Volume 11, Issue 26

Algonquins Want Better Agreement With Quebec Government

A logging blockade by the Algonquins of Lac Simon and Winneway is forcing the forestry giant Domtar to shut down two sawmills – one in Malartic and another near Val d’Or – on November 19. The blockade checkpoint was set up August 30 over the lack of longterm forestry management plan. The ... read more ››

Chisasibi Mother Works Through the Pain of Son’s Suicide – Says Family Support is the Key to Overcoming Grief

Suicide rates on Native reserves are more than three times the national average. September 10th of this year marked the second annual National Suicide Day. The Nation recently sat down with Chisasibi resident Sally Herodier to discuss what she and her family have gone through the last 15 months without ... read more ››

Cree Woman Charged With Murder

A 32-year-old former Mistissini woman, Linda Shecapio, has been charged with second-degree murder after a stabbing that occurred on October 27 in Montreal An Inuk man, 19-year-old Charlie Ekomiak, collapsed at the corner of de la Montagne and Notre Dame streets, and later died from his wounds. Ekomiak is originally from Chisasibi. ... read more ››

First Son a Testament to the Marginalized

He was a simple man taking simple pictures. That is what one person had to say about the current exhibition at the Montreal McCord Museum by early 20th century photographer Chow Dong Hoy. Hoy lived in the B.C. interior at that time, where the melting pot of cultures was well under ... read more ››

Fright Night at Shark’s

It was a ghoulish night, one where you could hear the screaming of maidens and men in distress. The typical cry was for another beer since the Cree School Board Halloween party was so crowded. Some poor lost souls even had to wander out of the VIP lounge to attain ... read more ››

Getting Wound Up Over Wind Power

In this issue we look at what people thought about future wind power projects proposed by Canadian Wind Energy Association, to test opinion in favour of wind power projects to be built in Eeyou Istchee rather than damming up rivers. Roger Orr of Nemaska says wind power and other sources of ... read more ››

Hanging a Few Chads in Eeyouistan

The recent re-election of George W. Bush in the Divided States of Amerika (DSA) reminded me that we, the divided Cree Nation, also have an election for Grand Chief coming up very, very soon. It might not be for the most powerful office in the world but I hear there ... read more ››

Inquiry Wants Answers on Neil Stonechild’s Death

More than 10 years ago a 17-year-old teenager was found frozen on the outskirts of Saskatoon. The RCMP reopened the case when two more Aboriginals were found stranded on the outskirts of the prairie city in deep winter. “There will be finally a public airing of how the young Neil Stonechild ... read more ››

Journalist Integrity

Recently an email made its way into my inbox. It was from a self-styled “Cree Nation Dude with Latest News and Dirt in the Cree Nation.” It says to send him all the rumours and true stories of things you “don’t have the guts to do.” He’ll keep your names a ... read more ››

La Grande Celebrates 25 Years

The 25th anniversary of the commissioning of the Robert-Bourassa generating station at the LG2 complex was celebrated October 29 in Radisson. For many Crees the building of the huge dam represented a sad time in the Cree Nation’s history. Many of those who opposed it’s creation back then still oppose it ... read more ››

New Cree Minor Hockey League to Hit Ice

Raymond Shanoush is excited about the prospects for the Cree Nation’s young hockey prospects. Shanoush is the president of the newly created Cree Hockey League that is taking its first shots across Eeyou Istchee. “We’re just going to have exhibition games just to feel the ground,” Shanoush said in an interview. ... read more ››

Spencer Pleads Guilty in Beating

Khayden Otter-Rupert and his family can breathe easier. The man who beat the toddler into a coma is to be sentenced in December. Trevor Eric Spencer, who assaulted the little boy so horrifically last February 8 in Waswanipi that the three-year-old spent eight months in hospital, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault October ... read more ››

Sun and Wind Powers Bush Pilot’s Operation

Dave Peace is taking what nature offers for free and turning it into electricity. Peace has a small solar and wind energy operation set up for his small air base. He is a bush pilot and has been working in the Cree territory for 30 years. The set up is in ... read more ››

Wind Power Could Blow Away Hydroelectricity – Leaders Say Alternative Energy a Real Possibility for Eeyou Istchee

Hydro Quebec better watch out, the wind is blowing and it might just blow them off the map. A number of leaders have been flirting with the idea of bringing alternative energy sources – especially wind power – to Eeyou Istchee. Representatives from Waskaganish, Nemaska and Whapmagoostui attended the 20th annual Conference ... read more ››