SIKU, the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, has ice and geese trending again this spring as the annual goose watch competition takes flight for its fourth season on April 1. All Eeyou Istchee communities are eligible for the prizes available, including a $100 gift card for the first qualifying goose harvest post in each community.
The next generation of Cree leaders left the first Cree Nation Youth Council summit inspired to assume their future responsibilities. The event brought together most community youth councils along with numerous presenters to Quebec City February 25-27.
Abandoned former military sites of the Mid-Canada Line are finally getting cleaned up in Eeyou Istchee. The initial work planned for this summer will focus on smaller sites near Chisasibi and Whapmagoostui.
As a new study declares major changes are needed to protect biodiversity and wildlife in Quebec’s boreal forests, the Cree and other First Nations are increasingly resistant to forestry activities in the region.
The second cohort of the Eeyou Ituun (Cree knowledge) program graduated in Mistissini on January 29. The nine-month, 900-hour program was created by the Cree Trappers’ Association, the Niskamoon Corporation and the Cégep de St-Félicien to teach fundamentals of the Cree traditional lifestyle and living off the land.
Between the 1920s and the 1960s, residential schools in Canada would train Indigenous girls to become domestic servants. Marlene Etapp Dixon, 73, was one such student. In May 1965, a woman named Mrs. Richardson visited Dixon’s school, seeking a girl to work as a caregiver.
As we step into 2024, Eeyou Istchee is set for a year filled with stories that will define and unite the nation. But who will be the ones that choose to commit their time and skills to share these stories with the world?
In this year’s guide, we explore a selection of institutions that stand out for their commitment to providing culturally sensitive and empowering education for Indigenous students, particularly those from the Cree communities.
To the international biology community, Dr. Louis Bernatchez was a foundational leader in molecular ecology. To the Cheezo family in Eastmain, he was just “Uncle Louie”.
The Cree and Innu nations came together in December to underline the fragile state of the caribou population and the impact that last summer’s wildfires will have on hunting in the region this year. As discussions continue to establish a Traditional Harvest Understanding, a joint statement underscored the need to curtail unauthorized hunting and guiding practices to allow animal habitats to recover in the coming months.
