ARTICLES BY NATION

SPECIAL WAYS TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY [MEN PAY ATTENTION TOO: your girlfriend/wife will read this too and will expect you to fulfill at least one of her Valentine’s dreams!

MEN Wine (or flowers for dry communities) and chocolates; Rose petals thrown on the bed & chocolate kisses on her pillow; Soft, relaxing, romantic music; Tell your woman you think she is beautiful, and explain why (personality counts too, not just her physical attributes); Spend time with her and her alone – no TV, no ... read more ››

Poll: Crees can stay in Canada

Most Quebecers believe Crees have the right to stay in Canada if Quebec separates, according to a new survey sponsored by the Grand Council. Ninety per cent of Quebec anglophones said Natives have a right to stay in Canada, and 57 per cent of francophones agreed. The poll also found that if ... read more ››

Foster Home Appeal

Homes for Children, based in Montreal, is looking for loving foster homes for these First Nations children: Jerry is a two-and-a-half-year-old Inuit baby. At birth, there were medical and developmental concerns since he had been exposed to drugs and alcohol during his mother’s pregnancy. A regime of therapeutic exercises had been ... read more ››

CREE TAX CHALLENGE

The Grand Council of the Crees is taking the Quebec government to court again. This time though they’re going after Revenue Quebec. The Grand Council wants to get band development corporations recognized as tax-exempt, like Quebec’s municipal development corporations. Cree development corporations don’t fall under the municipal exemption because Cree bands were ... read more ››

Police crack Eastmain theft

Police have finally cracked the robbery of $60,000 from the community’s airport in September. An Eastmain man was arrested on Dec. 4, but police are staying tight-lipped about the specifics of the crime. The money was in a package en route to Wemindji’s Caisse Populaire. Eastmain police referred all questions to agent ... read more ››

PAX AMERICANA: HAWAI’ 1, 1848

I am always falling toward that dark, swollen river filled with tongues drunk and baptized new priests waving foreign flags and parchment calling in the conquered to hungry bankers Sacred places gone for coin and rotting ships diseased through by poisoned seas in greenish light hooks and stripes the lash across my face and pale white stars nailed to coffins filled with dying flesh cast off from a dying ... read more ››

Confrontation 1995

Midget Broomball Finals: Waskaganish 2, Wemindji 1 Best Goalie: Waskaganish, Tracy Frank Best Defense: Chisasibi, Beverly Cox Best Forward: Wemindji, Elizabeth Shash Best Achievement: Chisasibi, Joanne Pash Top Scorer: Waskaganish 3G, Jasmine Hester Midget Hockey Finals: Wemindji 5, Waskaganish 2 Best Goalie: Waskaganish, Darryl Diamond Best Defense: Co-op Stars, John Rupert Best Forward: Waskaganish, John-Paul Gilpin Best Achievement: Junior Hunters, ... read more ››

Reconciliation Proclamation

We, the delegates to Sacred Assembly ’95, gathered together in Hull, Quebec on Dec. 6-9,1995, having come from the four corners of this land—East, West, North and South—and having brought with us diverse spiritual backgrounds, and having listened to and prayed with Elders, spiritual leaders and with each other, are ... read more ››

Sacred Assembly ’95

“The Creator wants to restore justice in this country and wants to restore the land to the original people—that’s why we’re having this gathering,” says Elijah Harper, whose vision of unity brought more than 2,000 people to the Sacred Assembly ’95 in Hull, Quebec on Dec. 6 to 9. “The Assembly ... read more ››

Reconciliation begins at home

Elder Fred Plain’s introductory comments addressed injustice. He heard genuine remorse in the churches’ apologies, he said, but challenged those who have pledged reconciliation to use their strength and influence with the governments of Canada. He also challenged the Canadian government to practice what it claims to believe. “To me justice ... read more ››

Do not pass go

Canada is going on trial. A dozen Elders and other Native jurors will converge on Toronto from across the country and as far away as New Zealand to hear arguments at the first session of the First Nations International Court of Justice next April. On trial will be the Canadian government ... read more ››

Fatal accident near Chisasibi

Two Chisasibi residents are dead after a car failed to stop at an intersection and was knocked into the ditch by a dump truck. Bella Ratt, 27, was driving the car that didn’t stop at the intersection of Pherpheric Rd. and the James Bay Highway 6 km outside the community. A truck ... read more ››

Resort annoys First Nations

Another standoff is brewing in British Columbia, this time over a ski resort. People of the Penticton First Nation and two other Native communities are fighting a $20-million expansion of a nearby ski resort. They have built fortified bunkers along a road, and say they are armed and prepared to defend ... read more ››

Volleyball Fever

The results are in from Nemaska’s 1st Invitational Volleyball Tournament held Oct. 27 to 29. Women’s Division Champions: Mistissini, 3 ($2,000) Finalists: Nemaska I, I ($1,000) Individual Awards Best Setter: Kathy Metabie, Mistissini Best Offensive: Sarah Glisky, Chisasibi Best Defensive: Parsha Kitishmik, Nem. Most Valuable Player: Stephanie Mianscum, Mistissini Best Sportsmanship: Waskaganish ... read more ››

Irwin warned not to be “too generous” with Inuit

Ottawa might refuse to give any compensation to the High Arctic exiles because it doesn’t want to set a precedent for dozens of other First Nations claims. “Too generous a solution to the High Arctic relocation issue will immediately create highly inflated expectations for lucrative settlements on the part of other ... read more ››

Negligent HQ worker keeps job

A Hydro-Quebec employee who nearly killed a trespasser by opening the floodgates of a dam is expected to return to work soon. Roland Nadeau, 34, was convicted of criminal negligence and fined $700 on October 2, reported The Montreal Gazette. He was working at a dam on Rivieres-des-Prairies between Laval and ... read more ››

Highlights from 1994 tourney

Youth attending: 39 Most Improved Player: Angela Tapiatic Most Positive Player: Harry Shem Best Hustle: Jamie Pash Best All Around Player: Paul Pachano Most Helpful Player: Louis Neacappo Men’s A Division Finalists: Chisasibi James Bay Crees – Champions: Chisasibi Triple Threat Mixed B Division Finalists: Chisasibi Dream Team III – ... read more ››

Home needed for Denis

Come rain or snow, extreme heat or cold or heat, it doesn’t matter much to Denis. This 10-year-old Inuit boy will still be outside. Denis has lived in a group home in Montreal for the last year but is ready to move on. He is looking for a foster home—either in ... read more ››

Billy Diamond acclaimed

Billy Diamond was re-elected by acclamation as Chief of Waskaganish in community elections on Sept. 20. He was the only candidate for the position. Jimmy Trapper beat out two other candidates for the job of Deputy Chief with 164 votes versus 136 for Bert Moar Jr. and 75 for Ian Diamond. Seventeen ... read more ››

Who goosed the moose

A Quebec judge has tossed out a Cree bid to stop sports hunters from killing any moose this season in the Waswanipi Territory. The Grand Council was trying to get an injunction to force the Quebec Environment Ministry to live up to its obligations under the James Bay Agreement. With current ... read more ››

Can’t get no sympathy

Quebecers are less sympathetic to Native people than other Canadians, according to a new poll. The survey shows a majority of Canadians wouldn’t mind seeing some First Nations laws replacing federal and provincial laws in Native communities. But in Quebec, 55 per cent oppose the idea or are neutral. In Ontario, 59 ... read more ››

Discovery: the Beeah Tribe

Recently anthropologists, who are dedicated to keeping the Indian alive if for no other reason than they can make money studying them, discovered a new tribe. This newly discovered group is known as the Beeah Tribe (pronounced BIA Tribe). A new book, A Man Called Horse Shit, by Dr. He-Sells-Out, beloved ... read more ››

Joe Norton slapped, ministers shoved in Kahnawake

Calling a recent policing agreement a violation of Mohawk sovereignty, more than 100 Mohawks jostled federal and provincial cabinet ministers and vandalized their limousines in Kahnawake on Sept. 12. The protesters gathered in front of the Band Council office and shouted angrily at Grand Chief Joe Norton after he signed. Some kicked ... read more ››

Genesis Innu-style

René Ranville was excited when he first heard Ussinniun, an Innu band whose name means Genesis. “When I heard them singing, I said to myself and to Germain, These are the ones!”’ Ranville and his partner Germain Paul had found the first band for their new production company, Musique Premières Nations. They ... read more ››

Mercredi blamed for death

Ovide Mercredi is responsible for the death of a Chippewa man killed by police, according to an angry group of Native protesters who vandalized the Assembly of First Nations office in Ottawa. “We can’t blame (Ontario Premier Mike) Harris or (Indian Affairs Minister Ron) Irwin,” said Shawn Brant, a Mohawk who ... read more ››

Separation deemed illegal

The referendum campaign got off to a bumpy start for the separatists, who have been battered by disappointing poll results and a judge ruling that the PQ’s bid to secede is unconstitutional. In a poll done Sept. 8-12 for La Presse and Radio-Quebec, 54 per cent of Quebecers said they would ... read more ››