This past month, I was happy to attend two Pow Wows I hadn't been to in years. I attended the Mattagami First Nation Pow Wow and the Matachewan First Nation...
I was happy to see my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast announce the opening of the new St Francis Xavier Parish Church on August 25....
There is this new duck on the lake here at my far north wilderness camp. I am sure that Shee-sheep, the Cree word for ‘duck’ is a mallard and so I decided to call her Daisy. She seems to be frantically searching the lake for something. I am guessing that she is looking for her partner and ducklings. She likes to sit on my freshly renovated dock. I sent her away the other day and now I regret it.
Wabun Tribal Council hosted the 17th Annual Wabun Youth Gathering for senior Indigenous youth in Beaverhouse First Nation. The gathering which was held from August 12 to 15, 2024 is the second half of this annual gathering which is meant for youth from the ages of 14 to 18. The first part of the event was held in Mattagami FN on July 15 to 17 for junior aged youth. These annual events are hosted and organized by the Wabun Tribal Council Health Department with the support of the tribal council’s member First Nations.
I have been working in media as an Indigenous journalist, columnist and videographer for more than a quarter century at this point. This has been such an incredible experience and continues to be for so many reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason I love this work is because I continually learn from every story I must research and all of the amazing Elders, Chiefs, council members, Indigenous and non Indigenous people that I interview.
My home community of Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay coast has been filled with excitement for the past few months in anticipation of Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering 2024. A major week long event from August 4 to 10 will be filled with lots of fun entertainment, games for children, feasting, fund raising activities and major live musical performances. The event will be complimented by the 2nd Annual Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority (AFNEA) Wellness Initiative Pow Wow taking place on August 9 and 10.
The 17th Annual Wabun Youth Gathering was held in Mattagami First Nation in a week long event from July 15 to 19 for over 38 First Nation youth. The event was organized by the Wabun Tribal Council Health Department with the support of the tribal council’s member First Nations.
I never quite realized how hard life was when I was growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast. At the time in the 1980s, our Elders saw the community as becoming modernized and more comfortable compared to what they had known a few decades before.
There has been some good news lately in honouring agreements and righting wrongs when it comes to Indigenous peoples on the James Bay coast. The big news recently was the announcement of 1.2 billion dollars for the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) in regards to their Hospital Redevelopment Project.
We have proof that when governments work together good things can happen and that was demonstrated in Matachewan First Nation when the community announced recently the settlement of a Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) claim. The announcement was made on May 25, by Chief Alex ‘Sonny’ Batisse of Matachewan FN, along with Will Bouma, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs on behalf of the Honourable Greg Rickford and also by the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations.
Recently I was involved in a discussion with my partner and some of his friends who came of age in the 1960s. Our discussion was all about how upside down the world is these days with wars going on in the Ukraine and Gaza killing many thousands of people and destroying cities. It is interesting to hear from people who grew up in the 1960s and 70s because they bring an historical background to what is happening now. Many people I know were part of the hippie and counter culture movement of the time.
Every morning for a few weeks now I am waking up to the sound of Pee-Nay-Sheesh (small birds) singing outside my window. Mostly the singing is coming from the tree swallows flying frantically around in what seems like circles. I never learned the Cree name for this pretty little bird because they are rare to see on the James Bay coast. At this time of year, they are either mating or challenging each other for the ownership of the birdhouse I constructed a few years ago and perched on the garage roof.
This past month, I was happy to attend two Pow Wows I hadn't been to in years. I attended the Mattagami First Nation Pow Wow and the Matachewan First Nation...
I was happy to see my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast announce the opening of the new St Francis Xavier Parish Church on August 25....