ARTICLES BY Amy German

Heading in a New Direction

As a new year is often a traditional time to blaze a new trail in one’s life, and choosing a course of study is a great way to start. Whether you are looking to take a quick career course to get back out on the job market in a new trade ... read more ››

A life-changing adventure

Joshua Iserhoff had to go all the way to South Africa to find out that he is actually Superman, in the eyes of a few poor black children, at least. Iserhoff, the Grand Council’s Cree Youth Ambassador, was visiting the country in early December for an international education conference when he ... read more ››

Not just a 'Screaming Indian on a Horse'

He has played good guys and bad guys, a famous Cree explorer and a modern-day veterinarian among many other roles but Plains Cree actor Nathaniel Arcand wants the world to know that he can do so much more. Having recently relocated to Vancouver in the hopes of getting more varied roles ... read more ››

Dollars and sense

As Chief of BC’s Osoyoos First Nation, Clarence Louie may be running one of the most successful Native governments in North America, but he still thinks there is room for improvement in his community. The modesty is charming, but it was also contradicted by a prestigious honour he recently received. Louie ... read more ››

Cree Youth going global

While the project is still waiting for government approval, the Cree Nation Youth Council has teamed up with Canada World Youth in a project to give Cree youth an experience of a lifetime volunteering with the Indigenous people of Peru. Since 1971, Canada World Youth (CWY) has sent Canadian youth to ... read more ››

The animals and the plants

Kevin Brousseau’s newest book, Trilingual Lexicon of the Fauna and Flora of Iynu Asciy, is truly one of a kind and possibly one you should own. At the age of 18, several years before he started his double major in Linguistics and Religion at Concordia University, Brousseau began compiling lists of ... read more ››

An independent assessment

While the federal government may have started to pay out common experience payments to residential school survivors in 2007, the end grows near for those who may still want to file for the Independent Assessment Process (IAP). Members of the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada ... read more ››

Youth environmental scholarships

If you are graduating from high school and have a real passion for the environment and have taken steps to show the world just how much you care, Earth Day Canada might just have something special for you. Earth Day Canada (EDC) is currently seeking graduating high school students as applicants ... read more ››

Mukash on spirituality

Since this fall, Oujé-Bougoumou has been in an uproar over spirituality, recently banning all forms of Native traditional practices within their communty. Having expressed a desire to share his feelings with all of Eeyou Istchee, the Nation decided to grant Matthew Mukash an interview on the issue. The Nation: Oujé-Bougoumou has banned ... read more ››

Be-“witched”, bothered and bewildered

The parents of Lana Wapachee, whose sweat lodge was recently dismantled in Oujé-Bougoumou, feel both insulted and persecuted by their community, chief and council after having the lodge, along with any other form of traditional spirituality, banned from the community. Just weeks ago, Oujé-Bougoumou residents not only banned all traditional Native ... read more ››

Standing up to Section 74

About 100 Algonquins from Barriere Lake and many of their supporters took to the streets of Ottawa on December 13 to once again show to Canada that they will not accept Section 74 of the Indian Act being imposed on their community. Back in the spring, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada ... read more ››

Banning spirituality

Oujé-Bougoumou’s Redfern Mianscum just days ago witnessed his community tear down a sweat lodge he built with his bare hands earlier this fall. The community did so under a new bylaw that was passed in late October banning all traditional spiritual practices within reserve limits after a petition was passed ... read more ››

Recognizing the future

The purpose of the evening was to acknowledge those who had left their communities and moved to Montreal to pursue higher learning. Deputy Grand Chief Ashley Iserhoff and CREECO’s communications officer Jonathan Saganash rounded up Montreal’s top-performing Cree students for a night of fine Japanese cuisine at Toyo, not only to ... read more ››

No Cree stamp of approval

While the verdict might be in from the Cree of Mistissini to reject Strateco Resources’ bid to build a uranium exploration ramp deep down into the Otish Mountains, just a few kilometres down the road the town of Chibougamau is singing a different tune. On November 23, the final in a ... read more ››

Talking about suicide from all directions

For eight years now the Dialogue for Life Network has been bringing together First Nations from Quebec, Labrador and around the world to discuss suicide, its implications on First Nations communities and how better to help those affected by it. Comprised of a three-day pre-conference for professionals, such as frontline workers, ... read more ››

Hurry down the chimney tonight!

As the snow begins to settle in for the season and the days grow shorter, Christmas is finally in the air and if you haven’t already started, the time to start checking those lists to see who’s been naughty or nice. Already the malls are packed with frantic shoppers looking to ... read more ››

The road to safer homes and stronger communities

The subject of domestic violence was addressed in Chisasibi from November 16-18 at the Family Violence Symposium with the hopes that in years to come, policies and programs will exist to curb violence in the Cree communities. For some it seems violence has become a way of life in the Cree ... read more ››

No longer a hold-out

On November 12, the Canadian government finally signed the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights. Canada was one of the four countries to vote against granting these rights to its Aboriginal Peoples three years ago. This after the previous federal governments spent years supporting and encouraging Aboriginal Peoples around the ... read more ››

Working the Network

The Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network has just been officially launched to ensure that the 18,000 Aboriginals in the Greater Montreal Area get their needs met and are properly consulted when it comes to addressing their needs. While anyone moving to an urban setting like Montreal experiences some difficulty adjusting ... read more ››

Final countdown

As each side of the debate over whether the Cree should allow an uranium exploration project on Cree territory gears up to present its position at the November 23-25 consultations on the Matoush Project, concerned parties are lining up to have their say on the matter. This will be the second ... read more ››

One step forward, two steps back

Since the end of June, homeless individuals with substance-abuse issues have been without a place to lay their heads at night after the temporary facility that the city of Val-d’Or provided for them closed its doors. There is now hope that these already marginalized and mainly Aboriginal individuals may get ... read more ››

Shannen’s dream for education

In the wake of Attawapiskat youth leader Shannen Koostachin’s death in May, a new organization is being launched to carry on Koostachin’s dream for all First Nations youth in Canada to have access a proper education on par with the rest of the country. Though only 15 at the time of ... read more ››

Walking for everyone’s wellness

Quebec’s first Aboriginal surgeon and first Aboriginal to be head of the Quebec Medical Association is embarking on the most ambitious journey of his life: to walk on foot to almost every Quebec First Nation while spreading a special message for youth and accumulating valuable traditional knowledge. Spanning a period of ... read more ››

Positive reinforcement

Hearing about the fact that Eeyou Istchee has an exploding Type 2 diabetes problem, that more cases are always on the rise and that there is a myriad of health complications that result from it are an everyday reality in the Cree communities. How could it not be when just about ... read more ››

Let’s hear it for the maestro

Mohawk musician, composer, conductor, producer, social activist and energy executive John Kim Bell has been honoured in the past for his accomplishments in individual fields but he has never been recognized for his entire body of work. However, that will change this year as he will be getting a lifetime ... read more ››

Unifying against police violence

Since she began crusading for a public inquiry into the death of her mother, Gladys Tolley, who died after being struck by a Sûreté du Québec vehicle while walking home through her home community of Kitigan Zibi in 2001, Bridget Tolley has gone to just about every legal means to ... read more ››