As improving weather conditions and international firefighting reinforcements slowed the spread of forest fires in northern Quebec, evacuated residents of Ouje-Bougoumou and Chibougamau were happy to begin returning home June 12.
Kanesatake residents are increasingly unnerved by an environmental crisis in the Mohawk community west of Montreal. During a May 25 demonstration in front of Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller’s Montreal office, they called for an independent inquiry into an illegal toxic waste dump that continues to operate despite losing its license two years ago.
As forest fires ravaged large areas of southern Eeyou Istchee in early June, Ouje-Bougoumou was completely evacuated and Waswanipi was relocating its most vulnerable people. As of June 8, 137 fires were active across the province, most out of control, down from 149 the previous day as cooler weather and firefighting reinforcements began taming some of the blazes.
The grand opening of the Home Dialysis Training Centre and Respiratory Clinic in Waskaganish was celebrated May 16 as a step toward bringing more Cree people with diabetes home to Eeyou Istchee. Ispeyimuunikaitmikw – the Hope Centre – will allow patients to conduct peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis treatments from the comfort of their homes.
The conservation movement was celebrated at the largest ever First Nations National Guardians Gathering in Ottawa May 9-11. Since the first gathering in 2016, the number of guardians programs across the country has quadrupled from 30 to more than 120.
Canada has agreed to pay $800 million to five First Nations to settle a land claims dispute in British Columbia, acknowledging that it failed to honour a treaty signed over a century ago.
Emily Rabbitskin was washing dishes at home in Mistissini when her cellphone rang. The caller asked her if she could be part of a project that would help many survivors of residential schools.
The Office of the Cree Language Commissioner has received a five-year funding pledge, ensuring it will have money to expand its workforce and expand its range of programs and activities in the coming years.
The tragic drowning of eight people attempting to cross illegally into the United States has shone an unfortunate light on the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Akwesasne, which straddles the Ontario, Quebec and New York state borders and is divided by the St. Lawrence River.
As the Covid-19 pandemic fades as a public health concern three years after it changed the planet’s life, some healthcare organizations are studying the Cree Nation’s successful mitigation measures to better understand how to respond to future emergencies.
