ARTICLES BY Will Nicholls

Cree communications faces challenges at AGA

Finding new and stable sources of funding for Cree media in Eeyou Istchee was one of the many issues brought up November 22 in Ouje-Bougoumou at the Annual General Assembly of the James Bay Cree Communications Society. The JBCCS name isn’t one that will be around for much longer. At the ... read more ››

American concern grows over 0-J contaminants – Senator Sununu promotes documentary to help publicize issue

The New England region of the United States was prime political territory for the Cree during the battles over Hydro-Quebec’s Great Whale hydro-electric project. So it’s no surprise people there are now heavily sympathetic over the issue of mining and heavy metal contamination around Ouje-Bougoumou. Rezolution’s documentary, Heavy Metal: A Mining ... read more ››

Deadly Bureaucracy

This editorial might have been my obituary. A couple weeks ago, I nearly died from what two doctors said was the worst case of tonsillitis they’d ever seen. My throat was nearly closed. I couldn’t even swallow spit. My saliva, as a matter of fact, was keeping me awake. Anytime I ... read more ››

Federal Environmental Review Board Visits EM1

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, a federal review panel, with two Cree representatives on the panel visited the area of study of the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert diversion project on September 26 through 29. The federal review panel for the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert diversion project is an independent body responsible for assessing ... read more ››

Firearms Safety Is Always First

Firearms play an important part in the lives of many Cree. If you have a gun, then it is up to you to make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands or cause accidents. Given that moose and goose breaks are happening, the Nation along with the ... read more ››

Fall Madness – Getting That Garage Ready

I know that many women out there look at a garage or shack out behind the house and comment on how messy men really are. Just imagine for a moment all you had in your kitchen was a stove, table and fridge. Where would you put food, dishes, pots, pans, ... read more ››

The Smoking Gun

When I first looked at the studies of mining contamination of the waters around Ouje-Bougoumou I was more than a little angry. Many of you, once you read the story, will feel equally shocked and outraged over what has been withheld from the Ouje-Bougoumou people. This information is the smoking ... read more ››

Hydro-Quebec Doesn’t Understand Cree Society – Report – Federal Review Slams Hydro-Quebec’s EM-1A and Rupert Diversion Environmental Impact Statement

Hydro-Quebec must be tiring of the federal review of the EM-1A and Rupert Diversion projects. The directives of the environmental impact statement said the utility must take into account “the ways of life of the local communities and the conditions that are essential for their preservation and development.” But a ... read more ››

Fun in the Belly of Great Whale – Tropical Heat, New Socks and Roasted Beaver Make Traditional Gathering a Memorable Event

It was a whale of a time. As usual with any trip on Air Creebec, our airline of choice, we were traveling standby. It is not unusual to get bumped, but the land was with us as we traveled to enjoy the 13th Annual Whapmagoostui Traditional Gathering. It is located ... read more ››

Ramada: Where the Towels Are Worth More Than the Customers

It’s six in the morning and I am in Ottawa with insomnia. I am staying at the Ramada Plaza hotel located across from the casino in Hull. The room is nice enough, but the attitude and treatment I received upon checking in left much to be desired. It led to ... read more ››

Hydro Quebec EM-1 Impact Statement Thin On Facts, Says Consultant

The EM-1 hydroelectric project will reduce the flow of water at the mouth of the Rupert River by more than half, but according to Hydro Quebec’s recently released Environmental Impact Statement, there will be next to no impact on the environment. According to the report’s executive summary, Crees will be able ... read more ››

Our Moving Pictures Tell Powerful Stories

Every now and then I seem to have no choice to toot a friend’s horn. In this case it is Ernest Webb and Neil Diamond, directors and producers for Rezolution Pictures. I would have to say that, outside of the people working in the Cree bureaucracy and the Cree School Board, ... read more ››

Elections are Opportunity for Nation Building

Sometimes it hurts to hear people still arguing over the Paix des Braves deal. I know it’s hard to let go when you feel an injustice has been done. But let’s look at the way it’s developed in the three-and-a-half years this agreement has been a part of our lives. I ... read more ››

U.S. Senator Probes O-J Mine Contamination – Political Heavyweight John Sununu Challenges Quebec Government

Ouje-Bougoumou’s battle over heavy metal toxins entering the area’s watershed through mine tailing ponds is getting political attention south of the border. The Sentinel of Keene, New Hampshire reported May 16 that U.S. Senator John Sununu “has taken on the Quebec Cree cause.” Senator Sununu has written a letter to Quebec ... read more ››

Residential School Conference

I’m quite happy to see that there will be a regional residential school conference happening in Eeyou Istchee. Most people look at the problems associated with residential schools mainly as those that happened only to the students who attended these schools. The effects are considerably more far reaching, however. It is ... read more ››

It’s $70 Million Time

It’s another fiscal year and another $70 million is being pumped into the Cree economy through the Paix des braves Agreement. Even though there are a lot of happy faces in Eeyou Istchee, some have those smiles upside down. Part of the reason is that $2 million has been cut from ... read more ››

Lubicon Cree Burned by Oil

The story of the Lubicon Cree should almost feel like déjà vu to many Eeyou. They have never surrendered their traditional lands or signed any treaties. They were simply overlooked when the Canadian Treaty negotiators passed through the area in the final moments of the 19th century. Later they were ... read more ››

A Cree Enron?

A problem that has been going on for some time continues to bother me. Everyone in Eeyou Istchee has been talking about accountability and transparency but has anyone been doing anything about it? It’s a big question but one that we Crees need to answer. We say that foreign systems have ... read more ››

Cree Residential School Task Force Emphasized Healing

The Cree Task Force on Residential Schools, which issued its final report last fall, emphasized the need for Crees to deal with the continuing effects of residential schools. It came as no surprise that Crees, and indeed any First Nations peoples in Canada, must face the pain of the past. ... read more ››

Editorial Sovereignty

Guy Caballero, the fictional president of the SCTV television network, once said that the business of a TV news team wasn’t to give people what they needed but to convince them that what they wanted was what you were giving them. At the time I thought it was a pretty ... read more ››

The Spirit of Hockey!

As Canada’s world champion junior hockey team showed last week, it’s nice to know hockey isn’t really dead despite all the grumblings of the owners and players of the National Hockey league. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus after all. And more often, he’s just doing his thing in ... read more ››

Challenge on Ouje Toxins – Chris Covel: “Prove I’m wrong!”

A year has passed since the Nation last tackled the Ouje-Bougoumou heavy metal toxins issue. The magazine decided to let that issue rest for a year out of respect for the family of the late Joseph Shecapio-Blacksmith. Joseph was the driving force behind the fight to clean up the toxic ... read more ››

Out in the Cold

Sometimes you know it’s going to be one of those days followed by more of the same. For me it all started when I thought I remembered where I had packed away the winter clothing. It turned out I did not and I was in a hurry to get to ... read more ››

Journalist Integrity

Recently an email made its way into my inbox. It was from a self-styled “Cree Nation Dude with Latest News and Dirt in the Cree Nation.” It says to send him all the rumours and true stories of things you “don’t have the guts to do.” He’ll keep your names a ... read more ››

Fright Night at Shark’s

It was a ghoulish night, one where you could hear the screaming of maidens and men in distress. The typical cry was for another beer since the Cree School Board Halloween party was so crowded. Some poor lost souls even had to wander out of the VIP lounge to attain ... read more ››

Don’t Buy Those Marshmallows Quite Yet

The price of sanity is the realization that you are walking in the dark, holding a candle and hoping there is no wind. The darkness is ignorance. Ignorance takes many forms and they creep up upon you without warning. When you start thinking like that, it could be time for the ... read more ››