ARTICLES BY
Will Nicholls
I had dropped in on one of the Cree School Boards Council of Commissioners meetings a while back. There were the usual discussions you would expect at these meetings about local and regional budgets, the need for teachers, post-secondary education, continuing education and somehow they even managed to celebrate Chairperson ...
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Well it has been a busy month and it hasn’t even gotten into Christmas yet. I love the United States election process for two reasons. One is that they get to elect their leader independent of the party. Of course the way they elect the leader is a bit weird ...
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The Cree Naskapi Commission (CNC) has given the Canadian Government 7 reports in the past 14 years and says the federal and provincial governments are continuing to stall full implementation of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
On the Federal side the problem doesn’t seem to originate with the Ministers ...
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People are getting ready to put out the pumpkins. Halloween is around the comers with all its ghosts and goblins. It’s a fun and scary time but a real scare is on the way: flu and pneumonia. It can hit anyone in the winter. While flu isn’t seen as a ...
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The Second Cree Mining Conference was necessary as a follow-up to the 1st Cree Mining Conference, Jim MacLeod, the conference host, said. “We dealt with issues like training, employment, mining and exploration in the trappers territory,” said MacLeod. MacLeod wanted to see a relationship that would benefit both parties. “One ...
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On May 20th of 1999, the Supreme Court gave 18 months for the Federal government to engage in consultations with First Nations peoples in what was called the Corbiere Decision. It was to find a method to balance the rights of on and off-reserve Natives. At the end of the ...
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Got a surprise for all of you. Not all journalist and publishers are honest. I can hear the cries of dismay and shock all the way to my desk.
But seriously folks, we have to once again warn all of our clients and readers about advertisements.
Some magazines or newspapers send out ...
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Coming this winter to a community near you is an opportunity to say what kind of Cree government you want.
The Cree Nation Government Working Group plans to hit the road and consult with Crees and Cree entities and businesses on what Iyiyuu governance should be.
Grand Chief Ted Moses says Cree ...
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I never got a chance to see one while I was there but I knew there had to be an osprey flying around somewhere. The place was just too perfect not to have one. Osprey Camp is the most peaceful place I’ve ever been in a long time. You can ...
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Just when I thought Hydro-Quebec couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything more to upset or annoy me, the letter came out of the blue.
A letter that started my journey into the bowels of Hydro-Quebec hell. First you enter a purgatory where you phone and phone and phone just trying to get ...
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No, Mistissini doesn’t have any problems with fishing yet but the community would like to see it stay that way. Usually it’s the government’s responsibility to do studies on fish and fauna but Mistissini First Nation got tired of waiting for government budget increases and took on the responsibility themselves. ...
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There was anger when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans flexed it’s muscle recently in Burnt Church. I think everyone has seen the pictures of the two Native-owned boats being sunk by the much bigger DFO boat. It looked like the running over of one boat was deliberate. “People could ...
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Quebec, move on over, the Crees are coming and they are talking self-governance and self-determination. That was the hot topic at the grand Council of the Crees/ Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly. Perhaps Quebec should have seen the warning signs in 1995 when the Crees preempted Quebec’s sovereignty referendum ...
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The first things you see through the doors to Mistissini’s Annual General Assembly are the booths. The arena is surrounded with them. Mistco, the Grand Council forestry table, and Waasiyaau Development Group. Waasiyaau was one of the promoters in this years show. As an added inducement to hear their pitch ...
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The last few nights putting out the Nation have been late ones. As a result I was walking home at about one in the morning on a Wednesday night. I was feeling good as I had most of the paper ready to go.
That feeling wouldn’t last. About five blocks from ...
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The Mi’kmaq of Burch Church have “declared war” on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans after it seized over 700 lobster traps in a late night ocean raid Sunday August 13. Another 72 were seized without incident early the next morning. Native fishermen reported being held under guns while the ...
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I must say that Billy Diamond never ceases to amaze me. After refusing to talk to the press on more than one occasion he gave in and talked to L’actualité about the Crees. Cree insiders and most Cree know L’actualité. The popular French magazine published an erroneous story on how ...
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A forest fire went out of control five kilometres south of Whapmagoostui on Sunday, July 31, at 3 p.m.
High winds forced the community to declare a state of emergency at 5 p.m.
As a result, the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to assist with the initial evacuation.
A total of 248 ...
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Lance Blacksmith has made through school with the help of his friends. Lance has an IQ in the 90-percentile range but he has always had a problem reading. No one could teach him to read even though he wanted to more than anything in the world. It’s hard to remember ...
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It’s been a busy time for me. First of all I went to the annual general meeting of the National Association of Friendship Centers in Vancouver. A great place, nice to visit and recommended for all. The meeting was great and at the same time the Aboriginal Youth Councils were ...
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I’ve never been to an election for National Chief before and didn’t know quite what to expect. On the outside it looked like any other conference I had ever been to; people going in and out, smokers hanging around the entrance puffing away, groups of people talking in hushed tones ...
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It was an exciting time to see the election of a new National Chief. Matthew Coon Come was back after a year off from politics. A Grand Council official said he hadn’t seen Coon Come so charged up since the Cree fight against Hydro-Quebec’s Great Whale project. It was this ...
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Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I think he spoke the truth. When you begin to ignore or not talk about what is going around you because you feel uncomfortable bringing up the matter then you ...
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It justs gets bigger each year and this is the tenth year that Terres en vues or Land in Sight (English translation) has put on a show for Montreal. I am constantly surprised at the caliber of people, films and performers that they come up with. It’s nice to see ...
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Richard Desjardins is a recognized icon of Quebec. One only has to see audience reaction to him when he’s on stage. His songs and poetry are about Quebec and the people who live here. They are humourous, to the point, invoke memories and patriotism and they make him one of ...
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Well, it doesn’t seem so long ago I said I was taking a break from writing. Due to phone calls and people talking to me it looks like I’ll be writing again in addition to my new duties. I’d like to thank all of you who took the time to ...
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