Category: News

Kateri Tekakwitha sainted

Born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon near Auriesville, New York, Kateri Tekakwitha was named as one of the seven new saints to be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI next October. Kateri was the daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Tagaskouita, a Roman Catholic Algonquian.   At the age ... read more ››

First Cree of 2012

While most were out celebrating the arrival of the New Year, Edith Salt and Rylan Gull-Chum of Waswanipi were celebrating the birth of their second son, Cohen Gull-Chum, the first Cree baby born in 2012.   Delivered at 12:29 am on New Year’s Day and weighing a healthy 3.8 kilograms, Cohen Gull-Chum ... read more ››

Liberals blast feds over Attiwapiskat crisis

  The federal Liberal Party continued its harsh criticism of the Harper government’s handling of the Attawapiskat housing crisis after a December 18 visit to the community by Liberal Leader Bob Rae and the party’s critic for Aboriginal Affairs, Carolyn Bennett.   “At the moment, we’re grateful that the 22 homes have been ... read more ››

Blackstone returns for sophomore season

  Premiering Wednesday, January 11, the second season of the award-winning television series Blackstone will be continuing where it left off with last season’s cliff-hanger finale on APTN.   The series, which follows the fictitious Blackstone First Nation, is ground breaking because it is told from the First Nations point of view. The ... read more ››

Serving up success in a four-course menu

  Who offers a four-course menu, including an entree, soup, main course and dessert for $5? Pass by the Sabtuan Regional Vocational Training Centre in Waswanipi, where you can eat to your wallet’s content.   “We are not out to make money,” Centre Director Michael Lewis says from the get-go. In the final ... read more ››

Cree Hockey News and Notes

  Kapuskasing Flyers Bring Their Winning Ways to Gatineau   The AAA Kapuskasing Flyers of the Great North Midget League finished 2011 on a high note, putting together a combined record of 8-1-1 in both GNML games and games played at the Waterloo Golden Puck Tournament, recently held in Waterloo, Ontario.   There are a ... read more ››

Images of the future

It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, a new five-minute video could be that epic novel that captures the rising spirit of an entire nation.   The Cree Regional Economic Enterprise Company – Creeco Inc. for short – recently released a video that puts a face ... read more ››

Eeyou Istchee in the midst of historic evolution

  Looking back on another prosperous year of economic development in the Cree Nation, Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come recently took the time to discuss with the Nation what the government he leads has done for Crees.   While Premier Charest’s ambitious Plan Nord put Eeyou Istchee on the global map as a ... read more ››

Better late than never?

The RCMP says it will develop closer working relationships with First Nations groups in a joint effort to solve cold case files on the epidemic of missing and murdered native women in Canada.   The RCMP will establish a working database of missing persons and unidentified remains in partnership with the Sisters ... read more ››

A showcase for the artists of Quebec’s 11 Nations

The ground-breaking 11 Nations exhibit at Old Montreal’s Bonsecours Market was unveiled December 13 to a packed gallery that included luminaries such as NDP MP Romeo Saganash and Quebec Native affairs minister Geoff Kelley.   With 38 pieces hanging in the historic building in the heart of the old city, many artists ... read more ››

Losing my BFF to suicide

My best friend wasn’t just my BFF; she was my family by blood, my favourite cousin. We were close, close enough to tell secrets. Lea was the type of girl who loved to have fun without worrying about what other people thought of her. She loved to take long walks with ... read more ››

Voices from around the Sacred Fire

At Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s camp on Ottawa’s Victoria Island, the Sacred Fire is at all times surrounded by helpers and people from many Nations who’ve come to pay their respects. Some stop and quietly make prayers; others hang around telling stories, laughing, or having serious discussions. I returned on ... read more ››

How to keep your resolve

Whether you just want to get rid of some extra holiday weight after several weeks of excess or you want to give your life a complete makeover, New Year’s Day is the traditional starting point for many people’s attempts to better themselves. The problem, however, is that what often begins as ... read more ››

Correspondence from a hospital bed

Not even a heart attack December 10 could keep Janie Pachano from passionately advocating a fully funded mandate for the Elders of Eeyou Istchee. Unable to make it to the December 12-13 Grand Council board meeting in Montreal, Pachano, executive director of James Bay Cree Cultural Education Institute, sent a letter ... read more ››

The movement sweeps north

As the voices of Canada’s Indigenous peoples have grown louder since Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence began her hunger strike December 11 in opposition to Bill C-45 and other federal government attacks on First Nations, the “Idle No More” movement has rippled across Canada and beyond. Now people in Val d’Or ... read more ››

Goeland project moving along

  It looks like mining companies have finally learned that the only way they can set up shop in Eeyou Istchee is by making cooperative agreements that work with the communities to provide better prosperity and environmental sustainability. The Cree Nation of Waswanipi signed a Pre-Development Agreement (PDA) with Canada Rare ... read more ››

UN inquiry for murdered & missing Aboriginal women

  The Native Women’s Association of Canada and the Feminist Alliance for International Action jointly announced that United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has decided to conduct an inquiry into Canada’s lack of action into the cases of over 580 murdered and missing women.   The announcement comes after ... read more ››

Attawapiskat’s he said, she said

While approximately 90 families remain homeless in Attawapiskat amidst the community’s hot button housing crisis, Chief Theresa Spence and Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan are still locking horns over Ottawa’s proposed third-party management of the community.   At the beginning of December the Conservative government decided to put Attawapiskat under third-party management ... read more ››

Is the current Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan, the best or worst ever?

Comments from people attending the Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations. (note: Most people – everyone but one – insisted on anonymity because they feared repercussions if named. In fairness, I mentioned no names to all.) •••••••••••••• I’m going to give him a neither, only because I don’t think ... read more ››

Stimulating emporium

  During the holiday season leading up to Christmas, local craft fairs were popping up all over Quebec. While most were fairly small in size, Montreal hosted the country’s largest professional crafts show at Place Bonaventure throughout December. The 10th annual Salon des métiers d’art du Québec (SMAQ) welcomed over 400 ... read more ››

Don’t they get it?

  Two symbols stand in stark contrast to each other the moment one enters the Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa. The first symbol is a plains teepee – empty, mute and majestic. It’s also completely out of place in this building, which is the other ... read more ››

ᑳ ᐱᔥᐱᓈᐙᒋᐦᐅᔮᓐ

  ᐦᐋᕇ ᓯᐱᔫ ᐋ ᒌ ᑎᐹᒋᒧᑦ ᐱᕌᔨᓐ ᐌᑉ ᐊ ᒌ ᐃᑣᔥᑎᒫᑎᐦᒃ ᑭᔮ ᐋ ᒌ ᒥᓯᓂᐦᐊᐦᒃ ᐹᔨᒀᐤ ᑮᑆ ᓂᒌ ᐱᔥᐱᓈᐙᒋᐦᐄᑯᓐ ᑭᔮ ᓃᔨ ᐅᑖ ᐐᓂᐹᑯᐦᒡ ᐅᑖ᙮ ᓂᒌ ᑣᔑᓐ, ᓂᒌ ᐱᑭᔥᑎᐙᐱᔨᓐ ᐊᓂᑖ ᑖᔅᑯᒻ ᐊᓂᑖ ᑳ ᐱᑭᔥᑎᐙᐱᔨᔮᓐ ᐋ ᑎᒀᒋᐦᒡ᙮ ᐋ ᔒᐹᐙᔮᒡ ᐊᓂᑖ ᒥᓂᔥᑎᒄ, ᐋ ᔒᐹᐙᔮᒡ, ᒀᐦᑎᒃ ᐙᔥ ᐊᓐ ᐋᐦᒋᒄ ᐅᔥᑭᒡ ᐋ ᐊᑎ ᒥᔥᑯᐎᑎᐦᒡ ᐊᓂᑖ ᐋ ᓂᐲᐅᒡ ᐊᓂᑖ ᐋ ... read more ››

Dangerous Ice

Told by Harry Scipio Translated and transcribed by Brian Webb   One time, I experienced a frightening event out on the bay. I fell through the ice. This happened during the fall way out in the bay.   The ice began to form and there was still some open water in the channels between islands. ... read more ››

Kin power

While it is not unusual for families to get together to attend the CREE Senior Hockey and Broomball Tournament, for the Cooper boys the tourney is truly a family affair. At this year’s event, no less than three generations of the Cooper family are participating.   Allan Cooper participated in his 30th ... read more ››

A winter gathering

  The 31st edition of the CREE Senior Hockey & Broomball Tournament took place in Val-d’Or and Senneterre December 8-11. And as usual, the attendance of an estimated 3000+ people from Cree communities across northern Quebec and Ontario transformed Val-d’Or into the Cree Nation capital – at least for a weekend.   This ... read more ››

Changing attitudes

  The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM), in partnership with the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, presented their Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week (AAAW) event in Montreal on December 2.   Hosted by Harvey Michel, the event brought First Nations together to help support change in Aboriginal communities in regards to AIDS. Unfortunately, AIDS ... read more ››