Thanks to the hard work of our employees and the collaboration of our many partners, we have successfully implemented many different programs, ranging from the training of Crees for skilled jobs with Hydro-Quebec (over 50 Crees now occupy permanent positions), the rejuvenation of Cree community and family fisheries, the support of numerous cultural activities including summer gatherings and the enhancement of goose hunting facilities. This is not to mention the hundreds of kilometres of snowmobile and ATV trails already built throughout Eeyou Istchee.
On its 20th anniversary, Niskamoon Corporation salutes The Nation magazine and wishes it many more years of success and positive change.
www.niskamoon.org
17-26—November 5, 2010
Editorial
The Facebook Standoff
by Will Nicholls I thought I had heard, read or seen almost everything until I heard about the Facebook standoff. This incident involved Willie Blacksmith of Mistissini, two guns, alcohol and whole lot of foolishness.Rez Notes
LOL
by Sonny Orr In many ways, our means of communications have changed dramatically from ancient mumbo jumbo gestures at sighting a rack of bananas and painting on the walls of caves. Today, a goat herder in Zimbabwe can order pizza from New York City with the rare anchovy on top.News
Unifying against police violence
Families gather in Montreal to send strong message to police
by Amy German Since she began crusading for a public inquiry into the death of her mother, Gladys Tolley, who died after being struck by a Sûreté du Québec vehicle while walking home through her home community of Kitigan Zibi in 2001, Bridget Tolley has gone to just about every legal means to find justice.Let’s hear it for the maestro
John Kim Bell honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards
by Amy German Mohawk musician, composer, conductor, producer, social activist and energy executive John Kim Bell has been honoured in the past for his accomplishments in individual fields but he has never been recognized for his entire body of work. However, that will change this year as he will be getting a lifetime achievement award at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.Positive reinforcement
The Cree Health Board wants to address diabetes from a different angle to engage everyone
by Amy GermanHearing about the fact that Eeyou Istchee has an exploding Type 2 diabetes problem, that more cases are always on the rise and that there is a myriad of health complications that result from it are an everyday reality in the Cree communities. How could it not be when just about everyone in the communities either knows someone who has diabetes or is perhaps suffering from it themselves?
Walking for everyone’s wellness
Dr. Stanley Vollant’s journey through Quebec’s Aboriginal country
by Amy German Quebec’s first Aboriginal surgeon and first Aboriginal to be head of the Quebec Medical Association is embarking on the most ambitious journey of his life: to walk on foot to almost every Quebec First Nation while spreading a special message for youth and accumulating valuable traditional knowledge.Shannen’s dream for education
A new organization fights to end First Nations educational apartheid
by Amy German In the wake of Attawapiskat youth leader Shannen Koostachin’s death in May, a new organization is being launched to carry on Koostachin’s dream for all First Nations youth in Canada to have access a proper education on par with the rest of the country.Under the Northern Sky
Waging war on diabetes
by Xavier Kataquapit I got good news this weekend thanks to my visit to the Diabetes Expo in Timmins. The Wabun Tribal Council health department set up an information booth at the event with a community health nurse who provided on the spot glucose level blood tests for visitors. As an Aboriginal person I am aware of the high rate of this disease with First Nation people and to top it off I have family members who are living with diabetes so I had plenty of reason to get tested.In Brief
Val-d’Or business delegation visits three Cree communities
From October 19-21, 15 entrepreneurs and entities from the Chamber of Commerce of Val-d’Or took part in an orientation trip to Oujé-Bougoumou, Waswanipi and Mistissini. The idea behind the trip was to showcase the businesses and services available from Val-d’Or to the Cree, while at the same time becoming acquainted with Cree culture and heritageShootings in Mistissini two weeks in a row
On October 15 and then again on October 23, two separate and apparently unrelated shooting incidents occurred in Mistissini. According to Amos Crown Prosecutor François Doyon, the first incident resulted in Dylan Brian, 19, being charged with 29 counts.
Letters
Cree schools failing our children
This is just an idea that I think the Nation should try writing about. My son attends the elementary school here in Waskaganish. He is in Grade 1 French. Since he has been attending the school it has been nothing but violence between the students. My son comes home almost every day with scratches, bite marks and bruises on his body – mostly the face. I have been complaining to the school about this behaviour that my son has endured and yet nothing has been done.How to Lose the North
This is just an idea that I think the Nation should try writing about. My son attends the elementary school here in Waskaganish. He is in Grade 1 French. Since he has been attending the school it has been nothing but violence between the students. My son comes home almost every day with scratches, bite marks and bruises on his body – mostly the face. I have been complaining to the school about this behaviour that my son has endured and yet nothing has been done.Borderlines
A tale of two sons
Why Pierre-Karl Péladeau thrives while Leonard Asper’s media empire dies
by Lyle StewartWhen I began writing this column almost two years ago, one of my first subjects (the second, in fact) was the seismic shift in the media landscape taking place across Canada. Canwest Global, then the nation's biggest owner of daily newspapers, as well as the Global-TV network, other TV stations and newspapers around the world, was beginning to crack under a mountain of debt as it tried to squeeze its already-profitable papers for every single cent.
