Xavier Kataquapit

My people have always had a great fear of new diseases and illnesses.

I am happy to report that during this pandemic I am spending a lot of time meditating in my kitchen. I just wrapped up a big breakfast that I made with fried eggs, bacon, toast and a generous helping of air fried home fries. While cooking, I cleaned the pans, soaked some dishes and kept wiping down the counter. All this choreographed dancing in the kitchen was something I learned from my mom Susan who had taught me years ago in a fast food kitchen. At one time my parents ran a fast food restaurant in Attawapiskat.

The opioid crisis in Canada has resulted in many thousands of deaths over the past decade. Personally, this crisis has affected me from the people I’ve known who have fallen into this dark well of addiction. We all know people in all of our communities across Canada that have either been severely damaged or killed by the use of opioids.

Remembrance Day went by and once again I found myself in sadness for those who lost their lives in war. In the Cree language we have no word for ‘war’, the idea of conflict that involves hundreds or millions of people. Instead we call it ‘Mah-shi-keh-win’ which translates to ‘fighting’. We use the same word to describe two people fighting or to talk about either of the world wars. The Great War and the Second World War took the lives of millions of people as did subsequent conflicts and wars throughout the 20th century.

Tah-gwah-gun, or the fall season has always been a time of foreboding and worry for every culture in the northern hemisphere. It means that winter is on the way and for my people, it meant that we must prepare if we are to survive and endure another freezing season. In many ways this particular fall demands that we need to prepare for dealing with historic developments. With the turning of this season there are other changes on the horizon that are somewhat threatening.