Category: News

Standing up for nature

  Rivers have always had a place in human society from providing a source of water to being a source of spiritual renewal as well as being the lifeblood of the surrounding ecosystem. Even though rivers are quite powerful forces, when no one around fights for their protection, their untamed beauty ... read more ››

Business as usual

  On May 30, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the creation of an advisory panel on hunting and angling, that would inform and give advice to Environment Canada on how to help conservation efforts in the country. Curiously, Aboriginal groups were excluded from that panel. “They absolutely should have included Aboriginal groups ... read more ››

New Cree nurses

  The inaugural class of Centre d’études collégiales à Chibougamau’s Cree-centric nursing program leapt towards certification earlier this month, as they posted a 100% success rate on their technical exit exam. The program is based on a mandate from the Cree Human Resources Department (CHRD), to meet the need for nurses in ... read more ››

Passing on the past

  Beesum Communications is launching its Legends series, which aims to immortalize the Cree legends by filming Elders telling the stories and posting them online. The initiative began in early 2011, after Cree expressed fears youth, who are less interested in the stories that have instructed and encapsulated Cree life for centuries, ... read more ››

NHL stars

  February 10, 2012, is a date that will likely be celebrated annually by Los Angeles Kings forwards Dwight King and Jordan Nolan. It was on this date that King and Nolan were called up from the minor league AHL Manchester Monarchs to join the LA Kings on their drive towards ... read more ››

Solidifying the Cree culture

  Its impact is unquestionable. It sends a clear, and powerful message, that the Cree culture and people are characterized by a lastingness that has defined their past, and will continue to define their future. The Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute (ACCI), standing boldly at the centre of Oujé-Bougoumou, will serve to ... read more ››

No way

  With the theme “Together Against Uranium”, a combination protest-rally walk and benefit concert brought out some 350 people in Mistissini to express their opposition to the Strateco mining company’s application for a license to carry out advanced uranium exploration. Occurring on June 4, the day before the three-day set of public ... read more ››

Following up

  Having maintained all along that Strateco’s uranium mining exploration project in the Otish Mountains was not a threat to the surrounding environment, Guy Hebert seemed quite weary of what had transpired in Mistissini in the days following the two-day hearings. While the President and CEO had anticipated some opposition to the ... read more ››

Standing firm

  Ashley Iserhoff, Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, was direct in his statement supporting the Chief and Council of Mistissini in their opposition to the proposed Matoush uranium exploration project and mine. At the end of a long day of public hearings held on June 5 by ... read more ››

Two powerful days

  While hearings for mining projects have become commonplace throughout Eeyou Istchee, none have been more controversial than those for Strateco’s mining exploration project since the Cree campaign to stop the Great Whale project back in the 1990s. In the last of a series of hearings that happened before the Strateco project ... read more ››

Free at last

  Norman Matchewan, a spokesperson and activist for the First Nation of Mitchikanibiko’inik of Barriere Lake, was acquitted of mischief and obstruction of justice charges on June 5, more than two years after attempting to protect his people’s land from illegal logging. According to Matchewan, he had learned that there was illegal ... read more ››

Saving young lives

  Apathy and boredom may seem harmless at first, which allows them to take root in communities causing devastation among those most affected – the youth. In Moose Factory, in order to combat the pervasiveness of suicide among the youth, Deputy Chief Charlie Cheechoo began Project George three years ago to help ... read more ››

Quebec Native Women suffers funding cut

  The Conservative government announced on May 8 that they will be cutting funding for First Nations’ health programs. The Quebec Native Women Inc (QNW) received a letter that funding will be cut altogether for their health programs because of a reorientation of federal policy under the 2012 Economic Action Plan. This ... read more ››

UNICEF chastises Canada over child pover

  This past May UNICEF once again published its annual report card comparing child poverty in 35 industrialized countries only to reveal that Canada could be doing so much more to protect its children. “The face of poverty in Canada is a child’s face,” says UNICEF Canada’s Executive Director David Morley and ... read more ››

Wind claims the life of Eastmain man

Youdon Polson, a man in his 20s, was found dead on May 29 on the shores of the Eastmain River. Polson and two friends – Bruce Gilpin and Jerry Williams – went out hunting around 5:00 am. They ran into trouble as they were paddling their canoe. The winds were so ... read more ››

Stornoway moves to Montreal

  “It’s a big deal when a company moves its head office,” said Matt Manson, President and CEO of Stornoway Diamonds. “It’s a statement that we’re making.” Manson, along with Vice-President Patrick Godin, announced June 1 that Stornoway would be moving its head office from northern B.C. to the Montreal area. Manson ... read more ››

2012 Golf Tourney Season

  The list of summer golf tournaments continues to grow. The following list of Cree-related golf tournaments, taking place across Quebec in the coming weeks and months, builds on the information already published. Of particular note is the addition of several key tourneys to the schedule, including the Cree Nation Achievement Awards Foundation ... read more ››

New blood

  Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaq from the Eel River Barr First Nation in northern New Brunswick, has thrown her hat into the ring to take on Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), who will face the first challenge to his leadership on July 18. Palmater, ... read more ››

Pow Wow

  It’s time once again to get in your rez car and head down the Pow Wow highway. Strangely enough there are no Eeyou Istchee Pow Wows listed this year so you’ll have to travel far. Not all people, Native or otherwise, are Pow Wow people so a quick lesson in etiquette ... read more ››

Golden team

  The First Nations hockey season came to a conclusion on the ice in Saskatoon as the 2012 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship (NAHC) winners were crowned. And this year, it was the Eastern Door & North (ED&N) women’s squad that brought home the hardware, as the girls rebounded from a rough ... read more ››

Controlled workout?

  At the end of February the sports and recreation department in Chisasibi were victorious in getting a resolution passed that would “give priority” to the department when it came to offering services to the community over groups from outside the community. The Band Council of Chisasibi tabled this resolution after a ... read more ››

Gala Mëmëgwashi honours students

  The 10th anniversary is always something to celebrate but Gala Memegwashi’s exceeded all expectations. This year saw a record number of 263 Aboriginal students honoured, from elementary school to university, along with high school, college, adult education and skills development. There was a large turnout with a crowd of more than ... read more ››

A burning issue

  On May 20, the Waswanipi Fire Department was alerted to a fire started by local youths that left around 10 hectares of destruction before water bombers were able to put the blaze out. When emergency services arrived at the fire, the intense winds fanned the flames to heights of around 20 ... read more ››

Supercharged blues

  “Getting more horsepower out of the blues genre” is how Mohawk singer-guitarist Derek Miller described his fourth and newest album, “Derek Miller with Double Trouble”, before his recent Montreal show at Pub de la Place on June 3. Miller was in town to headline a concert showcasing the depth of Aboriginal ... read more ››

Sold out

  One way to determine the success of an event is whether or not it sells out every available hotel in the surrounding area. Much to the great pleasure of Chantal Hamelin, Liason Officier with the Secretariat to the Cree Nation – Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Alliance, the “Building the North” mining conference, ... read more ››

Out of touch

  The union representing Cree School Board teachers has called into question the board’s five-year plan, stating they were not properly consulted in the drafting of the plan. “The teachers are the main people in charge of the success of the kids,” said Patrick D’Astous, president of the Association of Employees of ... read more ››