Category: News

“Half the Number of Players – Twice the Athlete”

The James Bay Eagles capped a successful 2011 football season with a Junior championship at the recent 6 Nations Challenge, held in Prince Edward Island in late August. But this isn’t your typical brand of football. The 6 Nations Challenge, launched in 2010, is an annual competition that brings together some ... read more ››

CCDC Presidential Profile, William MacLeod

William MacLeod is a James Bay Cree, born on the land and raised in Mistissini. He lives in his community and is married with four children and is a proud grandfather. He started his contributions to his community by serving the Cree Nation of Mistissini as councillor for four years ... read more ››

35 Years of Cree Construction

The Cree Construction and Development Company (CCDC), the first totally Cree-owned enterprise, is celebrating its 35th year in business. It grew out of a need for housing in the Eastern James Bay Cree communities. But it has grown since those early days to become more than what the Crees envisioned. ... read more ››

Everything’s changing

It is easy to get lost in the big picture of climate change. We are always being bombarded by news telling us about the effects of climate change halfway around the world and sometimes we forget about the changes happening in our own backyards. As such, the Cree are not ... read more ››

“This is our moment”

Even before Quebec’s Plan Nord for northern development was fully unveiled this spring, Crees had already been looking at how to best take advantage of the unbelievable employment opportunities that will come with the development of so many major projects. The biggest sector for the Crees will no doubt be mining, ... read more ››

Grads at last

Geraldine Shecapio and Jessica Jolly got their own special graduation bash in Mistissini on September 2 when teachers and staff pulled out all the stops for the two teenagers. While the community may have only been celebrating two graduates, according to their principal they were the first two grads to ... read more ››

We still have Jack’s map

Even in death, Jack Layton is still on the job, fighting the good fight. Viewed from a narrowly political angle, the outpouring of collective grief, mourning and love that followed Layton’s passing last month certainly hasn’t hurt the federal New Democratic Party he led for eight years. New polling shows the ... read more ››

Canada ignoring Aboriginals in health studies

Though Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq outlined how the country will be spending $21 million over five years to conduct research on how to address gaps in health equality domestically and abroad, not one of these studies will directly target Canada’s Indigenous peoples. While First Nations groups have long complained about ... read more ››

Rezolution Pictures’ new show hits APTN

Now from Rezolution Pictures, the Gemini-winning film, television and interactive media production company that has produced international hit, Reel Injun, award-winning Club Native and a whole slew of other TV and film successes, comes a new series: Working It Out Together. Starting September 6 at 8:30 PM on APTN and at ... read more ››

Supporting community and traditions

While it has been around for over 30 years, the Cree Indian Centre in Chibougamau (CICC) has just recently pulled off a major first in a long time: a traditional powwow. While the city of Chibougamau has not seen a traditional powwow in several generations, CICC director Jo-Ann Toulouse explained that ... read more ››

What’s in a lunchbox?

As families are finally getting back into the groove of back-to-school rituals a few weeks into classes, what children should and shouldn’t be eating come lunchtime really can make a difference in their overall health. A new U.S. study by the Harvard School of Public Health has suggested that eating two ... read more ››

Honing medical skills

For any First Nations, Inuit or Métis working in the medical field who has wanted to brush up or enhance their knowledge from the comfort of their own home, free of cost, Saint Elizabeth may just have something to offer you. According to Saint Elizabeth program assistant, Suzanne Stephenson, Saint Elizabeth ... read more ››

A clan in the hundreds

When my husband Will Nicholls told me that he had hundreds and hundreds of cousins many years ago, I found it hard to fathom just how many he meant. As it turns out, he was talking about 500 family members, a fact I only discovered recently. A few months ago, an ... read more ››

Good times in Tremblant for a good cause

For the second year in a row, hundreds of Crees and partners of the Cree world descended upon Mont Tremblant for a massive golf benefit to raise funds for the Cree Nation Achievement Foundation. Setting off in teams of four, on August 26, Crees and various sponsors and other business partners ... read more ››

Celebrating the berries

According to the Oujé-Bougoumou Traditional Blueberry Gathering Festival’s event emcee, Jonathan Saganash, this year’s fest was just about the best ever. Running from August 14-21, this major community event brought in over 1000 visitors to check out the daily activities and nighttime entertainment as well as to sample the celebrated gastronomic ... read more ››

Improving the game

Twelve-year old Judith Neeposh of Mistissini will soon get her first taste of international hockey competition. A member of the Cree Nation Bears AAA Girls Under-14 hockey team, Judith was recently invited to travel in January to Saco, Maine, where she will try out for a spot on the East ... read more ››

Sports and youth

On August 4, TMSI Sports Management held its 2011 Appreciation Day at eQuinelle Golf Club in Kemptville, Ontario, just outside Ottawa. For the last five years, TMSI has worked closely with the Cree Health Board’s Youth Healing Services to provide a variety of sports and wellness programs targeted at young ... read more ››

Ontario inquiry called into First Nations jury rolls issue

After several years of First Nations peoples being excluded from jury rolls in the Thunder Bay area, the province of Ontario will finally be holding an inquiry to find out exactly what went wrong. Trials and inquiries that call for juries in the Thunder Bay district have been on hold indefinitely ... read more ››

Waskaganish election results

The election results are in for Waskaganish’s most recent run for Chief. Coming out on top, with 268 votes, Gordon Blackned is now Waskaganish’s new Chief. Blackned beat out Darlene Cheechoo, who came in a close second with 246 votes, Raymond Blackned with 74, Hugo Hester with 73, Steve Diamond ... read more ››

Rollerblading for cancer families

Claiming to have “knocked down” his own case of leukemia, David Coonishish knows only too well what kind of a strain cancer treatment can put on a family. This is why Coonishish is looking to rollerblade a total of 1600 km, from Montreal to Chisasibi, to raise money and awareness ... read more ››

Hope springs eternal

Every summer I attend a few First Nation gatherings. It is part of the tradition of my people to come together to socialize, learn, share and heal. Such events dedicated to young First Nation people I find the most beneficial. It is sad but true that Aboriginal people of this country ... read more ››

Working hard for the dream

While most people are still enjoying summer sun and outdoor activities, hundreds of young hockey players reported in early August to training camps across Canada in preparation for the start of the 2011/2012 Major Junior Hockey season. One of the players in attendance at the training camp of the Quebec Major ... read more ››

The up-and-comers

Training camps opened this month for teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). Among the hundreds of 16- to 20-year-olds attending these camps are a number of young hockey players from Cree communities across Canada. Waskaganish’s Brett Hester is attending ... read more ››

2011 Grand Council/ Cree Regional Authority Resolutions (drafts

Resolution Subject: 2012 Annual General Assembly Whereas the location of the 38th meeting of the Grand Council of the Crees and the 35th meeting of the Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly must be determined by the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou ... read more ››

Reelected and it feels so good!

Having been reelected by acclamation on July 29, Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit hasn’t skipped a beat, continuing to work diligently on the major projects that are most important to his people. From the way it sounds, he is hardly even taking time to celebrate. While he laughed at the notion ... read more ››

A First Nations presence

One of the biggest concepts behind the Terres en vues/ Land InSights festival is to bring not only local but international Indigenous culture into the spotlight for the purpose of cultural sharing and learning. After undergoing a complete and total rebirth last year, moving from June to August and repackaging the ... read more ››