Category: Under the Northern Sky

A double standard

Recent news stories have spotlighted First Nations leaders who are paid large salaries. This is an old and racist view of Native people keeps coming back. Many people complain that Aboriginal leaders make too much money, when in fact non-Native politicians and heads of government and industry have always been ... read more ››

Like a Rock

I have always had a fascination for rocks or stones. I was born and raised in Attawapiskat near the banks of the great James Bay. This area is predominantly muskeg. As a matter of fact, my people are known as the Mushkego Cree. Mushkeg is like a peat bog and it ... read more ››

It’s all just a bunch of bologna

I sat down to have breakfast at a highway restaurant stop in northern Ontario with a friend of mine this week. I had fried eggs and bologna. Of course, most of us realize what a poor choice this type of meal is on many levels — still it is like ... read more ››

Staying Positive In Challenging Times

I have to work hard at staying positive. It has taken a lot of effort on my part to learn to become positive in my life and it is an ongoing task for me. As strange as it may sound, it took me several years to discover that I could ... read more ››

The Funny Thing About News

I never really enjoyed watching television news. I remember viewing the regular nightly news program up north when I was a child. Mom and dad sent us to bed every night just as CBC’s 10 o’clock “National News” with Knowlton Nash was starting. We always managed to catch a glimpse ... read more ››

Freedom In The News

I never had a big view of the world when I was young. As a Native person from an isolated community on the James Bay coast, I never really thought much about the outside world. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have a lot of access to mainstream television, radio or ... read more ››

It’s Time To Invest In First Nation Education

The greatest problem that just about every First Nation across Canada has when it comes to education is a lack of finances. In contrast, the biggest concern that the government of Canada has at this moment is what to do with billions of dollars designated for a stimulus package. To ... read more ››

Let The Games Begin

Only one kind of sports tournament normally takes place in a remote northern First Nation. I am referring to the hockey tournament. This mid-winter get-together is special and considered an important sporting and social event. The hockey tournament is a major community highlight that requires the participation of many community ... read more ››

On The Trail Of Technology

I spend a lot of my time on a computer as it is the primary tool for my work. Most people I know also dedicate a lot of their day to a computer at work or home. A computer, especially one with an internet connection is necessary for any office ... read more ››

Oh what a night!

The Niskamoon Corporation honoured its newest graduating class July 15 with a golf tournament and a gala graduation ceremony for the 15 grads of two vocational programs, Automated Systems Electro-Mechanics, and Industrial Construction and Maintenance Mechanics. With diplomas in hand, these grads are set to begin new careers as skilled workers ... read more ››

Fighting the flu

I am finally almost over a nasty flu that has made my life miserable for two weeks. I am guessing I picked this bug up at the tail end of the holidays while I spent time in southern Ontario. By the time I got back home from the holiday, I ... read more ››

Russian Roulette on winter roads

It is dark outside and after driving for eight hours I am on the last stretch before arriving home. My wipers streak back and forth across my windshield to keep the wet, snowy sleet from obscuring my view. Every time I meet a transport, the road disappears for a fraction ... read more ››

The Mitts I Didn't Want

My sister Jackie had found them while cleaning out her attic recently. Her home is actually our family’s second house in Attawapiskat and mom had stored our children’s clothing and memorables in the attic space for safe-keeping. Mom explained that it was a surprise to find these old mitts as not ... read more ››

A burning issue

In the past few years, I have been able to spend more time at the cottage where I get to enjoy the use of a wood-burning stove. Starting a fire, gathering logs and splitting wood is a very familiar activity for me. I was raised around wood stoves in my ... read more ››

An autumn gift

I spent some time at the cottage this past week to enjoy the outdoors, the changing landscape of fall colours, cooler temperatures and the absence of biting insects. The autumn is a great time to be outside in the fresh sweet air. This was my time for sitting by a ... read more ››

Who’s That Knocking On My Roof?

Have you ever looked at the animals in the forest and noticed how their personalities sometimes seem similar to people you know? Some of the connections are simple to make. The busy beaver would be associated with people who have a big work ethic and are always on the go. ... read more ››

All creatures great and small

There is nothing like spending a hot summer day near the water’s edge. I enjoy as much time as I can swimming but there are many responsibilities that keep me from cooling off in a crystal clean northern lake. Recently I took on the job of fixing an old lake-side ... read more ››

Reconnecting with the land

I grew up surrounded by the wilderness on the James Bay coast. Our isolated community of Attawapiskat sits in the middle of a large area of mushkeg, swamp and tundra. We never had far to go if we wanted to see untouched forests or tundra. Our parents may have enjoyed ... read more ››

Taking the poison out of the land

In January 1999, I wrote a column describing a snowmobile trip my dad, my brothers and I took north of Attawapiskat in the middle of February. On that adventure I experienced the coldest winter temperatures of my life. Our destination was Lakitusaki River, or as it is known in English, ... read more ››

Field Of Dreams

It is a hot mid-summer day and we are all gathered in the big open field behind the school. My friends and I are hanging onto the chain-link fence watching another game of adults playing a round of baseball in the far corner of the field away from the school. It ... read more ››

A Connection To The Land From Birth

I met someone new this week and it was a very special introduction. For the first time, I set my eyes on my new nephew Landyn Charlie Kataquapit. He is the brand-new baby of my brother Joseph Kataquapit and his wife Lynda. Little Landyn was born on June 14 at ... read more ››

Ye olde bicycle shop

If you have ever owned a bicycle, chances are you have visited a local bicycle shop when you needed something fixed or replaced. These days your visit to a bike shop may take you to a modern storefront where you may find a sales, repair and accessory buffet for bikers. However, ... read more ››

Delivering a message

I recall a story my mom Susan often told me about a time when my brother Joe and I were children. It was convenient for mom to keep us together as we pretty much kept each other busy most of the time. She often used us as her messengers to ... read more ››

Waking up with the gulls

I have been waking up every morning for the past two weeks to the sound of gulls in my backyard. Every day I hear the same squawking, jeering and yelping cries of a group of gulls that have made the growing pool of water in the backyard their home. In the ... read more ››

Lesson of the frozen geese

It is 1930 on the James Bay coast and spring has arrived on the frozen tundra. After weeks of warm weather, the Niska, the Cree word for geese, have finally arrived after a long hard winter. The Cree of the James Bay coast are leading their nomadic and self-sufficient lifestyle ... read more ››

To save a life

Survival was a difficult reality of life for my people, the James Bay Cree, over the centuries. Even after the arrival of Europeans to the James Bay coast, people still relied on skill, traditional knowledge and a great deal of luck in order to survive in the wilderness. There were ... read more ››