ARTICLES BY Amy German

Grabbing a Bite

To ensure that elementary school students in Chisasibi have the fuel to power their minds in the classroom, Chisasibi’s Chajishapa Niguuitshtaan (morning bite) program will be heading into its second year. The idea behind the program is to give all children who haven’t eaten or that haven’t eaten enough that morning ... read more ››

A Healthy Future

The Crees and Quebec have signed a funding framework Agreement that will see the Crees of Eeyou Istchee begin important upgrade to the quality of their health care services. The funding in this new agreement will support the operations of the CBHSSJB, capital investments in buildings, equipment and information systems from ... read more ››

Historic redress

Cree drummers gathered in a circle to pound out a traditional beat in Quebec’s National Assembly July 24 to mark the historic signing of the Agreement on Governance in Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees and the Province of Quebec. Members of the Grand Council of the Crees, including ... read more ››

Are you label savvy?

A big part of being healthy is based on eating healthy. But in order to really eat healthy we need to understand what is in the food we eat so that we can make the right decisions when we fill the grocery cart. This may be easier said than done when ... read more ››

Cree traditional medicine travels well

Having experienced the power of Cree traditional healing first hand, Chisasibi’s Larry House was thrilled to share the positive impact of these practices this past June at the International Indigenous Development Research Conference in Auckland, New Zealand. House appeared at the June 27-30 conference on behalf of the Cree Board of ... read more ››

Echoes of a Proud Nation’s many colours

The 22nd edition of the Echoes of a Proud Nation Powwow went off, as usual, without a hitch despite the sweltering heat of the July 14-15 weekend. The drums were pulsating deep in the heart of Kahnawake as First Nations voices cried out in traditional song, bells jingled and many a ... read more ››

New land governance deal to take effect

By the time you read this, Quebec Premier Jean Charest is expected to have announced that a governance agreement to restore Cree land rights will have been reached with the Grand Council of the Cree. Since Bill 40, which created the Municipalité de Baie James (MBJ), was adopted by the Quebec ... read more ››

Summer programming cut

It was not ideal timing. Just as schools let out for summer, the federal government decided to freeze funding for the Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth (CCAY) program at all friendship centres across Canada. According to Jeffrey Cyr, Executive Director of the National Association of Friendship Centres in Ottawa, the CCAY ... read more ››

Friendship centres “un-friended”

  In March, the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal (NFCM) made national headlines as its doors were about to close because the centre had lost its core funding and membership through the Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec (RCAAQ), the provincial branch under Canada’s Aboriginal Friendship Centre Program. Four months, later ... read more ››

Straight from the top

  No other issue has reignited the Cree spirit to fight for the rights of the land than the debate over whether uranium exploration should be allowed on Cree territory near Mistissini in the last 20 years. It was in fact 20 years ago when a dedicated bunch of Crees led by ... read more ››

Launch day

  A special ceremony to inaugurate the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert Diversion project was held at the powerhouse on June 28. Many high-profile guests attended, including Premier Jean Charest and cabinet ministers Pierre Corbeil, Geoffrey Kelley and Clément Gignac, as well as Hydro-Québec president Thierry Vandal and the mayors of Chibougamau, Chapais and ... read more ››

Following up

  Having maintained all along that Strateco’s uranium mining exploration project in the Otish Mountains was not a threat to the surrounding environment, Guy Hebert seemed quite weary of what had transpired in Mistissini in the days following the two-day hearings. While the President and CEO had anticipated some opposition to the ... read more ››

Two powerful days

  While hearings for mining projects have become commonplace throughout Eeyou Istchee, none have been more controversial than those for Strateco’s mining exploration project since the Cree campaign to stop the Great Whale project back in the 1990s. In the last of a series of hearings that happened before the Strateco project ... read more ››

Controlled workout?

  At the end of February the sports and recreation department in Chisasibi were victorious in getting a resolution passed that would “give priority” to the department when it came to offering services to the community over groups from outside the community. The Band Council of Chisasibi tabled this resolution after a ... read more ››

Leading the youth

  The youth have spoken and Joshua Iserhoff is their man! The former Youth Ambassador to the Cree Nation came out victorious from his first foray into political office and his cup runneth over with joy in his new position as Youth Grand Chief. Just days after winning the election the Nation ... read more ››

Playing it cool

  With 35 years of business experience and a lengthy list of successes under their belt that no other First Nations company in Quebec can rival, for the Cree Construction and Development Company (CCDC), declaring a deficit for this past fiscal year may be a serious matter but is no reason ... read more ››

Too good to be true

With the obesity rates in Eeyou Istchee exploding, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the kinds of products sold to those battling the bulge like so-called “nutrition shakes” have also started to rear their heads around the communities. Right before Goose Break, we at the Nation were contacted ... read more ››

The Nation’s a winner

  It’s not very often that we at the Nation toot our own horn but once per year we gather with about 30 other Quebec-based community newspapers and magazines for the annual Quebec Community Newspapers Association (QCNA) conference and awards banquet. And, once again, I am proud to say that we ... read more ››

Ready the workforce

  With mining projects popping up like dandelions all over Eeyou Istchee, so are training programs for the Cree in order to get as many into the workfore and reaping the benefits of these projects. At the end of March, a group of executives from Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project near Wemindji met with ... read more ››

Here Comes the Sun!

“Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting, little darling it seems like years since its been clear,” once sang John Lennon in celebration of warmer sunny times to come. His sentiment is one shared by many in the north as the last of the spring snow melts and ... read more ››

Hidden calorie bombs

  Would you feed your child a chocolate bar for breakfast or eat a bag of candy as a mid-morning snack? If the thought of this sound appalling to you then you are in the vast majority of folks who would like to eat healthy and feed their families nourishing foods. However, ... read more ››

Looming demise

  It was scandalizing headline news across Canada that many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians alike are still trying to wrap their minds around, that the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal (NFCM) had in fact lost its core funding and will most likely force its doors to close after 37 years. According to ... read more ››

On top again

  It has only been open for over a year and already the Quality Inn and Suites is going to have to clear some more shelf space for another award. At the Val-d’Or Chamber of Commerce 32nd Annual Business Awards, CREECO and Val-d’Or Mayor Fernand Trahan of Trahan Holdings took home the ... read more ››

Financing Shannen’s Dream

Shannen Koostachin, the late Cree youth leader from Attawapiskat, once had a dream that every child in Canada would attend a “safe and comfy” school, a luxury many First Nations children across Canada do not experience. Today, Parliament even agrees that this should be a reality. But, the big question ... read more ››

On the streets to stay

Among the many sights and sounds of spring in Val-d’Or, the annual reemergence of homeless encampments for the city’s growing itinerant population has become one of them. But, this should come as no surprise because if an individual finds himself down and out in Val-d’Or and a suffering from a substance-abuse ... read more ››

New company on the horizon

Demonstrating its limitless potential, the Cree Regional Economic Enterprise Company (CREECO) has done it again by forging yet another strategic partnership agreement in order to form a new company; this time it’s with mining and energy services company Dumas Contracting Ltd. “We signed a partnership with them to look at the ... read more ››