Lenny Carpenter — Wawatay News

As more Mushkegowuk people leave their reserve to live in the city, the more the Cree language will be lost, says Anastasia Wheesk, Native Education Co-ordinator at the Ojibway and Cree Cultural Centre in Timmins.
“To me, seems like the Cree language is diminishing quickly,” Wheesk said. “The young people, especially here in the city, they speak a bit of the language, but they mix it with English. They, what I call, Indian-ize the English. It’s becoming to be a common thing, mixing the languages, and because of that, the language is going down.”

While Fort Albany attempts to return to “normal” for the first time in two weeks thanks to subzero temperatures that have stalled the early spring thaw, the threat of flooding still exists as the community awaits for warm weather to return.
Brent Nakoochee, the community’s floodwatch coordinator, said water levels have dropped slightly in recent days, but the community remains on standby as they wait for the rivers to thaw.
One particular river concerns Nakoochee. The Stooping River, located near the community, has an ice jam about 12 miles in length.

While it was announced that the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) will be divested and privatized, ONTC and the provincial government assure those living along the James Bay coast that the Polar Bear Express will continue its service.
The Polar Bear Express, one of ONTC’s two rail services, is the train that runs between Moosonee and Cochrane. Since the railway was completed in 1932, it has been a lifeline for the James Bay coastal communities as it offers a relatively inexpensive option for travel and cargo shipments.

While walking the streets of Toronto in his early-20s, Robin Ranger heard a guitar-playing busker hit a chord that captivated his ears.
Using some of the $40 he had that was to last him three days in the city, the Fort William First Nation member paid the guitarist to play the song again.
“I paid attention while he was playing the song and waited until that chord rolled around,” the 39-year-old recalled. “Then I went back to the hotel, picked my guitar up and made the same chord, and it completely affected the way I played music.”

James Bay Outdoors is a sporting goods store that grew out of a need observed by a Moosonee resident.
Gordon Kataquapit of Moose Cree First Nation has been an avid hunter since he was 16 and saw a growing need for an outdoors store.
“I think there was a need of an outdoors store here, and we didn’t have anything here really,” the 54-year-old said. Though there was a store that offered the basic hunting necessities, Kataquapit felt it was not enough.
“We needed more decoys, ammunition, tents, tarps, and clothing. Things like that.”