Category: 2015 03 20

Val-d’Or’s homeless day centre struggles to obtain funding to stay open

Many people in Val-d’Or agree that Willie’s Place is doing great things for homeless people and non-homeless people alike. But the day centre that opened on December 22 was funded with pilot-project money, and the financing runs out on March 31. Even though local businesses circulated a petition to city ... read more ››

Snow racers blast cross-country in James Bay

The last couple weekends have been busy for snowmobile enthusiasts in the James Bay region with two major cross-country races: one as part of the Festival Folifrets in Chibougamau on February 26 and the annual Mistissini Cross-Country on March 6-8. The 49th edition of the Folifrets Festival and its cross-country snowmobile ... read more ››

Oujé’s Sam Bosum recognized for his success in the industry

Sam Bosum and Jim MacLeod In the late 1950s, a teenaged Sam Bosum began helping his father and brother in the bush as they and many other Crees from Oujé-Bougamau, Mistissini and Waswanipi began working in the mining industry. It was there that he first learned the tricks of the trade ... read more ››

Quebec Offers $450 Million to Inuit Villages

The Quebec government granted 14 Inuit villages a $450 million development program April 9 in exchange for their agreement to expand hydroelectric generating capacity in their territory. The agreement was negotiated in secret talks over the last month and drawn up in the form of a treaty. Inuit leaders described it ... read more ››

More Ghosts than Natives

You’re more likely to see a female ghost or angel on prime-time TV than a Hispanic or Native American woman, says a study being circulated by the National Organization for Women. The 2001 study, by Martha Lauzen of San Diego State University, found that otherworldly characters such as ghosts and angels ... read more ››

Award for Smoke Signals

It takes dedication and passion to tell a story properly. Dan Smoke-Asayenes and Mary Lou Smoke-Asayenes Kwe of London, Ontario, have been telling their people’s story to enraptured fans for over a decade. Dan and Mary Lou, co-hosts of Smoke Signals First Nations Radio, were recognized April 7 as winners of ... read more ››

B.C treaty referendum a shoddy procedure that is unworthy of Canadian politics

Years ago when I was living in England a satirical television show conducted a poll of public opinion that exploded the myth of the objectivity of polls. By cunningly phrasing the questions to obtain the results they wanted, they managed to get a huge majority of people to agree with ... read more ››

First Goose

Cree hunter Mervin Erless was in his blind on Thursday, April 11, at 12:34 p.m., presumably finishing the lunch his wife or girlfriend packed for him, at Grasset Lake, South of Waskaganish waiting for a flock to fly by. Suddenly, flying right towards him was the goose about to become ... read more ››

Mother’s Day 2002

Mother’s Day will soon be upon us. I know some people say every day is Mother’s Day but it is nice to have one day a year that you can make extra special for them. I know many First Nation leaders have pointed this out and have said that the women ... read more ››

Should O.J. Be Concerned?

There are grounds for a preliminary health study among the Ouje-Bougoumou Cree, but no need of a full-blown program of detoxification of heavy metals among community members. That’s the conclusion reached by a third-party review of last fall’s Christopher Covel study of toxic contaminants in the water, wildlife and people ... read more ››

CBC lock-out continues

If you’ve been wondering where your favorite Cree programs are it’s because after a 24-hour strike CBC/Radio-Canada in Quebec locked-out their employees. The strike was over pay equity for women and job precarity, but it has grown to include the CBC North’s Native workers, including four Crees and one Abenaki/ ... read more ››

Clarence Hester: in a league all his own

The path leading to Clarence Hester was an interesting one, in that it rarely proceeded in a straight line. The first link came in the form of an email from Alex Mapachee who was taking pictures at a minor and old timers hockey tournament in Waskaganish, and had taken a ... read more ››

Dakota Tipi First Nation Takes Minister Nault to Court

The Dakota Tipi First Nation in Manitoba is filjng a legal challenge to Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault’s decision to place an Indian Agent to run the First Nation’s affairs. On April 5, solicitor Norman Boudreau filed Chief Dennis Pashe’s action in Federal Court to have Nault’s action quashed ... read more ››

Sun Peaks protesters meet human rights monitors

The Secwepemc Natives of interior British Columbia report that a sixth Protection Centre has been set up at the entrance of Sun Peaks Ski Resort to protect Aboriginal Title and ensure the accommodation of indigenous interests. It has been met with legal threats by the Sun Peaks developers, the protesters ... read more ››

Seeking Help to Stay Strong

Reaching out for help in times of trouble is not a sign of weakness. Instead it is about wanting to stay strong. But sometimes pride is everything and we are more likely to go to a hospital with a broken leg or a throat infection than see a psychologist or a ... read more ››