Rick Garrick

First Nation leaders at the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre and Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services are excited about the recent approval of an Indigenous Peoples Court in Thunder Bay.

“We’re really excited about moving it forward,” says Charlene Baglien, TBIFC’s executive director. “There is some overwhelming support from the community and I think it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us.”

Former regional chief Charles Fox says The Secret Path film about Chanie Wenjack, who ran away from residential school and died along the railway track, brought back “a lot of memories.”

Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum was encouraged by her experiences after completing a fast and 48 hours of prayer on the grounds of Shelter House Thunder Bay.

“It was very encouraging to see the support we were getting from the community,” Achneepineskum says. “I saw the interaction between the staff and the (clients), so it was very encouraging to see that there’s very nice people working here. And there was a lot of traffic going through here. Apparently that (path near the fast area) is a shortcut that’s used quite often.”

The Revenant’s Grace Dove spoke about her career as an actor during the 3rd Annual Maadaadizi Orientation for Aboriginal post-secondary students, held Sept. 10 in Thunder Bay.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s Elyssia Nanokeesic enjoyed the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) activity during the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s Health Sciences Summer Camp in Thunder Bay.

“The most interesting one was doing the CSI,” says the Grade 11 student. “I’m interested in that branch (of medicine) too, the forensics.”

The CSI activity took place throughout the week with the murder scene set on Monday and the camp participants gathering evidence for the rest of the week.