Category: Editorials

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 ››

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 ››

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 ››

Hungry Lion or Well-Fed Kitty Cat? – The AFN Reexamines Its Purpose

Next year the AFN will be celebrating its 20th anniversary, so it’s only understandable that the organization would be looking at itself in a serious way. They’ve created the much-needed AFN Renewal Commission. National Chief Phil Fontaine says he wants input from the grassroots First Nations peoples wherever they may ... read more ››

The Heat Is On

I sit here at my desk sucking on the last Popsicle of summer. It’s coming to an end, the summer that is. The office is hot and was hot for most of the summer. Our lonely air conditioner whirring ineffectively promises but fails to deliver refreshing coolness. We all know ... read more ››

Three Decades of Political Repair

It was an exciting 30th anniversary for the Grand Council of the Cree Eeyou Istchee. In some ways it felt like Crees were getting back to our roots when Freddy Jolly came walking in from his long trek to save the Rupert River. His talk to the assembly seemed to ... read more ››

Volunteers: The Glue That Keeps a Community Together

The Nation is very proud to announce that two of its employees, Dana-Marie Williams and Tiffany Deer, have been elected to the board of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. All of us here are pleased at their initiative in joining this much-needed organization. First Nations women come to the shelter ... read more ››

Scammers

This isn’t an editorial so much as it is a warning. In happened once before and apparently is happening again: A few unscrupulous sales people are sending invoices to Nation advertisers for unauthorized ads in their own publications. In the past they would look at the Nation advertisement, copy it ... read more ››

Seventy and Counting

There is a mysticism that we humans give to numbers. We’ll put on a gala for the 10th, 20th or 25th anniversary of an event. We don’t seem to give the same meaning if it is the 9th, 11th, or 26th anniversary. The reason I bring this up is that ... read more ››

Respect is a Two-Way Street

In the last issue we did a story about the Journal de Montreal’s news piece on Chibougamau. In the article the people interviewed seemed to show a distinctly racist attitude towards the Cree. We gave coverage to it because at the Nation we believe such attitudes cannot go unquestioned or ... read more ››

National Aboriginal Day

It all started in 1982 when the National Indian Brotherhood wanted June 21 as a National Aboriginal Solidarity Day. The reason for this day is it falls on summer solstice. It’s pretty cool that we get the longest day out of the year to celebrate our heritage. But National Aboriginal ... read more ››

I Apologize, You Apologize, Let’s All Apologize

You know it’s going to be a really, really bad day when someone steps up to the microphone in a public meeting and begins shouting at you. Your behaviour is described as disgusting. Verbal abuse is heaped on you in liberal doses. The day gets even worse when you are ... read more ››

Dollar Dazed

It’s been an interesting few weeks watching the money come into the Cree communities. First there was the $70 million that everyone wanted a piece of. The communities took home $49.5 million. That’s good news for many who see this as more housing, more employment and generally a better life ... read more ››

The Nation Exists to Serve You

At the Aboriginal Media Seminar in March, one of the speakers pointed out that as journalists, broadcasters and newsprint publishers; every now and then we had to remind our readers about how we operate. We should explain the methods, ways and rules the Nation has set for ourselves as a ... read more ››

Where’s my $70 Million

I think everyone has heard that money is the root of all evil. I don’t think this is so but rather the lust or desperate need for money is the root of all evil. In this case the evil to me would be the disregard for Cree culture and values. ... read more ››

Carving Out a Future

Looking carefully at the rocks and antlers the carver chooses his materials. He gathers his tools and smiles. His chisels and saws sharp and files standing by. He is ready to start. He is set to carve his beautiful dream. A concept that exists inside: of him but one he ... read more ››

Communicating Solidarity

When you’re in the news media business there are so many stories out there that you feel are important. It’s not possible to do them all but you feel the need to cover certain ones. That is the case with our series on South America. Though it may seem strange ... read more ››

Only as Good as Our Readers

It’s been 10 years already since we published the very first issue of The Nation. We started off with a $ 1,000 ad, a borrowed computer and then went on to work the first 10 months without pay. The reason we started was we felt that the Cree deserved to ... read more ››

Police News – Mistissini Police – Period of October 13-19, 2003

Mistissini Police will now be giving regular updates of incidents within the Cree Nation of Mistissini. During this past week there were 22 files opened with Mistissini Police including six cases of mischief, two motor vehicle thefts, four cases of break and enter and two cases of sexual interference. Theft of ... read more ››

New Opportunities Provided For Natives In Prison

The Government of Canada and the Waseskun Healing Centre have reinforced their joint commitment to building safe communities by signing the Corrections and Conditional Release Act Section 81 Agreement. The agreement states that there will be more of a possibility for inmates in minimum security to serve out their sentence at ... read more ››

Our Forum to fame…

20 years of Mamauiitau have flashed by the screen on nearly every television in the Cree world and have left a lasting indelible impression on many people. From the time that it was first introduced and the faces of Emily, Diane, Diane, Bentley Charlotte and Ernie And Many others became ... read more ››

Will on the Grill: Will’s Raspberry Delight Salad, Pine-Apple Crisps, Amazing Pork Roast, Baked Potato Salad

The first recipe is one I came up with while at home relaxing during the final days of the elections. Congratulations by the way to all those who participate in Cree democracy either as candidates or voters. Anyhow, we were having a BBQ at casa Nicholls and I made a small ... read more ››

Cree Traditional Health Practices & Wellness

Watchia! I have been on board since May 13th, 2002 on a program formed as “Wellness and Traditional Cree Health Practices” on our regional health board. Some of you may or may not know that I have been involved in social service counseling, workshop facilitation and training on issues related ... read more ››

Changing the future

This one was sent to the Nation via internet from Hawaii and was worthy of consideration by all. One day. when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of ... 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 ››