ARTICLES BY
Ndiamon
Here it is, the long awaited and much hyped section of The Nation: cree@large! Repeat after me. Cree at large. There you go.
I know what you’re thinking. Large Crees, right? In a bizarre way, you’re almost right.Large Crees. Large in the sense, I guess, that they are not necessarily obese, ...
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I was dispatched to Nemaska over the Hallowe’en weekend for some important work so I missed the Nation slash Cree School Board Hallowe’en party at the Masonic Lodge in Downtown Montreal. You’ve heard, I’m sure, of the Masons. They are the not too secret cult who control most of the ...
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To the Editor:
Re: Rez Notes this issues.
NEMASKA – This is to inform you that there will not be a Rez Notes this issue. The reason, or rather the reasons, being that… well… frankly, I just can’t be bothered with it right now. I have too many things on my mind. ...
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Two weeks in the life of the nation.
Monday morningish and the latest edition of The Nation has arrived from the printer. The Nation team get their first look at the latest product. There are some oohs and aahs and once in a while an awww make its way into the ...
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Many things happened back home but I missed all of them.
Buuut, this is what I heard from some very valuable, highly reputable and noncriminal sources whose identities I will keep secret no matter what happens. They can drag my Cree ass through the highest court in the universe and put ...
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We receive all kinds of letters here at The Nation. We get letters from angry readers, angry non-readers even, who have taken offense to certain stories. We also get letters filled with love thanking us for… well, just for being. Until now we haven’t had a single missive seeking our ...
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For the record and just so I don’t get asked years from now where I was when I heard about the death of Princess Diana, I’ll have you know I was at Roger’s Four In One eatery in Nemaska covering the Fitness Challenge. Read all about it on pages 12 ...
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The corporation met in OJ two weeks ago. Being full and equal shareholders, we went to find out what was happening and what the big fuss would be this time. Would it be Great Whale? Mining in Cree territory? Hidden millions? We could only guess as we hadn’t been supplied ...
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“Why don’t you speak Cree?” she asked over the din of the bar. I couldn’t help thinking she was challenging me.
Without telling her I decided I would answer all her questions in Cree whether they were in Cree or not. Not too long during the conversation she reverted to English. ...
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Circumstances beyond my control, at the time, called that I take the scenic route home while investigating the “sighting” in Great Whale. More on that later.
We stopped at Checkpoint Charlie just north of Matagami. We had to. I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t. They’d probably send ...
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I’m sooooo tiiiired. My last vacation, if it can even be called that, was no help. My brain and my body need to get away together, to rest and rejuvenate. My typing speed has slowed to about three words a minute. Why did I not get a warning on what ...
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You will forgive me, I hope, if I seem not my old self. It’s been a most unusual and trying time for me and others in my circle these past few weeks. A few painful but crucial changes were called for.
Changes for the greater good I can only hope.
First, a ...
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I went down to the demonstration. To get my fair share of abuse. Actually it wouldn’t really qualify as abuse if a Royal Commission were called on it. The only thing the cop did was herd a colleague and everybody else into the left lane of the street we injuns ...
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Item One: Photo Celebrity Contest: And the winner is… Wait a minute. Who is that with James Hetfield of Metallica?… I’m sorry dear readers. We do not have a winner. Gemini-award-nominated Jane of all Media Trades, Catherine Bainbridge, with her points hovering in the high 8’s will have to be ...
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To the editor: Here it is. Whoop de doo. The latest installment. It’s not the Rez Notes we’ve all come to know and love and might be the worst piece ever written. It’s frightening. I hope someone out there likes it though and is deemed fit for our fine publication. ...
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Sometimes I wonder if we Crees really do live in a democracy. You hear about Crees being denied their paychecks unless they vote in a referendum. Other Native people who can’t even vote for their choice of National Chief. Powerful chiefs bulldozing resolutions through while other “chieves” sit by and ...
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“It was green, had big eyes and long teeth,” said Ti-Jean but I didn’t believe him and it was late so I wanted to leave. We had heard too many of these stories. Earlier when I was more alert, a geophysicist said he had seen “lights” on the other side ...
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Children of all ages. Do not attempt this at home. It is thankless low-paying work that will bring you and others much heartache. You will be spat on, called names, slandered in the supposedly hallowed halls of power, worship, bureaucracy and practically no one will vote for you. And those, ...
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So, I hopped on the kangaroo express back to my home rez after three years this past Christmas and New Years. Montreal, Val d’Or, Nemaska and finally, my ole home town Waskaganish. Back to the simple life. Or so I thought.
Once off the plane, a perfunctory search through our baggage ...
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It was through earnest prayer that we made it to Nemaska two weeks ago. There we were at the airport at seven in the morning still not sure if we were going to get on the plane at all. As usual we were on standby. My traveling companion uttered the ...
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I ought to have been whipped and beaten for being so derelict in my duties to you, John and Joan Cree Public, these past few issues. I admit it Rez Notes sucked. Why? It’s personal. Very personal actually. It’s so personal I don’t even know why I brought it up. ...
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“How’s Rez Notes?” I am frequently asked that question. The question before that used to be, “Is there gonna be a Rez Notes this issue?” I always lied, and still do, “It’s all in my head.” That always keeps the evil Editor at bay for a few hours and it ...
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You know how sometimes when you’re just about to fall asleep and a really good idea just pops into your head? It could be about anything. An idea for a movie, a song or, in my case, a column. Well, I had one of those last night but I was ...
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If at first you don’t succeed, run, run again. This was my one of my first thoughts when Damage Control phoned in the results
to me.
We ran an extremely honest and open campaign and failed to win more than 90 votes, getting three percent of the total. This percentage would have ...
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By the time most of you read this edition of The Nation, election day will, sadly, have come and gone. It is a mere seven days before the vote and I still don’t know who my opponents are. Those career politicians, they like to sneak up on you. They don’t ...
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Hold on. Get the door. This is very sensitive.
There is so much to tell and so little a space to fit it all in. Finally, we have caught some attention and almost received a fax regarding our campaign. An electronic missive regarding Campaign ’96 and promises I failed to make. ...
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