Category: 2010 08 13

AGA 2010: The Cree Way

This year’s Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (the 35th edition) and the Cree Regional Authority (32nd), held August 11-13, was unusual in a number of respects. For starters, it was perhaps the first time in the history of the AGA that it actually finished on ... read more ››

Reel Injun brings home more awards

Appearing at the 2010 Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse, Michigan, for a screening of Rezolution Pictures’ smash success documentary, Reel Injun, director Neil Diamond and Producer Ernie Webb received two prestigious awards from the festival. At the festival, highlighted by the appearance of celebrated documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (Bowling for ... read more ››

Murder in Chisasibi, one arrested

Chisasibi Police say they have arrested Willard Hester, 37, of Waskaganish in connection with the stabbing death of a local resident, 25-year-old Aaron Bearskin, the son of Alan Bearskin and Virginia Salt. Police were first alerted to the murder scene at a residence in Chisasibi when they received a frantic call ... read more ››

Accident claims Pikogan man near Chisasibi

Pikogan resident Terry Polson, 31, died in a car accident near Km 60 between Chisasibi and LG 1 at about 11:30 pm on July 29, according to Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Anne Mathieu. “We know that the man, Mr. Polson, was alone in his car, when he lost his life. The ... read more ››

Keep On Trucking

I drove the half ton back to the house today. This old Ford is a beat-up work horse of a truck that serves mainly as basic transport these days rather than something I would take on a long trip. Tonight I didn’t have far to go and it was a ... read more ››

Cree Summer Games

The Cree of James Bay haven’t seen this kind of summer games in well over 20 years. They used to be held every year during the 1970s right through the 1990s and were also used to promote Cree culture and customs. Now, with the Cree Nation of Waskaganish hosting the summer ... read more ››

Sleeping it off on the streets of the city of gold

While many folks are still enjoying the warm heat of the August sun, luxuriating in it over vacation time with family or hitting the mall for back-to-school shopping, the growing numbers of alcohol and drug addicted people on the streets of Val-d’Or all face the same problem: where am I ... read more ››

A goal-oriented approach

Whatever else one might say about Irene Neeposh’s run for chief in Waswanipi’s election on August 31, few would say the candidate lacks ideas for ways to help and improve her community. Neeposh spoke with the Nation recently about why she believes she is the right woman for the job. Neeposh emphasizes ... read more ››

Scoring special status

The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) has been granted special consultative status at the United Nations, helping further the cause of urban Aboriginals in Canada and, in turn, presenting the friendship centre model to an international audience. On July 22, NAFC learned it had received United Nations Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) ... read more ››

Barricading INAC

After years of infighting, members of the Barriere Lake community have come together to fight Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl’s bureaucrats and their determination to disallow the community’s customary electoral process. In recent years the divided community has had a series of interim chiefs representing only one faction, or competing chiefs ... read more ››

A place to call home

The Crees of Washaw Sibi have set their sights on an area to build a village that they can finally call home. If all goes according to plan, it will be the first time they have ever had their own officially recognized community. It’s been a long time coming. The Department ... read more ››

Where have all the votes gone?

You may be aware that there was a recent election in Mistissini for chief, deputy chief and band council. Like many other would-be Mistissini electors, however, I unfortunately had no chance of voting in the all-important run-off election held July 27. I missed that opportunity to participate – as did ... read more ››