Volume 12, Issue 9

Are The Cree Experiencing NHL Withdrawal?

It’s what every hockey fan dreaded. The NHL lockout appears to be lasting forever and will be as slow to resolve as the curling matches that replaced hockey on CBC. It was a money issue, a greed issue, some say. It was about salary caps by greedy owners. It was ... read more ››

Attempted Murder, Suicide Shocks Salluit

Salluit resident Peter Keatainak, 18, shot Hassina Kerfi-Guetteb, 43, an adult education teacher with the Kativik School Board in the neck in the tiny Inuit community before shooting and killing himself February 25. The incident has left the community and the teachers dumbfounded and searching for answers. The teacher was transported to ... read more ››

Cree Construction, H-Q Work on New Waskaganish Power Lines

Hydro-Quebec is finally living up to its promise in the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement by building new power lines into Waskaganish to ensure residents receive more reliable power. A $1.2 million slashing contract was given to Cree Construction and Development Company to clear brush and trees in and ... read more ››

Eastmain to be First with Qualified Local CPR Instructors

The first responders of Eastmain, who are re-certified each year to stay fresh when dealing with medical emergencies that arise in the community, will soon be able to teach others. The project, which is being heralded as a first in Eeyou Istchee, will see the Eastmain First Responders and Ambulance Service ... read more ››

How Do You Say Pancreas in Cree? – School Board and Linguists Collaborate To Cree-ate New Words

Have you ever wondered how to say liver or pancreas in Cree? How about insulin? Those new terms will be in circulation within the next short while thanks to a program sponsored by the Cree Health Board. The resolution to invent new words was passed by the CHB with the recommendation ... read more ››

Hydro-Quebec Hoping To Cure Security Ills

Hydro-Quebec, embarrassed by visits by TV journalists that exposed their inept security, is spending millions of dollars to beef up their perimeter security around large generating stations. The program should become public around mid-March. Hydro officials were caught with their pants down when a Radio-Canada reporter went inside Manic 5 and La ... read more ››

Lubicon Cree Burned by Oil

The story of the Lubicon Cree should almost feel like déjà vu to many Eeyou. They have never surrendered their traditional lands or signed any treaties. They were simply overlooked when the Canadian Treaty negotiators passed through the area in the final moments of the 19th century. Later they were ... read more ››

Made in an Igloo Made of Snow, Just Like….

Basking in a moonlit night, the dome of the igloo contrasted with the night sky. A barely discernable glow from the crack in the snow house was the only indication that human life forms were here. Three hundred meters away, the last house on the southern side of town began ... read more ››

Nemaska Woman Receives Bilateral Lung Transplant – After Lengthy Wait of Almost Six Years, Maggie Minister Can Breathe Easier

Maggie Minister and her family can rest a little easier -her quest for a new set of lungs is finally over. After almost six years of waiting for a bilateral lung transplant, she can start getting used to a new pair thanks to a recently deceased donor. Her story is one of ... read more ››

One More River Documentary Wins Prestigious Award

A Cree documentary that highlighted the divide between Crees who lobbied for a $3.5 billion hydroelectric deal with Quebec and those opposed to it has been awarded one of Quebec’s most prestigious awards at a French language festival. One More River, produced by the Cree film company Rezolution Pictures and co-directed ... read more ››

Pressure Halts Proposal to Tax Native Students

Good news for Aboriginal post secondary students: their money can now go towards rent and tuition instead of income taxes. Using an anonymous senior government source, an article by Canadian Press reporter Sue Bailey alluded to the fact that Native students are the most under-represented in terms of success and that ... read more ››

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: One Woman’s Story

For many people across Canada Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside conjures up images of hopelessness, shattered dreams and drugs and prostitution. Part of the reason Aboriginal women turn to this kind of life is because they’re Native. Christiane Bordier explains why. Vancouver! The name conjures up beautiful visions of the mountains, the ocean, ... read more ››