Volume 4, Issue 1

Great Shades of the Buffalo Jump

Housing is the focus of a new report prepared for the Grand Council of the Crees. The report looks at the housing backlog and says the future doesn’t look good for Crees. In a mere eight years, James Bay Crees in Quebec will be 1,530 housing units short of actual needs. ... read more ››

Hockey Deal Signed

Just weeks before the start of the hockey season, Crees have reached a compromise deal with the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Midget AA Hockey League and a team is now being put together to represent the Cree Nation. “We said we’d try to get a team together this year and play hockey. We’re there,” ... read more ››

Hydro Herbicides Are Unsafe, Say Experts

Hydro-Quebec is reassuring Crees that herbicides it sprayed along Route 113 aren’t dangerous to people or animals. But experts and environmentalists contacted by The Nation say the herbicide used is highly toxic and flammable, and can kill fish, animals and people if exposed in large enough doses. In smaller doses, it ... read more ››

I Cannot Do This Alone

A scene from the Annual General Assembly in Waswanipi: Matthew Coon Come rose to accept a recognition award from the Waswanipi people. At that moment, the feeling that people have toward him was obvious in the room. The audience broke into the warmest and most sustained applause of the night. That ... read more ››

If at first you don’t succeed, run, run again.

If at first you don’t succeed, run, run again. This was my one of my first thoughts when Damage Control phoned in the results to me. We ran an extremely honest and open campaign and failed to win more than 90 votes, getting three percent of the total. This percentage would have ... read more ››

John Kitchen Re-Elected

John Kitchen was re-elected as Chief of Waswanipi in the Aug. 29 community election. It was a tight race with the second-place contender, Paul Gull, only 35 or so votes behind Kitchen, whose previous administration was marred by a drinking-and-driving charge and controversy over his agreements with Domtar Inc. Full results were ... read more ››

Let’s Rock & Roll!

It is a cold and windy morning when athletes from four Cree communities gather by the shores of Champion Lake to vie for the title of the fittest in the Cree Nation. This is the first event of its kind since the strongman competitions at the “pow wows” in the seventies ... read more ››

Logging Fight Explodes

The fight over logging on Native lands has reached an explosive new high in Northern Ontario. A bridge crossing the Temagami River about 75 km northwest of North Bay was blown up in late August. No one was injured. A Native group, the Ma-Kominsing Anishinawbeg Tribal Group, has claimed responsibility. A fire ... read more ››

O.J. Lands Polaris Franchise

Ouje-Bougoumou has won a fierce bidding competition to take over the lucrative Polaris franchise in Chibougamau. Ever since the previous franchise owner went bankrupt in June, entrepreneurs in Chibougamau have been lining up to take it over. O.J. put together a competitive bid and beat out five other contenders for the franchise. “It ... read more ››

To Vote Or Not To Vote, Who Be The Question?

Duringthe recent election campaigns for the Cree leadership positions, both on a local level and national levels, I noticed something that was raised as an issue by only one candidate. The issue was the lack of time to campaign. This, I believe, is a very serious issue. Without a time period ... read more ››

Waswanipi Band Magazine Slams Coon Come

The Waswanipi band has released the first issue of its new magazine, Waswanipi Post The issue contains articles by the Chief and the band’s lawyer, and a scathing editorial by the magazine’s editor, Romeo Saganash, attacking Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. The piece takes the Grand Chief to task for the way ... read more ››