She is in good health and has a good ... read more ››

Fighting for a fair share

Atikamekw First Nations in Quebec are increasingly angry over rampant resource exploitation of their traditional lands by outside companies that always appear to have the provincial government in their corner. The Atikamekw Nation launched a campaign June 26 to gain full recognition as a distinct nation with rights to the ancestral ... read more ››

Friendship centres “un-friended”

  In March, the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal (NFCM) made national headlines as its doors were about to close because the centre had lost its core funding and membership through the Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec (RCAAQ), the provincial branch under Canada’s Aboriginal Friendship Centre Program. Four months, later ... read more ››

Gearing up for a battle

“We’re going into a strong battle,” said Ugo Lapointe of le Coalition Pour que le Québec ait meilleure mine! (a.k.a. Québec meillure mine), about the recent decision by Mistissini’s Chief and Council to oppose the request by Strateco Resources’ request for advanced uranium exploration on the traditional lands of Mistissini ... read more ››

Goldcorp’s Éléonore project receives award for safety

On June 17, a team representing Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project attended a ceremony in Ottawa where the mine was presented with the F.J. O’Connell Trophy for 2011 for its safety record. The Éléonore project received the award under the category of “Underground operations with more than 400,000 hours”. Since 2009, Goldcorp’s policies ... read more ››

Graduation at Northern College opens new opportunities

Students at Northern College in Moosonee, Ontario, celebrated their graduation from the Academic and Career Entrance (ACE), Personal Support Worker, and Social Service Worker programs. The ACE program is the school’s high school equivalency degree, which allows students who lack a high-school diploma to earn eligibility for many college and university ... read more ››

Hut one, hut two

Six-a-side football is returning to Eeyou Istchee with the start of the inaugural season of the James Bay Abitibi Football League (JBAFL). The brainchild of James Bay Eagles coach Trevor Allen Monaghan, the JBAFL will be comprised of 20 teams spanning six divisions. The founding of the JBAFL and growth ... read more ››

I believe

  Global Television and Postmedia News had Ipsos Reid look at how the average Canadian views the relationship between the Canadian government and Aboriginal Peoples. It is no surprise the poll said that most Canadians believe Aboriginal Peoples are well treated. They even believe Aboriginal Peoples receive too much from the ... read more ››

Keep the linguistic balance

Parents and teachers at Mistissini’s Voyageur Memorial stood firm against a part of the new Cree School Board (CSB) plan that would have eliminated the school’s highly successful English reading program and potentially jeopardized high school students’ chances of graduating. The new plan, part of the CSB’s Cree Local School Improvement ... read more ››

Launch day

  A special ceremony to inaugurate the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert Diversion project was held at the powerhouse on June 28. Many high-profile guests attended, including Premier Jean Charest and cabinet ministers Pierre Corbeil, Geoffrey Kelley and Clément Gignac, as well as Hydro-Québec president Thierry Vandal and the mayors of Chibougamau, Chapais and ... read more ››

Montreal’s Native Women’s Shelter holds its annual meeting

On June 20, the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal held its Annual General Meeting and Public Information Session at the Maritime Plaza Hotel in Montreal. The meeting kicked off with performances by the Buffalo Hat Singers and traditional hoop dancers who entertained the audience of 20. Besides the performances, the budget was ... read more ››

Still here

  “The Indian as he has hitherto been is on the point of passing away,” states US President Theodore Roosevelt on Oct. 1, 1906. “It would be a veritable calamity if a vivid and truthful record of these conditions were not kept.” Those words appear in the foreword in The North American ... read more ››

Straight from the top

  No other issue has reignited the Cree spirit to fight for the rights of the land than the debate over whether uranium exploration should be allowed on Cree territory near Mistissini in the last 20 years. It was in fact 20 years ago when a dedicated bunch of Crees led by ... read more ››

Summer programming cut

It was not ideal timing. Just as schools let out for summer, the federal government decided to freeze funding for the Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth (CCAY) program at all friendship centres across Canada. According to Jeffrey Cyr, Executive Director of the National Association of Friendship Centres in Ottawa, the CCAY ... read more ››

Surviving a forest fire

  It is summer. We are all enjoying those lovely, long, warm summer days. The sun is up early and falls in the sky late at night. Summer birds are back, the chorus of peeping frogs is constant, insects buzz and bite and the fragrance of all kinds of flowers, weeds ... read more ››

The gambling man

  One of my first exposures to gambling involved a lot of risk and small stakes (little wooden stakes were inserted into the ground). A coin toss would ensue and the art of coin throwing was a simple yet elegant precision casting and being sure-footed helped a lot. The object was ... read more ››

ᑳ ᐙᐹᐦᐆᑯᓈᓂᐎᒡ

ᓯᐱᔨᐤ ᐋ ᒌ ᑎᐹᒋᒧᑦ, ᒋᓵᓰᐲ ᐱᕌᔨᓐ ᐌᑉ ᑳ ᒥᓯᓂᐦᐊᐦᒃ ᑭᔮ ᑳ ᐃᑣᔥᑎᒫᑎᐦᒃ ᐹᔨᒀᐤ ᓅᐦᑖᐐ ᒌ ᐐᒋᐦᐄᐙᐤ ᐋ ᐙᐹᐦᐆᑯᓈᓂᐎᔨᒡ᙮ ᐋᐅᒄ ᑳ ᒫᒥᔅᑳᑖᔨᐦᑎᒫᓐ ᐊᓐ, ᐊᓐ ᑎᐹᒋᒧᐎᓐ ᐊᓂᔮ ᑳ ᐃᐦᑎᒡ ᐊᓂᔮ᙮ ᔖᔥ-ᐋ? ᐋᐅᒄ ᒑ ᑎᐹᒋᒧᔮᓐ᙮ ᐊᓂᑖ ᐋ ᐃᐦᑖᔮᐦᒡ ᐊᓂᑖ ᒫᓂᐦᐄᑯᔅᑳᑭᒦᐦᒡ᙮ ᑳᑭᔮ ᒑᒃ ᐊᓂᑖ ᐋ ᐃᔅᐱᔨᒡ ᐊᔨᔥᒌᒫᐅᐤᐦ ᐋ ᐃᐦᑖᔨᒡᐦ᙮ ᐙᑎᐦᑖᒡ ᐊᓂᔮᐦ ᐊᔨᔥᒌᒫᐤᐦ᙮ ᑳ ᐙᐱᑯᐦᐅᔑᑦ ᑳ ᐃᑖᑭᓂᐎᑦ, ᐋᔪᐎᒄ ... read more ››