Volume 2, Issue 4

A dash of malaise with your referendum, sir?

Unions and progressive groups in Quebec have been big boosters of sovereignty for a decade, and in this referendum campaign they’re getting right behind the Parti Quebecois’s referendum push. The Federation des travailleurs du Quebec, the province’s largest union with 450,000 members, just announced it’s holding a giant rally at Montreal’s ... read more ››

About that tax

A tax revolt caravan of 20 people from the Mushkegowuk area held a protest at Indian Affairs offices in Sudbury against the new taxation rules for Native people that took affect on Jan. 1. The protesters left from New Post on Friday, Jan. 20 and were met in Sudbury by a ... read more ››

Auction House

I had the opportunity to visit the Fur Harvesters Auction House in North Bay, Ont. recently. This being my first visit, I was quite impressed by the things that go on in an auction house. Once you step through the door, the first thing you notice is the smell. ... read more ››

Chief Wapachee re-elected

Chief George Wapachee was reelected in Nemaska on January 23. He won 102 votes against Isaac Meskino who got 41 and Bertie Wapachee with 30. “I’m very glad people decided to reelect me,” said Chief Wapachee. “There’s still a lot of work to do like the healing process that has to continue. ... read more ››

Forum on suicide coming up

A forum to look at the growing concerns about youth suicide and other problems facing young people will be held in Moose Factory on Feb. 14-16. “The purpose is to provide a setting, an environment for a hearing. To listen to the concerns and ideas of where to go,” said Larry ... read more ››

Fur dressers reopen

Another sign that Native people are becoming more involved within the fur market can be found in the wild fur production. The Nipissing First Nations Fur Dressers Inc. in North Bay, Ontario, recently reopened its door after a year of being closed in 1993. Under new management, wholly owned by the ... read more ››

Great Whale office closed

By the time you read this, the Montreal office that was an important component in fighting the proposed Great Whale project will be no more. During the last few months, staff had been slowly laid off due to budget cutbacks. Latest to be laid off are Claude Otter, Luis Eguren and ... read more ››

Kanienkehaka Kanonsonnionwe position on Quebec Nationhood, Sovereignty, Nation state

“A nation built on lies will not survive as a nation” This document is a draft paper now circulating for discussion among Mohawk traditionalists of all seven Mohawk communities in Canada and the U.S. We thank Kahn-Tineta Horn, a traditionalist from Kahnawake, for sharing it with us. ETERNITY IS MEASURED ... read more ››

Like the nests of birds

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our people came to us from ... read more ››

Manhattan for sale

Well as it happens I almost opened my mouth and stuck my foot in it. I had a rip roaring editorial all set up but hadn’t been able to contact one of the main players. Now as any editorialist hates, a last-minute phone call helped me see the other side ... read more ››

New province for Natives?

Canada should create a province just for Aboriginal peoples to allow them to govern themselves, says a royal commission study. The new province would consist of all the land and water contained in the 2,000 odd reserves in Canada and would grow in size as land claims are settled. The $60-million Royal ... read more ››

Quebec a loner on 3 Gorges

Hydro-Quebec is the only Canadian utility still trying to get contracts for the $35-billion Three Gorges dam project in China. B.C. Hydro and Ontario Hydro have bowed out of the controversial project, which will create an inland sea more than 600 km long and generate 17,000 megawatts of power. Environmentalists and ... read more ››

Surf’s up for NHL

After 104 days of bickering hockey’s finally back on the tube. NHL club owners and locked-out players reached a deal Jan. 11 that allowed teams to get on with a 48-game season, the shortest NHL schedule in more than 50 years. With such a short season and every loss hurting a ... read more ››

Take time for 10 things

1. Take time to Work -it is the price of success. 2. Take time to Think -it is the source of power. 3. Take time to Play -it is the secret of youth. 4. Take time to Read -it is the foundation of knowledge 5. Take time to Worship -it is the highway ... read more ››

Talks “going well” on Senneterre traplines

Rev. Billy Ottereyes has been trapping on the same trapline 70 miles east of Senneterre for 35 years. It spans 10 miles by 15 along the CN railroad track to Quebec City. The Coopers have been trapping nearby since the turn of the century. But that’s not how the Algonquins of Lac ... read more ››

Teachers in court over racism charges

A Chibougamau court room was the scene of 10 hours of legal conflict in January involving accusations of racism and sexism against two white teachers at Mistissini’s Voyageur Memorial School. Teachers Robert Briand and Michel Tremblay were accused of discrimination by another white teacher, Charles Bourassa, after a heated union meeting ... read more ››

The Tallyman

These pages have been reprinted from the book Cree Trappers Speak, produced by the Chisasibi CTA in 1989. The input came from trappers Joab Bearskin, George Lameboy, Robbie Matthew Sr., Joseph Pepabano, Abraham Pisinaquan, William Ratt and Daniel Rupert. Brock University professor Fikret Berkes, who was the researcher for the project, ... read more ››

Trappers file class action suit on Route

Cree trapper and tallyman Freddy Jolly is back in the news once again. The latest articles are from La Presse. They concern a court case launched by roughly 350 trappers against Cree Construction, SDBJ (James Bay Development Society) and the federal and Quebec governments. This all started three years ago when Nemaska ... read more ››

Trappers may have to pay tax

The Grand Council is calling it “a travesty,” but it looks like Ottawa’s new income tax on Natives could hit Cree employees of the Cree Trappers’ Association office in Val d’Or. And there’s an outside chance it may even be applied to trappers themselves. Under the new tax rules, Ottawa is ... read more ››

Waswanipi says yes to sawmill, inquiry

Chief John Kitchen’s sawmill plan got another boost at Waswanipi’s general assembly in early January. Residents voted 46-19 in favour of going ahead with the $5.2-million project. Six people abstained. Chief Kitchen has touted the sawmill as a way out of Waswanipi’s unemployment difficulties. By the year 2000, the sawmill is expected ... read more ››

Will Chapais dump on Ojay?

Chapais is on a quest for garbage. If the town of Chapais has its way, garbage from as far away as Montreal will soon be winding up in a new dump that town officials want to build just outside Ouje-Bougoumou. Chapais has yet to meet with Crees to discuss the dump, ... read more ››

Youth need jobs, training or they’ll head south: Paul Gull

Young Crees could start heading south if they can’t find work and training opportunities in their communities, says Paul Gull, chair of the Cree School Board. “If we don’t do anything about it now, there’s a possibility of a brain-drain in the Cree communities,” said Gull. “The young people will ... read more ››