Volume 18, Issue 21

2011 Grand Council/ Cree Regional Authority Resolutions (drafts

Resolution Subject: 2012 Annual General Assembly Whereas the location of the 38th meeting of the Grand Council of the Crees and the 35th meeting of the Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly must be determined by the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou ... read more ››

A First Nations presence

One of the biggest concepts behind the Terres en vues/ Land InSights festival is to bring not only local but international Indigenous culture into the spotlight for the purpose of cultural sharing and learning. After undergoing a complete and total rebirth last year, moving from June to August and repackaging the ... read more ››

A royal farce

You may have heard that the federal government is changing the names of the three main branches of our armed forces back to what they were 50 years ago: the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Army (which apparently never warranted the connection to the ... read more ››

Assessing the year

It began August 8 and ended five days later on August 12. Past Annual General Assemblies may have only run three days but the new weeklong format was more relaxing for those who attended this year’s Grand Council of the Crees/ Cree Regional Authority assembly in Eastmain. That community may ... read more ››

Hope springs eternal

Every summer I attend a few First Nation gatherings. It is part of the tradition of my people to come together to socialize, learn, share and heal. Such events dedicated to young First Nation people I find the most beneficial. It is sad but true that Aboriginal people of this country ... read more ››

Inspiration at the AGA

As Crees from all over Eeyou Istchee congregated in Eastmain for the Annual General Assembly, one local man went about meeting as many delegates as he could simply to raise money for Parkinson’s disease. But, why Preston Gilpin does this is a whole different story. Gilpin doesn’t have Parkinson’s and, for ... read more ››

Lesson’s learnt

I haven’t missed a Grand Council/Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly since the Nation first went to press. Every one of them has been fun, unique and thoroughly enjoyable. Going to Eastmain without my wingman, Neil Diamond, felt as though something was missing. He was up in the belly of ... read more ››

NWAC talks back

Just when it thought it was going to be able to make some headway, the Native Women’s Association of Canada has found itself without the means to participate in the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry in British Columbia – and they are not alone. According to Executive Director Claudette Dumont-Smith, NWAC ... read more ››

Ontario inquiry called into First Nations jury rolls issue

After several years of First Nations peoples being excluded from jury rolls in the Thunder Bay area, the province of Ontario will finally be holding an inquiry to find out exactly what went wrong. Trials and inquiries that call for juries in the Thunder Bay district have been on hold indefinitely ... read more ››

Reelected and it feels so good!

Having been reelected by acclamation on July 29, Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit hasn’t skipped a beat, continuing to work diligently on the major projects that are most important to his people. From the way it sounds, he is hardly even taking time to celebrate. While he laughed at the notion ... read more ››

Rollerblading for cancer families

Claiming to have “knocked down” his own case of leukemia, David Coonishish knows only too well what kind of a strain cancer treatment can put on a family. This is why Coonishish is looking to rollerblade a total of 1600 km, from Montreal to Chisasibi, to raise money and awareness ... read more ››

The divide between two solitudes

Environmental protection, sacred land, fears of water contamination and feeling the ends justifying the means were some of the reasons Crees gave for why they didn’t want to see the development of an exploration ramp. However, the folks over at Strateco, who are adamant to get the project off the ground, ... read more ››

The up-and-comers

Training camps opened this month for teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). Among the hundreds of 16- to 20-year-olds attending these camps are a number of young hockey players from Cree communities across Canada. Waskaganish’s Brett Hester is attending ... read more ››

Waskaganish election results

The election results are in for Waskaganish’s most recent run for Chief. Coming out on top, with 268 votes, Gordon Blackned is now Waskaganish’s new Chief. Blackned beat out Darlene Cheechoo, who came in a close second with 246 votes, Raymond Blackned with 74, Hugo Hester with 73, Steve Diamond ... read more ››

Working hard for the dream

While most people are still enjoying summer sun and outdoor activities, hundreds of young hockey players reported in early August to training camps across Canada in preparation for the start of the 2011/2012 Major Junior Hockey season. One of the players in attendance at the training camp of the Quebec Major ... read more ››