ARTICLES BY Amy German

Cree art celebrated

While his paintings have become quite coveted by their lucky owners throughout the Cree nation, never before has Tim Whiskeychan been bestowed with the honour of having one blown up large scale and reproduced on tiles for a mural at a school. A few months ago Whiskeychan entered a contest in ... read more ››

United by light and sorrow

Five years ago Bridget Tolley walked into the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) because her mother had been struck and killed by a Sûreté du Québec vehicle as she walked home along the highway through her community. Tolley felt she had lost her mother, Gladys, at the hands of ... read more ››

Eulogizing Billy Diamond

Blazing the trail as the first major Cree leader in the modern world, Billy Diamond’s capacity for leadership is responsible for so much of the life Crees know and enjoy today. In this respect, it is no surprise that some of the greatest speakers in Cree society leaped at the opportunity ... read more ››

Losing a legend

Born in a tent on May 17, 1949 near what once was Rupert House, former Grand Chief, Chief of Waskaganish, Quebec negotiator for the Grand Council of the Crees, businessman, father and grandfather, Billy Diamond was the first leader of the Crees in the modern world. He sadly passed away ... read more ››

Aboriginal awareness

The Cree Indian Centre in Chibougamau (CICC) opened its doors on September 25 to Natives and non-Natives to promote Aboriginal awareness. The annual Journées de la Culture takes place throughout Quebec from Sept. 24-26. The activities at the CICC included guided tours around the centre’s museum as well as a ... read more ››

More fish contaminated

According to new information that the Public Health Department of Cree Health Board and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) received from Hydro-Québec, there has been a significant rise in mercury in some fish found in the Eastmain-1 and Opinaca reservoirs. “The mercury has increased in all of the fish but ... read more ››

Defining social wellness

How Crees define social wellness is going to be a topic of discussion for many months to come in the Cree nation, starting this November. Mandy Gull, a programming and research officer for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB), said essentially they are looking to ... read more ››

Let’s hear it for the girls

Attracting women from all 10 Cree communities as well as Senneterre, Chibougamau, Ottawa and Montreal, the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association (CWEIA) congregated in numbers for their third annual general meeting (AGM) and first-ever gala September 18-19 in Val-d’Or. While there have been many incarnations of the CWEIA over the ... read more ››

Governance group

Established in 2008, the Cree Nation Governance Working Group (CNGWG) has been hard at work over the last two years to create a framework that will soon see the creation of a Cree constitution and the eventual expansion of the Cree government. Appointed as the Chair in 2009 by then Grand ... read more ››

Missing money for the murdered and missing

Last March the Conservative government proudly announced that it had earmarked a whopping $10 million to address Canada’s crisis of over 580 unaccounted missing and murdered Aboriginal women. The announcement came amidst international criticism aimed at Canada because not only are there over 580 missing and murdered Aboriginal women that had ... read more ››

How sweet it is!

Not only is the Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro Ottawa’s first and only Native restaurant, it is also a celebration of Aboriginal culture and a visceral catwalk of food made from regional ingredients. In the heat of mid-summer, editor-in-chief Will Nicholls and I headed to Ottawa to enjoy a wedding gift that we ... read more ››

Getting to Know You

Earlier this summer Richard Shecapio was voted in as Mistissini’s new leader. A family man, Shecapio has been married to Jeanette for 12 years and has two daughters, aged five and nine. Shecapio has a lengthy career working for the local and regional administration, having spent 10 years at the Mistissini ... read more ››

Teeing off for achievement

Chatter in Cree and robust laughter could be heard all the way throughout Mont Tremblant’s resort village and its golf courses on Labour Day weekend as almost 400 Crees and their business partners congregated for a good cause. The first-ever Cree Nation Achievement Awards Foundation (CNAAF) fundraiser was the draw for ... read more ››

Montreal Inuit hostel project cancelled

Nunavik’s Regional Board of Health and Social Services has pulled out of plans to convert Montreal’s defunct Chinese Hospital on Montreal’s St-Denis street into a hostel and cultural center for those receiving medical care in the city. The Health Board President, Alacie Arngak released a statement on September 9 saying they ... read more ››

Offering a northern perspective

While it might not give him rock-star status (which he kind of already has), former Grand Chief Matthew Mukash is feeling “excited” about being reappointed to the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board (NAEDB) because of what he can offer to Canada’s Aboriginal people. The NAEDB serves a unique function as the ... read more ››

A new Cop Shop

Mattagami First Nation celebrated the grand opening of a new Nishnawbe-Aski Police Services (NAPS) detachment building in its community August 19. NAPS detachment buildings in the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN) in recent years have been developed as prefabricated buildings that are imported into the First Nations. This time through lobbying and cooperative ... read more ››

Students also affected by housing crisis

According to Émélie Rivard-Boudreau, a student-aid worker for First Nations students at the Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Val-d’Or’s current housing crisis might hinder some Cree students from setting foot in a classroom this fall. “The housing crisis is not exclusive to the First Nations or Cree students here, it is a big ... read more ››

Waiting for a corpse

For the past two years, Val-d’Or has used an emergency shelter, Le Dotoir, to provide temporary beds for intoxicated individuals from the onset of winter until late June. However, a provincial funding cut announced in late August means Le Dotoir will not reopen this winter. Provincial agencies and support groups ... read more ››

Splitting language down the middle

After examining programs in other schools that teach Grade One students half the time in English and the other half in French, Chisasibi school principal Françoise Baril wondered if the same could be done with a Cree/second-language program. Baril said she was approached by the Chisasibi parents to see if there ... read more ››

Back in the saddle again

It may have been five years since Abraham Rupert held the position of Chief in his home community of Chisasibi but that doesn’t mean that the recently reelected leader isn’t feeling confident about taking on the position. For that matter Rupert feels all the more confident as he was voted ... read more ››

Protecting spirituality

Roger Orr, Nemaska’s National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) worker, said he is feeling victorious as a resolution was passed at the recent Annual General Assembly of the Crees to finally protect Cree traditional spiritual practices when it comes to substance-abuse recovery. Orr said the suggestion for the resolution ... read more ››

A former Chief runs again

Paul Gull is back. After a period during which the former Waswanipi chief (1998-2002) and one-time Deputy Grand Chief (2002-2005) withdrew from active politics to care for his ailing wife and then to mourn her passing, Gull says he is ready to serve again. The political veteran left last summer’s ... read more ››

Hear them roar

The modern Cree women’s movement is gathering steam, with all Cree communities now to be represented at the upcoming Annual General Assembly of the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association (CWEIA) in Val d’Or September 18-19. A major focus of this important new Cree political force is resolutely on the health, ... read more ››

A quarter century of youth politics

At an age when most young people, if not all, have taken on the respect, responsibilities and privileges of adulthood, the Cree Youth Grand Council (CYGC) is likewise celebrating its growing influence in Cree politics. This year marked the organization’s 25th anniversary. It’s one reason why current Cree Youth Chief Stacy ... read more ››

Seismic Battle

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association won a court injunction August 8 that put a temporary halt to government-imposed seismic testing in Lancaster Sound, located near the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) represents the communities of Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Clyde River and Pond Inlet. It ... read more ››

Canada's stealth democracy

The federal Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) has arranged the election of its chosen candidates for Chief and Band Council of the embattled Algonquin community of Barriere Lake by employing a range of tactics that critics there charge have blatantly disenfranchised them. Ministry officials selectively and unilaterally applied parts ... read more ››