ARTICLES BY Xavier Kataquapit

Hunger strikes have a powerful history

Over the years, leaders from northern First Nation communities like Attawapiskat have fought hard for many of the basic services and programs that most people in Canada take for granted. However, I can understand my peoples’ frustration when it feels like progress is being reversed and we are losing what ... read more ››

We can make things better

  As Canadians we have a good reputation worldwide for giving. In the case of my home community of Attawapiskat and the recent news about the housing crisis, the Canadian Red Cross stepped in to help out. I would like to take this opportunity to thank that organization and all those ... read more ››

It’s time to start working together

  Christmas is right around the corner. It is supposed to be a time of peace, love and good will to each other. Instead, I feel more or less heartbroken.   I thought that when Canada found out about my people in Attawapiskat and their housing crisis, they would respond in a positive ... read more ››

From the voice of a child

  Recently while covering an event as part of my work I was surprised at a question that came my way. That query came from the voice of a child. Little Michael Tomagatick looked up at me and asked, “Do you speak your language?” I answered him yes in the Cree ... read more ››

Making better choices

  More than 250 school children discovered the empowerment of self-confidence and feeling good about themselves through a diabetes prevention initiative in Timmins November 4. They made this discovery through workshops provided by Turtle Concepts, led by Dave “Jaegar” Jones in a one-day event held at the McIntyre Area and produced ... read more ››

Housing crisis needs solutions

  In reading the news headlines today I noticed that one of the main stories was about my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast. The news item highlighted the fact that there is a housing crisis happening on the James Bay coast in communities like Attawapiskat, Fort Albany ... read more ››

Time to get back in shape

  We all know how people seem to be addicted to fast food. I recall those special times when my parents or family members would return from the south to our home in Attawapiskat with Kentucky Fried Chicken by the buckets. We would all gather around those buckets of pure heavenly ... read more ››

Burning “Ring of Fire”

My friends have always been amazed at the fact that I know the words to so many old country tunes. Well, I was brought up listening day and night to my parents’ collection of country-music records and for better or worse they are etched in my memory banks forever. One ... read more ››

We have the tools to fight diabetes

I just went through something that really opened my eyes. Like most people I read stories now and then about how serious the situation is for Canadians and in particular Native people when it comes to diabetes. However, after attending the Timmins Diabetes Expo recently I came away shocked at ... read more ››

Drop the sugar

Diabetes awareness was the focus of inspirational and motivational speakers at the third annual Timmins Diabetes Expo September 17 at the Timmins Inns and Suites. This year’s event featured well-known guest speakers Mairlyn Smith, a professional home economist and author who is also an alumnus of the Second City Comedy ... read more ››

Finding shelter from the storm

I sat down at the cottage recently and looked outside a picture window that faced the lake. It was a cool afternoon and I watched the light fade under layers of dreary clouds that hung lazily overhead. I sat comfortable in my warm chair as I sipped on a cup ... read more ››

Through the eyes of a child

Recently I had to deal with some mice at the camp. I like all animals, great and small. Birds brighten up my day. However, I am not crazy about flying and agitating insects like mosquitoes, black flies and hornets. My little friends, Jack and Brynn Vokes, let me know that ... read more ››

Hope springs eternal

Every summer I attend a few First Nation gatherings. It is part of the tradition of my people to come together to socialize, learn, share and heal. Such events dedicated to young First Nation people I find the most beneficial. It is sad but true that Aboriginal people of this country ... read more ››

Forest fires threaten First Nations communities

I am loving this hot, dry summer we are having, but it comes with a price. The problem is that many forest fires have been burning throughout Ontario and in particular Northern Ontario. This is a great time of the year for all of us to enjoy the outdoors but ... read more ››

Wabun Youth Gathering’s traditional teachings

The fifth annual Wabun Youth Gathering at the Eco Centre Lodge in Elk Lake, Ontario, featured presentations by Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy and Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose. Eighty-five Wabun youth attended the event, which ran from July 18 to 29 and was sponsored by Wabun Tribal ... read more ››

The woods are alive with the sound of…?

I woke up one morning in a half-dazed fog. I was in the woods at a cottage in the wilderness where normally the forest was quiet and still. There was no wind this night to rustle the leaves in a nearby stand of poplar trees or to blow through the ... read more ››

Farm fresh food heading north

I was happy to read recently that a new project has been launched in northern Ontario that will help First Nation people have access to healthier foods and vegetables. Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), Quality Market and True North Community Co-operative (TNCC) announced a partnership to bring fresh-food options to First ... read more ››

Another time in a faraway place called Nawashi.

I am happy for my mom. She got a great gift this hunting season with a helicopter trip back to her traditional family home on the shores of the Nawashi River. This place is special to my mom and I understand that. Susan, my nigawi  (mother in Cree), was born and ... read more ››

Reaping the benefits

Six First Nation trainees are ready to start work in the mining sector thanks to a partnership program between Matachewan First Nation, Northgate Minerals Corp and Dumas Contracting. The graduates of the Underground Miner Training program, which was provided under the Matachewan Aboriginal Access to Mine Jobs Training Strategy (MAATS), ... read more ››

Following the trail of my great-grandfather

I recently travelled to the United Kingdom on a pilgrimage to find my great-grandfather’s grave. The good news is that I found the white-stone marker bearing his name John Chookomolin although they had misspelled it Jakomolin. It was good to kneel at the place where he was buried and to ... read more ››

Put fish back on the table

I have been eating a lot of fish lately. It is always good to eat the various types of fish the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes have to offer. However, over the years as I have travelled throughout the Far East, the Americas and Europe, I realize how fortunate we ... read more ››

Shape up or ship out

Everywhere I travel these days, I feel the effects of global warming. Weather patterns are changing, ice caps are melting, glaciers are receding and it is all becoming very obvious. I first started hearing about a change in climate from some of the Elders from up the James Bay coast ... read more ››

Easter memories

Over the past hundred years, spring has developed into a religious experience for the Cree. It all started in late winter in March when the local Catholic church reminded us of Lent and its 40 days of fasting. My parents were brought up surrounded and deeply influenced by the Catholic ... read more ››

The world is getting crazy

My Kookum or Grandmother, Louise Paulmartin, often told me when I was young that “the world was getting crazy”. She reserved that comment mainly for when some news from the southern non-Native world would reach us about a calamity or crisis like a war, a terrible flood or if she ... read more ››

Grant me the serenity

It has been very cold here in the Timmins area since the beginning of January. I prefer the clean, fresh nature of winter but I have to admit that this 30 below weather is not much fun anymore. I am not on the land much these days and I am ... read more ››

We Can Make The World A Better Place

I have so much to thank my parents for. One important thing has come to my mind lately. I owe them much gratitude for being good and decent people who never put the poison of hate into my thinking. It never really occurred to me in the past that I ... read more ››