The Cree Youth Summit brought the Cree School Board and Cree Nation Youth Council to Montreal October 16. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cree Nation Government on how they will work together during the event, called “Building Bridges: Shaping Futures”.
“My favourite part of working for Cree youth regionally is seeing how one idea becomes a big reality,” shared CNYC special projects coordinator Tania Richmond. “I remember a youth passing a resolution at the CNYC AGA in 2023 requesting an MOU. Here it is being signed today as a commitment to work together to support student youth councils. The future gets brighter the more we empower our current young leaders now!”
The agreement will enable the CSB to better understand the services and improvements needed by youth, encouraging the development of customized resources for nurturing student success. CNYC Grand Chief Adrian Gunner took the stage with CSB chairperson Sarah Pash, who highlighted the importance of bringing Cree culture to students far from home.
“Speaking as a person who was a postsecondary student with a young family myself, it’s really difficult to take your family out of the community and know they’re missing out on important culture and language experiences,” said Pash. “I’ve enjoyed seeing our students hosted at the teepee project in Kahnawake and we’ve been looking at finding land where we could put up a mitchuap or shaptuan for students to have a little taste of home.”
After Quebec’s Bill 96 imposed challenging French requirements in the province’s CEGEPs, Pash has met with the education minister to push for an exemption for Cree students while introducing more French language instruction to postsecondary preparation programs. The CSB has also been exploring how to help graduates successfully transition to Eeyou Istchee.
“We know for students who have been living independently, it’s very hard to move back to a home that’s already overcrowded and might feel like a step backward,” Pash told Winschgaoug radio. “We’ve put into place a policy that allows graduated students hired into a position at the CSB to put them into CSB housing in their own communities.”
Numerous Cree entities and organizations hosted information tables at the Montreal event with presentations showing youth the emerging career opportunities and available resources. MC Will E Skandalz and DJ Blaster brought the evening to life, which also featured games, dancing and the Innu band Ninan.
“The crowd was very enthusiastic, clapping along and making noise,” said Skandalz, aka Satehoronies McComber. “We played hot potato with zombie arms for Halloween season, and musical chairs. I felt like the bingo announcer at the hall, keeping them having fun and always guessing what’s next.”
Skandalz recently collaborated with CNYC projects technician Steve Einish (aka Kong) on hip-hop track “Rez Dawgz”. While not knowing what to expect in this new experience, he said, “it fit like a shoe after about five minutes” and he’s looking forward to the next CNYC Urban Tour stop in Ottawa November 11.
“I read the room, keep it to myself I’m the event MC, then all of a sudden I appear, knowing people’s names to make it more personable,” Skandalz explained. “I’m the Mohawk coming into a Cree event, so I’ve got to make it seem like I was there the whole time. It worked beautifully so I plan to do that again – if anyone in Ottawa is reading this, oops, the cat’s out of the bag.”
After touring northern Quebec this year, Skandalz integrated local slang and jokes to keep things lively. He hopes to spend time in Eeyou Istchee this winter and has been packaging a workshop with Kong, Violent Ground, DJ Digital Fire and Showbiz514 that combines performances with guidance for launching a music career.
This year’s events are spaced out and coordinated with other Cree initiatives. Ottawa’s stop on November 11 will not only serve as a social event for postsecondary students and other youth, but also as a celebration following a three-day treaty negotiation simulation.
As the 50th anniversary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement is in 2025, the event will focus on contemporary applications of this “first modern treaty” by splitting participants aged 16 to 35 into groups to simulate a treaty regarding moose management.
The initiative is hosted at Ottawa’s Shaw Centre November 8-10 in partnership with the Gordon Foundation. The foundation collaborated with treaty experts, negotiators and the Land Claims Agreement Coalition to develop its Understanding Our Treaties Initiative.
Dozens of treaty simulations have been held across Canada since 2019. The Cree version will be larger than usual, inviting 60 youth from Eeyou Istchee and 20 participants from urban areas. Notable Cree figures include Robert Kanatewat, who helped negotiate the JBNQA.
The CNYC Urban Tour event in Ottawa will largely replicate the successful formula of great food, games and entertainment, with the live music delivered by Mistissini’s Eeyou-Innu Rock Band. While last year’s MC Christian-John Monias is presently focused on the CNYC’s multimedia communications, urban stops can sometimes align with music or comedy gigs.
“If I know I’ll be there months ahead, I can book a whole week of performing when I’m not working,” Monias told the Nation. “It’s been interesting navigating the comedy scene. Last year I did three small festivals.”
In October, Monias performed stand-up at a packed venue called Deli Planet just as famous comedian Sugar Sammy made a surprise appearance. After both delivered sets, Monias told the veteran entertainer he used to watch his comedy on television in Chisasibi.
“They threw him on after me which felt like I got to open for him,” said Monias. “He was very interested in where I was from and expressed interest in coming perform in the Cree Nation some time. Hopefully I can make that happen, especially now that I work with people who do make these things happen.”