ARTICLES BY Amy German

Justice gains ground at Barriere Lake

Though the holiday season might have been a dark time for the Algonquin community of Barriere Lake, the community finally has something to celebrate: the right to choose their own leadership. On January 6, Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn struck down a ruling to judicially review Indian and Northern Affairs Minister ... read more ››

The Plan du Nord: possibilities and pitfalls

Like his Liberal predecessor, Robert Bourassa, Charest clearly hoped to use a vision of northern riches to his political advantage in the election only he knew he would call later that fall. Thus, very little was said until the election was called a month and a half later. On November 15 ... read more ››

More Honors for Makivik President

It isn’t just that he was already one of Reader’s Digest’s 2007 Heroes of the Year or that he has been a prominent leader for Nunavik for over a decade, Makavik Corporation president, Pita Aatami has just been elected as a member of the College of Fellows of the Arctic ... read more ››

The Economic State of the Cree Nation

But, that does not necessarily mean that it has been an entirely bad year for the Crees, according to Jack Blacksmith, president and director of Cree Regional Economic Enterprises Company (CREECO). According to Blacksmith, the majority of the Cree entities are going strong with the exception of one, Cree Construction. “The construction ... read more ››

No backing down

On November 19, the residents of Barriere Lake blockaded Highway 117 for the second time in less than two months, only to be met, once again, by brutal force at the hands of the Sûreté du Québec. At the end of the day, over 40 of the 120 protestors were arrested, ... read more ››

Getting Proper Care for Childcare Workers

That brought AENQ together with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance du Québec (FIPEQ). Their aim is to get the Cree childcare centres finally unionized. With that, the AENQ-CSQ has just filed its fifth application for certification of the Waseskun Childcare ... read more ››

Uranium and Contamination

While Strateco’s PR machine for the Matoush project is telling the Crees that the benefits from the uranium exploration project and eventual mine have boundless benefits and is practically imprintless, not everyone is on board with their ideology. While just weeks ago, Strateco’s CEO and President Guy Hébert told the Nation ... read more ››

State of the Cree Nation Address

Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come was the first Grand Chief to deliver a State of the Cree Nation Address in the Nation. He was candid then and continues to be. He talks about the economy, education, the future and what’s needed as well as clearly defining the Cree leadership’s position ... read more ››

Eeyou Power Expands Its Influence

Eeyou Power, the Cree Nation’s recently formed energy company, will continue to move forward after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on December 17 with Canadian engineering firm, Genivar. Shortly before the Val-d’Or signing event, Eeyou Power board member Jack Blacksmith discussed the details behind the deal. According to Blacksmith, the MOU ... read more ››

Attawapiskat Wins!

The Ontario Cree community of Attawapiskat is overjoyed in what can be described as a holiday miracle. After almost a decade of lobbying, the community finally has a concrete promise for a new school. On Wednesday, December 9, the fly-in only community was finally told by Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl ... read more ››

Lighting the way for those not here

Though the main event occurred earlier during the day in Ottawa, as night fell on October 4, thousands of candles were lit across the country at various Sisters in Spirit vigils to remember the lost souls of Canada’s missing and/or murdered women. Sisters in Spirit, a division of the Native ... read more ››

Developing Economic Development

Since 1990, Canada’s Aboriginal economic developers have been meeting almost annually to swap strategies on how best to develop economic growth in their communities, support and advise their communities and organizations. Eighteen years later, Quebec had the opportunity once again to play host province for the 15th annual conference ... read more ››

The George River is saved

Forestry, mining and hydroelectric developments will be now prohibited in a new 9,200-km2 protected zone between the George River Valley and the Monts Pyramides mountains. Monts Pyramides itself will become a park. The announcement was made by Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Environment Minister Line Beauchamp in a press ... read more ››

Asking for government respect

Feeling as though they had no other recourse, at around 6am on October 6, community members from the Barriere Lake reserve blockaded Highway 117 in a last-ditch effort to get their message heard to implement an already-signed trilateral agreement. The agreement, a 1991 deal between the federal and provincial ... read more ››

More Moving Woes

While it’s hard to find an employee at the Public Health Department of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay who actually disagrees with the board’s move in theory, very few of them have anything positive to say about how the board went about the move. ... read more ››

Islands and Youth

Both youth and land and their respective futures were on the table for discussion at Council Board meetings where local chiefs, Cree governance, members of various boards and other concerned individuals came together September 23 and 24 at Montreal’s Delta Hotel to contemplate what to do. September 23 was ... read more ››

A Blade Story

The crooked knife, also known as the drawknife or muuhkutaakan in Cree, was revolutionized by the European introduction of iron. However, prior to that its origins reach as far back as the Stone Age. According to author Russell Jalbert, who – along with his son Ned – wrote Mocotaugan: ... read more ››

Where’s the money?

After a 2005 flood in Kashechewan resulted in a complete evacuation of the reserve and severe damages to many of the residences, amidst public pressure, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada began to roll out the bucks to rebuild 60 homes. As Kashechewan itself was unable to administer the large-scale ... read more ››

Move over Indian Act

On Saturday, September 13, people came from all over Quebec, Ontario, Hawaii, Ecuador, Chile and the States to walk alongside Montrealers as hundreds took to the streets in protest of the Canadian government’s refusal to adopt the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. At 2pm the crowds ... read more ››

The Prongs of Fighting Oppression

Having served 103 days in jail for defying a court order for staging protests at a potential uranium mining site near Sharbot Lake, Ontario, college professor and retired Ardoch Algonquin Chief Robert Lovelace has no regrets about serving time but questions what his sentence has done for freedom of speech. ... read more ››

Phelps of the North

Returning to Quebec with five new medals from the 2008 North American Indigenous Games in Cowichan, B.C., swimmer Gabriel Rabbitskin is proud of his wins for Mistissini and hopes there are many more to come. Despite winning four gold medals at this year’s NAIG, Rabbitskin’s silver win was the one he ... read more ››

The Worth of a Modern Treaty

The Institute for Research on Public Policy has just released a study, “Aboriginal Quality of Life under a Modern Treaty: Lessons from the Experience of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee and the Inuit of Nunavik”, suggesting that though life may have improved dramatically over the last 30 years for ... read more ››