Volume 1, Issue 12

“The cook was on vacation”

I love eating in restaurants so the first place I visited when I arrived in Ouje-Bougpumou this spring was the spanking new 12-room Capisissit Lodge. It’s always a delight when a new business starts in one of the communities. The 50-seat teepee-esque restaurant has a beautiful, almost 360-degree panoramic view of ... read more ››

Cree Health: Debating the Issues

The two opinion pieces on this page were written by Samson Sandy, who is the information officer of the Cree Health and Social Services Board. We welcome opinion pieces from all our readers, and we strive to reflect all views in our pages. Searching for a common crossroad The Cree Board of ... read more ››

Cree Trappers Association Resolution #141/93

Subject: Development projects Involving Cree entitles Proposed by: James Visitor Seconded by: George Snowboy The members of the Cree Trappers Association having met at Whapmagoostul, Quebec, this 18th day of August 1993 WHEREAS industrial society’s intrusion upon the traplines by development projects, including the Nemaska-Chibougamau Road project, causes considerable and irreparable damage to ... read more ››

Crees Have “Legal Right To Resist” Sovereignty: PQ Politician Threatens Natives With Police

Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come described a Parti Quebecois politician as “ridiculous” and “fascist” for suggesting that aboriginal people who don’t respect an independent Quebec would be dealt with swiftly and harshly by police and the courts. Jacques Brassard, the PQ MNA for Lac-St-Jean, warned in a recent Globe and Mail ... read more ››

Crees Signed Away Their Rights, Says David Cliche

Crees signed away their aboriginal rights and can’t secede from an independent Quebec, says a top PQ official. “We believe Crees have no right to secede from Quebec or Canada,” said David Cliche, who is the official liaison of the Parti Quebecois with First Nations. Cliche told The Nation that Crees have ... read more ››

Diary of a Wahm on Goose Break

The first time I saw a flock of geese land on our pond, I was lying under a huge block of snow. I was carrying the snow to our blind when I heard someone say, “Get down.” I knew what I had to do. I got down. I was lying on ... read more ››

Elders Doubly Penalized

First Nations elders are no longer treated as highly valued people and are marginalized by both native and Canadian societies, says a report by the Canadian Advisory Council of Aging. “Today, the elders are no longer elders but just old people,” said Elder Margaret Labillois, a former MicMac chief from New ... read more ››

Freedom of the Press Means We Don’t Get Paid?

Q: How many band councillors does it take to change a light bulb? A: None, the chief likes to keep them in the dark. Heh heh heh, but seriously folks… It’s been six months since The Nation started (it seems like yesterday). Twelve issues later, we’re still rolling along. First, I want ... read more ››

Goose Hunt ‘94

The results are in and The Nation is bringing them to you. Overall, the goose hunt this spring was not a good one for the Crees. Five communities felt the hunt wasn’t as good as last year. Four felt it was about the same and one thought the hunt was ... read more ››

Hot Summer at Oka

Get ready for another hot summer. In recent weeks Mohawks have come closer to violent confrontation with police than any time since the heated summer of 1990. The Mohawks of Kanehsatake provoked the ire of the Quebec government and police when they started work on expanding their cemetery near the Oka golf ... read more ››

Innu set up blockade to stop SM-3

Innu traditionalists say they are putting their lives on the line to stop SM-3. “We will be exercising our legitimate Right to defend our Land as well as our Right to self-determination on that Land we call Nitassinan says the traditionalist Coalition For Nitassinan. “Our action wishes to provoke a profound questioning ... read more ››

It’s Time to Listen to the Trappers: The wounded land: Part II

The Route du Nord, a road running from Nemaska to Chlbougamau, was to bring many benefits to the Crees. The residents of Nemaska would be able to shop in less expensive stores, inland Crees would be able to get to Chisasibi easier as well as other coastal communities, Crees would ... read more ››

Le Hir to sport PQ colours

The president of the Quebec Manufacturers’ Association, Richard Le Hir, has announced he wants to run for the Parti Quebecois in the next provincial election, expected in September. He resigned from his position with the business lobby in mid-March to seek the party’s nomination in the riding of Iberville, southwest ... read more ››

Learn French, Immigrants Told

Immigrants to an independent Quebec will have to learn French before they get their citizenship, suggests the Mouvement national des Quebecois. “When we separate from Canada, it’s French that will be the only official language of Quebec,” said the group’s president, Louise Laurin. With 200,000 members, the MNQ is one of ... read more ››

Mckenzie Cries At Sentencing

Kashtin singer Claude McKenzie has been sentenced to nine months in jail for injuring an 11-year-old girl while he was driving drunk. McKenzie, 27, was also sentenced to three years probation and was barred from driving for six years at a court hearing in Sept-Iles on May 16. The incident occurred ... read more ››

Metallica assaults Quebec City

Armed with 240 speakers and 300,000 watts of sound, Metallica blew into Quebec City on June 3 and blew away 33,000 metalheads at the Hippodrome de Quebec. The heaviest metal band in the world was in Quebec City for the first time in three years as part of their “Binging and ... read more ››

New Home For Native College

Canada’s first university run by First Nations people is finally getting permanent facilities. The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College will have a new building on the campus of the University of Regina. The building was designed by Douglas Cardinal, the architect who created the plan for Ouje-Bougoumou and Ottawa’s Museum of Civilization. Since ... read more ››

Our hope for tomorrow

The leaders and trend setters of the future are our youth. More and more Native young people are striving to reach new heights and grab onto their potential. Education, job training and spirituality are becoming a priority in our aboriginal communities. Entrepreneurs, diplomas, degrees and role models of all sorts ... read more ››

Scandal embroils Hydro-Quebec

Hydro-Quebec and the Quebec Liberals are being embarassed by a major conflict-of-interest scandal only months before the next election. Several top Liberals, including Robert Bourassa’s former chief of staff, Mario Bertrand, have made enormous personal profits due to their close relationship with the government and Hydro-Quebec, charges the opposition PQ. Betrand sits ... read more ››

Time-line for R-21

Below is a chronological diary of Freddy’s attempts to right the wrongs he feels have been done: May 1993—Freddy talks to his chief about R-21, Cree Construction and the need for compensation. Freddy is informed by Nemaska Chief George Wapachee that he is on Cree Construction’s board and will be sitting ... read more ››

Traditional and bureaucratic values

At times in this world of ours, people ask for assistance in attaining what they feel is justice. Often, like Freddy Jolly, they attempt to right the wrongs of their world themselves before asking. This isn’t unusual in the Cree world, where tallymen are respected and valued. The respect and value ... read more ››

Tribute to Isaiah Awashish

A remarkable man, in fact, one of the most extraordinary men in Canada, died this week. He was not known much outside of the rivers, lakes and forest country in which he made his home; his death will not be noticed in the obituary columns of the nation’s newspapers; but ... read more ››

Unity works in police talks

There is strength in unity. That’s the lesson of months of difficult talks between Crees and government officials on police reform and underfunding. After sticking together throughout the talks, the nine Cree communities met with success on May 17, when government negotiators agreed to most of the Cree demands on policing. Under ... read more ››