Volume 1, Issue 13

Ban Sports Hunting and Forestry, Quebec Told: Quebec wants to Restrict Moose Hunt

Something is reducing moose numbers in the southern James Bay Territory and the Quebec government thinks it has an answer. It wants to ban Cree hunting of moose. “That’s what they’re hinting at,” says Rene Dion, a biologist at the Cree Regional Authority. Dion attended a meeting of trappers in Waswanipi ... read more ››

Chuck It in the Garbage, says Grand Chief

“Let the process go on,” says Hydro-Quebec in response to the latest Cree criticism of the utility’s Great Whale impact study. Six months of public hearings are underway to determine whether the 5,000-page study conforms to the environmental-impact guidelines set by five environmental review committees looking into the Great Whale River ... read more ››

Congratulations to all graduates

It is an honour for me to be able to congratulate all the Cree graduates this year. You have come a long way to achieve the completion of your high school years and you owe the academic success to hard work and determination. Former graduates of your community had to ... read more ››

Doors Open at Waswanipi Commercial Fisheries

Waswanipi Commercial Fisheries is now open for this season’s business. Though plagued by compressor problems, Albert Saganash expects no problems with servicing his customers this year. He warned, though, that customers might be looking at a quota this year on sturgeon, which could raise prices on this main seller. Smoked sturgeon in ... read more ››

Famous Oka soldier jailed

The former Canadian army corporal whose face was seen in living rooms across the country during the Oka crisis has been sentenced to six months in prison. Patrick Cloutier was found guilty last December of causing bodily harm while driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an ... read more ››

Find the Flag

At times people look toward symbols to bind them, sometimes to separate them. In the old days we didn’t need much. We knew who we were, where we came from and what we were all about. Americans have old glory, Canadians have the maple leaf, and Quebec has the fleur de ... read more ››

Hawaiians Want Back Lands

The Hawaiian sovereignty movement is picking up steam. Dismissed as dreamers just a few years ago, the pro-sovereignty movement now has the support of a majority of Hawaiians, says a report in the Chicago Tribune. “It is our land, they’ve stolen it, and they’re not about to return their stolen goods. ... read more ››

Into the Circle

Chisasibi. On June 9, there was a special occasion in Chisasibi. There was an initiation for pow wow dancers. Special guests were invited from as far away as South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and western Canada. Boye Ladd and Mike Laliberte of Regina Sask., who are Fort George Pow Wow regulars, were also ... read more ››

Inuit Pride Focus Of Meeting

Inuit pride and identity were the themes of this year’s Inuit Studies Conference in Iqaluit in mid-July. For the first time, many of the sessions were conducted in Inuktitut and the conference was held on Inuit lands. Previous conferences were held in Quebec City, Copenhagen and Fairbanks, Alaska. “People wanted to ... read more ››

People Ready To Take Action

If Quebec doesn’t stop handing out clearcutting permits to forestry companies, Crees in Waswanipi and other southern communities will take action themselves to save their traplines, says Sam Gull, a Cree youth from Waswanipi. “People are ready to take it into their own hands,” says Sam. Sam was involved in a ... read more ››

Police Storm Mohawk Barricades

A group of Mohawks barricaded themselves in the band office on the Ontario reserve of Tyendinaga to protest against alleged corruption and mismanagement by the Band Council. Thirteen of the protesters were eventually arrested when the band called in the riot police, who stormed the barricades. “It’s pretty sad when your ... read more ››

Send in Army: SQ Union

The armoured cars purchased by the SQ should be gotten out of storage and deployed against the Mohawks of Kanehsatake, says Jocelyn Turcotte, president of the Quebec Provincial Police Association. “They were bought at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars each and they never move out of Quebec and ... read more ››

SM-3 Vote “Invalid”

The SQ has dismantled an Innu blockade on the access road to the SM-3 work site. The raid occurred just hours after Innu went to the polls to vote on a compensation agreement for the SM-3 hydro-project. The Innu of Mani-Utenam split down the middle in the referendum, with 53 per ... read more ››

SNC wants in on Three Gorges

The giant Quebec engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin, has announced it plans to bid for contracts to built the controversial Three Gorges dam in China. “We have a long experience in the management of large hydroelectric projects, notably at LG-2A and LG-3, Idukki and Chamera-I, in India,” said Robert Racine, Vice-President, Public Affairs, ... read more ››

Sports Fishers Swarming up Route du Nord

Before Charlie Swallow passed on his land to George Brien, the Elder taught George an important lesson—to look after it and not to leave it. “He didn’t teach me any other way but to hunt and to look after the land,” remembers George. This lesson doesn’t seem to be familiar to ... read more ››

Squaw comment leads to brawl

SQ officers were left with bruises and a torched cruiser after a run-in with young Mi’gmaqs in Restigouche. Accounts vary as to what exactly occurred June 9. The reserve’s chief and director of the Mi’gmaq Peacekeepers both say that two SQ officers drove through Restigouche in defiance of a police agreement ... read more ››

The Great White Father Now Our “uncle”?

The Reform Party has landed in hot water again for bigoted comments by one of its MPs. Just days after saying publicly that Atlantic fishermen are “charity cases,” Reform MP Herb Grubel turned his guns on First Nations peoples. Grubel criticized the federal government because it “has given in to the ... read more ››

Though Many One Body

Three of us from James Bay were part of a multicultural gathering in Montreal from June 9 to June 12. The gathering was a conference of multicultural parishes from across the Anglican Church of Canada, and we were representing St. Philip’s Church, Chisasibi. In addition to First Nations people, there were ... read more ››

True Respect Comes From Actions

It is really amazing the amount of attention that two Elders can cause even here in Montreal. One day an elderly couple parked illegally in a bus lane just long enough to pick up a bunch of gifts for a wedding or something. Next thing we at The Nation hear ... read more ››

Waseskun House on the Move

Now you can get your furniture moved and help a native non-profit organization at the same time. Residents of Waseskun House, the first and only half-way house catering solely to native men in Quebec, are starting up a moving company under a work program. Kenneth Deer, the communications officer, said he ... read more ››

Wherever We Look We See Life

The following is translated from Cree. I can only hope I have done justice to Robbie’s words and teachings.— E. Webb I want to talk about everything on this earth. Everything which Eeyou (Cree) uses. Everything that grows. What the Eeyou knew and thought was there was life in everything. I ... read more ››