Volume 20, Issue 20

Annual Wabun Youth Gathering provides participants life skills to survive

The seventh annual Wabun Youth Gathering held at the Eco Centre Lodge in Elk Lake, Ontario, featured workshops dealing with the critical issues such as suicide prevention, family violence and bullying. Role-playing and skits based on traditional and cultural teachings were utilized to educate participants. Eighty Wabun youth attended ... read more ››

Election talk: Grand Council winners and also-rans discuss the campaign

Hotly contested run-off elections July 26 for the top two spots on the Grand Council of the Crees resulted in the re-election of Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come and a victory for former Wemindji Chief Rodney Mark in his bid to become the new Deputy Grand Chief. The Nation spoke with ... read more ››

Escape from the News

One of the ways I keep in touch with what’s happening in the world is by surfing news programs and other shows among the hundred or so channels on my television satellite system. I happen to like the old-fashioned movies because they make me laugh about how tough their times ... read more ››

How will the apology be honoured?

A number of shocking stories describing the barbaric abuse of Aboriginal people in Canada in the not-too-distant past have surfaced in recent weeks, again exposing the bluntly white-supremacist values that prevailed when today’s Elders were young. Old wounds among survivors and descendants of survivors are being painfully reopened. Photograph of a ... read more ››

Investing in our future

If First Nations across this country are going to change for the better, it will be as a result of the efforts of our young people. They will become our leaders, our teachers, our bureaucrats, our medical people and our community builders. The attention, opportunities and education and training that ... read more ››

Mistissini hosts its first traditional powwow

The first Mistissini powwow was a huge hit with locals and hordes of visitors who attended the two-day event July 19-20. For an inaugural powwow, the Mistissini Niimuuhiikaan came off smoothly despite difficult weather conditions, with close to 100 dancers and eight drum groups giving it all they had during the ... read more ››

Mohawks and Mi’gmaq team up for education

The Mohawk community of Kahnawake and the Mi’gmaq community of Listuguj are embarking on a historic partnership by launching the First Nations Regional Adult Education Centre (FNRAEC), Quebec’s first English-language adult education centre geared toward Aboriginal students. Opening in September, the FNRAEC will offer quality education while paying tribute to First ... read more ››

Police attack goes viral

A screengrab from a video allegedly showing Norbert Mestenapeo being beaten by SQ officers A YouTube video posted in July appears to expose a case of police brutality against an Innu man in eastern Quebec. The victim in the video, 24-year-old Norman Mestenapeo of Unamen Shipu (La Romaine), claims to have ... read more ››

The first annual Cree Women golf benefit hits a hole in one

It was a golf tournament, a gala event, a Crystal Shawanda concert and a special night to honour a young Cree girl. The Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association (CWEIA) hosted its first charity golf tournament in Val-d’Or July 18 at the Belvedere Golf Club to launch a new charity cause ... read more ››

The First Peoples’ Festival keeps growing in its 23rd year

This year’s Montreal First Peoples’ Festival got off to a roaring start July 30 before a packed auditorium at the Grande Bibliothèque for the world premiere of Paroles Amérikoises by Pierre Bastien. For the third consecutive year, the week-long festival hosted live concerts and cultural events at downtown Montreal’s Place ... read more ››

Wemindji teacher Theresa Kakabat Georgekish keeps Cree culture alive

As told to Eleanor Cowan Valuing the Cree language means pondering each syllabic and understanding that at some point in time, one of my ancestors fashioned it to express not only a noun, but also to tell what that person, place, animal or thing was doing at that moment in history. Theresa ... read more ››