For my brother Philip
I’m dedicating this column to my late brother Philip Kataquapit, who passed away on Christmas Day in 1990 at the age of 16.
Voices
ᐋ ᐄᔮᔨᐧᒫᓂᐧᐃᒡ
The Grinch who stole Christmas
Through rain, sleet or snow, the mail must be delivered. That’s certainly not true right now and it hasn’t been for a while. The timing of the 2024 Canada Post strike is disheartening and very Grinchy.
We need to do more
I was raised knowing many people in my circle of family and friends who dealt with troubles that they had no control over. Tragedy and trauma seemed be a normal part of life as I grew up in Attawapiskat.
Haka you
If there is one thing that we can say about social media is that it connects us all. While social media can be seen as something lacking objectivity, it can kickstart looking for the truth. It can raise awareness of what’s happening in your backyard as well as halfway around the world.
Remembering those who served
Every year at this time my partner Mike and I recall the devastating losses our families have suffered from war. Remembrance Day is always a sad day when we honour the veterans of both world wars and other conflicts. Those memories have been compounded with more sad truths through the research we have been doing over the past few years. We are working on media projects concerning the two world wars and some of our discoveries have been shocking.
As our world spins
I didn’t watch all the hoopla about the US elections as I knew that the American public, no matter how much it shows to be a grand circus, can elect someone worthy enough to be their chief honcho. As the masses collided and a fairly transparent voting system showed the world that, hey, democracy does work when it needs to.
Election timing
We at the Nation didn’t expect to become a controversial topic during the Cree Health Board election. In our last issue, we published interviews with two candidates, the current chair Bertie Wapachee and challenger George L. Diamond.
Halloween is very scary this year
My family and my home community of Attawapiskat takes great joy in celebrating Halloween. The traditions of scary stories, spirits, otherworldly beings and monsters work well with the legends that our parents and Elders taught us. The whole idea of Halloween celebrations being just a holiday for children and to have fun was also something that my parents and many of our Elders thoroughly enjoyed.
The inconveniences of convenience
I’ve noticed that everyone seems to be in a good mood with high spirits at work lately. Was it because a snowflake showed its crystalline face for the first time this fall, or have we slipped into winter already? Was it perhaps the notion of turning on a furnace for the first time just to feel some warm air blowing around the house? Was it perhaps because the sun and the moon were just spectacular? Whatever the reason, it just felt good.
50 years and counting
In the past, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee had no centralized government. Our system of tallymen to define and enforce our traplines was perhaps the only way we had some control over the territory beyond our communities.