Category: News

Leading the youth

  The youth have spoken and Joshua Iserhoff is their man! The former Youth Ambassador to the Cree Nation came out victorious from his first foray into political office and his cup runneth over with joy in his new position as Youth Grand Chief. Just days after winning the election the Nation ... read more ››

Beacon of light and culture

  A majestic sun rises over the Rupert estuary and illuminates the long point stretching out of Waskaganish unto the vast James Bay horizon. Amidst the wide landscape, a tiny woman stands by her tent, along the riverbank, and reads the Bible – as she does every morning – before starting ... read more ››

Playing it cool

  With 35 years of business experience and a lengthy list of successes under their belt that no other First Nations company in Quebec can rival, for the Cree Construction and Development Company (CCDC), declaring a deficit for this past fiscal year may be a serious matter but is no reason ... read more ››

No glow!

  You could hear a pin drop when Mistissini Chief Richard Shecapio took the podium on June 5. He was there to tell the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission what the Mistissini Band Council, the Cree Nation of Mistissini and the Cree people of Mistissini decided, not only for Strateco’s exploration plans, ... read more ››

Drug and alcohol busts result in significant seizures

  The Eeyou Eenou Police Force’s efforts to curb drug and alcohol trafficking in Cree communities saw success this spring, as officers apprehended a handful of suspects in possession of almost $25,000 of illicit substances. The first of the busts occurred March 31, when an officer in Whapmagoostui stopped a man carrying ... read more ››

New Montreal hangar for Air Creebec

Due to the important role that Air Creebec will be playing in the development of the Plan Nord, the provincial government has granted the airline $1.3 million in non-refundable financial support to relocate its hangar at Montréal-Trudeau Airport. In total, this project, worth an estimated $9.9 million, will create nine jobs ... read more ››

Former Chief of Pikogan passes away

Former Chief Jean-Paul Rankin passed away on May 20, 2012 in Pikogan, Quebec. The community will remember him for his active political and social involvement. Rankin served on the council of this Abitibiwinni First Nation for eight years before being elected Chief on June 17, 2011. However, he resigned for personal ... read more ››

Weddings galore

  The summer wedding season is about to get into full swing with many couples taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Getting ready for a wedding can get pretty stressful with all the planning involved and coordinating needed. So how is a newly engaged couple going to handle such a daunting ... read more ››

Sacred right

Visit the Mohawk community of Kahnawake and the number of smoke shops within the community is staggering. Along the major routes cutting through the reserve, smoke shops line the roadsides. Every second property seems to have a small shed on it selling cigarettes. It seems like everyone is involved in ... read more ››

Disconnected

  Sometime toward the end of the first week of April, the people who ran sites of the Community Access Program (CAP), bringing free or low-cost internet access to libraries and community centres across Canada, received a startling email: effective the week before, their funding was cut off. According to Industry Canada, ... read more ››

Too good to be true

With the obesity rates in Eeyou Istchee exploding, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the kinds of products sold to those battling the bulge like so-called “nutrition shakes” have also started to rear their heads around the communities. Right before Goose Break, we at the Nation were contacted ... read more ››

The Nation’s a winner

  It’s not very often that we at the Nation toot our own horn but once per year we gather with about 30 other Quebec-based community newspapers and magazines for the annual Quebec Community Newspapers Association (QCNA) conference and awards banquet. And, once again, I am proud to say that we ... read more ››

Let them eat caribou

On May 16, Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, concluded a politically contentious 11-day visit to Canada for an investigation into poverty and hunger. During his investigation De Schutter visited several First Nation communities and lower-income urban areas. His visit and findings sparked a political ... read more ››

Power to the people

Nothing else sounds quite like a riot squad’s concussion grenade. It’s more than a gunshot, more than a firework. The explosion it makes sounds more like the word “boom” than anything else you’ve ever heard explode. And when it happens right above your head, no matter what you’re doing, it’s ... read more ››

Ready the workforce

  With mining projects popping up like dandelions all over Eeyou Istchee, so are training programs for the Cree in order to get as many into the workfore and reaping the benefits of these projects. At the end of March, a group of executives from Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project near Wemindji met with ... read more ››

Being responsible

  If there’s one thing that Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility wants you to know about uranium mining, it’s that a single mistake can last 100,000 years. Invited to Mistissini on Tuesday, May 15, by the Association of Employees of Northern Quebec, Edwards gave a speech at ... read more ››

Illegal practices

  Although the Plan Nord has the potential to bring millions of dollars of investment into northern Quebec, and specifically Native communities, it seems as though some have come to see it as a way of making a quick buck. In a statement released by the Chibougamau Chamber of Commerce on May ... read more ››

Celebrating Eeyou Istchee’s finest

The Wemindji Community Hall was filled with police on April 13, but there was no emergency and no arrests were made. The community of Wemindji held a banquet recognizing the accomplishments of the Eeyou Eenou Police Force and to give back to those who have given so much to the ... read more ››

Here Comes the Sun!

“Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting, little darling it seems like years since its been clear,” once sang John Lennon in celebration of warmer sunny times to come. His sentiment is one shared by many in the north as the last of the spring snow melts and ... read more ››

Defending the children

The Federal Court ruling on April 18 was the first victory in a year-long battle to acknowledge the discrimination of First Nations children in the welfare system. Though the fight is far from over, Cindy Blackstock is showing no signs of quitting. Blackstock, the executive director of the First Nation Child ... read more ››

A fallen leader

  The MoCreebec community is in mourning as it grapples with the death of Chief Randy Kapashesit, who died suddenly on April 25. “It was quite a shock to say the least,” said MoCreebec chairman Allan Jolly. “It took a couple of days to allow all of it to sink in. We’re ... read more ››

Burning van in Mistissini

At present there are no leads in the fire that took place on Tuesday, April 24, at Sam Gunner’s residence in the First Nation of Mistissini, but police suspect it might have been youth up to no good. Emergency services received a call at 7:45pm and were notified about the burning ... read more ››

Musique Nomade launches a new website

A new online initiative called Musique Nomade opened up to the public on April 24. The website showcases the work of local Aboriginal artists. The featured artists come mainly from Quebec and Labrador and represent many of the different First Nations communities with songs in Atikamekw, Anishinabe (Algonquin) and Innu, among ... read more ››

Quebec Native Women employees unionizing

Since 1974, Quebec Native Women (QNW) has been fighting to promote Native women’s rights in the workplace and at home. Now they will also include the women working in their offices. The non-profit organization received accreditation for their union with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ). The decision that prompted the ... read more ››

Expanding autonomy

Academics gathered at the “How to Break Out of Colonialism?” conference April 19 to discuss the role of federalism in Aboriginal struggles for self-determination and governance, where they spoke of Socrates, cooperating legal systems and, after official presentations concluded, the successes of the James Bay Cree. The Indigenous Peoples and Governance ... read more ››

Polar exchange

For the fourth time in history, scientists from around the world gathered together to discuss the research achievements of the International Polar Year (IPY) – this time with a conference in Montreal April 23-27. The most recent International Polar Year, running from March 2007 to March 2009 (to accommodate the 18 ... read more ››