Category: Editorials

Food for thought

On Monday, January 31, I attended the official opening of the Justice Building in Mistissini. It was impressive. The whole gang can be proud of this accomplishment. It’s another nail in the coffin of dependency. Self-governance is closer than ever and this is something that is recognized by all. But ... read more ››

Beads of sweat

I’m a summer sweater. You wouldn’t believe how much I sweat on a sweltering summer’s day. Disgusting. No woman wants to snuggle with me, I sweat so much. Which is why I prefer the shade and the leisurely amble to the driven gait, all the while breathing deeply, slowly, Jedi-like. ... read more ››

500 Issues of the Nation500 Issues of the Nation

How did we ever get here? According to traditional business models, we did everything wrong. Our first issues were sent to the communities we wanted to serve with a few prayers and a lot of hope that they would actually arrive. One community member questioned whether we would be able ... read more ››

2010 RIP, Long Live 2011

Another year has bitten the dust. Though I will miss certain moments of 2010, I’m just glad to still be here for the start of 2011. I say that because I haven’t kept 99.9 per cent of last year’s health-minded resolutions. Yes, I did join a gym. To be honest, I wanted ... read more ››

Crees open “Quebec embassy”

It is amusing – in some circumstances one might call it slightly alarming – to observe how effortlessly the leaders of the Cree Nation, as the eight Cree villages in Quebec now style themselves, have switched their policy towards the nationalist claims of the province of Quebec. In the 1990s, the ... read more ››

Peace and goodwill this season

Christmas is a time when our communities are at their busiest with people out and about celebrating. The holidays are a high-risk time for many things. There are always a few who drink too much and are more susceptible to becoming either victims or perpetrators of alcohol-fuelled violence. There are more fires, ... read more ››

Finding the right path

They say persecution is the systematic mistreatment of one group by another and one of the most commons forms is religious persecution. As a matter of fact, in the 2000 years of the Christian faith, about 70 million believers have been killed for their faith. In fact, historically, what is considered ... read more ››

35 years of grumbling

It has been 35 years since the Crees signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Why it only seems like yesterday to many. This Agreement was hailed as the first modern treaty. Indeed it is the model many Aboriginal groups around the world use as a base for their ... read more ››

The Facebook Standoff

I thought I had heard, read or seen almost everything until I heard about the Facebook standoff. This incident involved Willie Blacksmith of Mistissini, two guns, alcohol and whole lot of foolishness. I don’t even need to talk to the police on those points because Blacksmith himself was on Facebook the ... read more ››

2010 Assimilation alive and well

Here’s a statement about relations between the Canadian governments and the Indigenous people, with which I wholeheartedly agree. It comes from a group called Defenders of the Land, who encourage and organize First Nations to base their policies on Aboriginal rights. Canada’s Indian policy in 2010 This year, the Canadian government has ... read more ››

Every political opinion should be represented in Parliament

A recent flurry of concern in the media about the irrelevance for most Canadians of what happens in Parliament has brought the only possible response from Ed Broadbent, former leader of the NDP. He pointed out that most Canadian voters have been disenfranchised by the workings of our antiquated and undemocratic ... read more ››

Join the missing women’s movement

You can see the movement happening all over Canada. In the Yukon, the Minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate Marian C. Horne said, “Reducing the incidence of violence against Aboriginal women continues to be a priority for the Yukon government.” Horne backed that up with $190,000 from The Prevention of Violence Against ... read more ››

An apology is nothing without change

The Canadian government apologized a couple of weeks ago to 87 Inuits who were relocated 1200 kilometres away from home to the High Arctic against their will. Community members of Inukjuak, Quebec, were moved to Grise Fiord and Resolute, in what is now Nunavut, in 1953 and 1956. Another three families from ... read more ››

The era of the electronic leash

Once again I might date myself in an editorial. That doesn’t mean this rant is any less pertinent to our lives, however. That’s because, my dear technologically enslaved readers, we need to travel further back in time, back to the beginning, to understand what a dinosaur I am, and how ... 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 ››

The not-so-sexy Bill C-3

To say that more than a few people were pissed at the attempts of Conservative MPs and senators to address sex discrimination in determining Indian Status through Bill C-3 would be minimizing the problem. Many are saying C-3 doesn’t fix the problem at all but legalizes it much in the same ... read more ››

National Aboriginal Day in Val-d’Or

While National Aboriginal Day may not have made the news beyond funding cuts in big cities around Canada, in Quebec, Val d’Or’s festivities drew a crowd of 700 people. Perhaps it was the fact they were also celebrating the local Friendship Centre’s 35th anniversary or Val-d’Or’s 75th anniversary that so many ... read more ››

Barriere Lake Algonquins to be assimilated?

Once again the Barriere Lake community members are up in arms. They say Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl is trying to abolish Barriere Lake’s customary governance system. They say Strahl and Indian Affairs are once again trying to do this unilaterally without consulting the band members. Barriere Lake is one ... read more ››

Clean water is in the Act

The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act was introduced in Parliament on May 26. While undoubtedly good news for many, we must always remember the Feds giveth and the Feds taketh away. Along with the Act is a two-year extension of the First Nations Water and Wastewater Action Plan. “First ... read more ››

Traditional Knowledge

I was up at 4 in the morning ready for the geese. Like many hunters I looked at the water hole opening up early. It was warmer than usual for this time of year and the ice was melting. The snow had pretty much disappeared causing Luke MacLeod to mention ... read more ››

The Spring Goose Hunt

It has been a few years since I last went goose hunting. Whenever I go I always think back to other hunts like many Crees. All the memories are good and many mean a lot to me in many ways. Once when I was the tender and somewhat trusting young age ... read more ››

The Right to Vote

It’s truly amazing the amount of mainstream news coverage Aboriginals saw concerning the emergency debate in Parliament on funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, on March 30. The response the next day from Indian Affairs was to congratulate First Nations on getting the vote 50 years ago. While most First ... read more ››

Harper: No knight in shining armour

Without warning the Harper government cut funding to Native Women’s shelters in spite of evidence they are desperately needed. The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM) may have to close its doors even as you read this editorial. A study of Aboriginal women, conducted by the Ontario Native Women’s Association in ... read more ››

Keep Eeyou Istchee Together

Keeping Eeyou Istchee together is the theme of the Grand Council of the Crees’ referendum on the offshore islands in the James Bay and Hudson Bay. But the Grand Council is doing something a little different this time around. They have added a challenge the youth component to the referendum. The ... read more ››

Kahnawake Evictions

Society as a whole is made up of different people from varied backgrounds, each with many valuable things to offer their communities. Kahnawake is certainly no different. The issue of non-Natives in Kahnawake is being debated fiercely on the Internet, on the street and in local coffee shops, and many vocal ... read more ››

Assimilation by attrition

A story we cover this week suggests that the residential school era may only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Native children. Foster-care placement of Aboriginal children in Canada today is actually three times the number of children who were sent to residential school in an average ... read more ››