ARTICLES BY Xavier Kataquapit

Meditation On The Edge Of Town

Life for a teenager is hard to say the least. It is even more difficult if you are growing up in a remote northern Native community. I remember feeling the stress and anxieties of that period between being a child and not exactly being an adult. I had energy to ... read more ››

Looking Back At Lakitusaki

I received a card recently from mom and dad with a little memento.  It was a photo of a young boy with thick, oversized glasses and short, black flat hair looking back at the photographer.  As I peered into this young boys eyes I realized that I was looking back ... read more ››

A double standard

Recent news stories have spotlighted First Nations leaders who are paid large salaries. This is an old and racist view of Native people keeps coming back. Many people complain that Aboriginal leaders make too much money, when in fact non-Native politicians and heads of government and industry have always been ... read more ››

The Original Cree Way

I was born and raised in a small, remote First Nation community and I can tell you it was all about survival of the fittest. In general there are many reasons why life can be hard on a person when they are from an isolated northern community. Conditions in many ... read more ››

It's All Cree To Me

I often meet people who ask me about my Cree language. Friends of mine here in northern Ontario have also asked me to translate syllabics they have come across and sometimes they question me on Native words they have heard. When it comes to reading the language I am capable ... read more ››

A Moose In My Headlights

Recently, I ended up driving along a lonely stretch of Highway 11 in the middle of the night. I was on a long ride back from New Liskeard after visiting some friends. I drove home in the dark in my lumbering Ford F150 half-ton truck. After an hour of monotonous ... read more ››

Hot Water Is Still A Luxury To Me

I was in a position this past week where I did not have access to hot running water for a few days. The first day was manageable as I was able to avoid any activity that required hot running water. I had a cold wash up in the morning, I ... read more ››

Up on the roof

I am mostly involved with communications and writing these days and that means a lot of office work and time on the computer. Yet, from time to time I take on a construction project around the house and that works out as sort of a holiday for me. I enjoy working ... read more ››

Old friends on four wheels

My truck is like an old friend. Beat-up old half-ton trucks have been part of my life for as far back as I can remember. On the James Bay coast, a durable vehicle is a necessity if you wanted some form of transportation in the community. Back in the ’70s ... read more ››

Muskwa and her babies

I am not an early riser, so it was with some difficulty when I had to wake up at five in the morning for a short fishing trip with some friends of mine. Rob and his son Jack are southerners and they look forward to the true northern experience of ... read more ››

On the road again

Most of us think nothing about driving down the highway. We completely take for granted that we have the ability to hop in our automobiles and drive down the road to just about anywhere we want in North America. Actually, if we really wanted to, we could drive right down ... read more ››

Life lessons

Trent Agawa of Brunswick House First Nation is feeling good about himself these days and he claims he owes much of that to his participation in workshops at the Third Annual Wabun Youth Gathering. He was one of many young First Nations people from the seven northern Ontario communities of ... read more ››

Keep Your Hands To Yourself

I spent the first two weeks of January with a terrible flu. It was one of the worst periods of influenza that I ever had to deal with. In the middle of feeling weak and constantly coughing, I saw a doctor who suspected a secondary bacterial infection. He gave me ... read more ››

Sharing the wealth

The signing of an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) by Matachewan First Nation and Northgate Minerals Corp. on July 14, means that the community will benefit from a new spirit of cooperation when it comes to resource development on or near its traditional lands. An official signing ceremony took place at the ... read more ››

First Nation People Are Nomads At Heart

My people, the Mushkego Cree, from along the James Bay coast have a tradition of travelling the land. We come from a nomadic culture and before our people lived in permanent settlements, we moved from place to place several times a year. Back then, no one ever stayed in one ... read more ››

Like a Rock

I have always had a fascination for rocks or stones. I was born and raised in Attawapiskat near the banks of the great James Bay. This area is predominantly muskeg. As a matter of fact, my people are known as the Mushkego Cree. Mushkeg is like a peat bog and it ... read more ››

It’s all just a bunch of bologna

I sat down to have breakfast at a highway restaurant stop in northern Ontario with a friend of mine this week. I had fried eggs and bologna. Of course, most of us realize what a poor choice this type of meal is on many levels — still it is like ... read more ››

Staying Positive In Challenging Times

I have to work hard at staying positive. It has taken a lot of effort on my part to learn to become positive in my life and it is an ongoing task for me. As strange as it may sound, it took me several years to discover that I could ... read more ››

Working the Mines

Forty-six Aboriginal people are preparing for employment in the mining industry thanks to a training program through the cooperative efforts of the federal and provincial governments, Northgate Minerals Corp. and Wabun First Nations. The trainees who participated in the Matachewan Aboriginal Access to mining jobs Training Strategy (MAATS) were honoured ... read more ››

Stepping into the limelight

TORONTO – Cree songwriter and musician Peter Sackaney recently launched his first all-original project which has been a lifetime in the making. The eight-song CD takes the listener into Sackaney’s world of love, hope, pain and struggle through a series of ballads that you can feel as well as hear. The ... read more ››

The Funny Thing About News

I never really enjoyed watching television news. I remember viewing the regular nightly news program up north when I was a child. Mom and dad sent us to bed every night just as CBC’s 10 o’clock “National News” with Knowlton Nash was starting. We always managed to catch a glimpse ... read more ››

Freedom In The News

I never had a big view of the world when I was young. As a Native person from an isolated community on the James Bay coast, I never really thought much about the outside world. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have a lot of access to mainstream television, radio or ... read more ››

It’s Time To Invest In First Nation Education

The greatest problem that just about every First Nation across Canada has when it comes to education is a lack of finances. In contrast, the biggest concern that the government of Canada has at this moment is what to do with billions of dollars designated for a stimulus package. To ... read more ››

Let The Games Begin

Only one kind of sports tournament normally takes place in a remote northern First Nation. I am referring to the hockey tournament. This mid-winter get-together is special and considered an important sporting and social event. The hockey tournament is a major community highlight that requires the participation of many community ... read more ››

On The Trail Of Technology

I spend a lot of my time on a computer as it is the primary tool for my work. Most people I know also dedicate a lot of their day to a computer at work or home. A computer, especially one with an internet connection is necessary for any office ... read more ››

Oh what a night!

The Niskamoon Corporation honoured its newest graduating class July 15 with a golf tournament and a gala graduation ceremony for the 15 grads of two vocational programs, Automated Systems Electro-Mechanics, and Industrial Construction and Maintenance Mechanics. With diplomas in hand, these grads are set to begin new careers as skilled workers ... read more ››