As an Indigenous person raised in a remote First Nation and on the land, I am very familiar with my cultural and traditional roots. It was a steep learning curve for me to adapt, adjust and fit into the non-Indigenous world when I first left Attawapiskat to further my education in the south.
The first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will be observed September 30. At the Nation we feel this is a small gesture by the federal government given that promised funds to search for unmarked graves at former residential schools never materialized.
I was on Nunavik’s Hudson Bay coast this summer to teach various workshops. In one of them, I show people how to identify if they are in crisis and then to map out their support system. The exercise is quite simple, but it forces one to reflect on who to rely on, whether they are professionals or loved ones.
This morning the radio was quietly playing some music that I recognized, just to prove how old I am. As “Wake Me up When September Ends” caused a knee-jerk reaction, I realized that August had slipped by in a haze of heat waves. It’s storm time now, as the people recently liberated from their homes to the south would have witnessed, with tornados popping up out of nowhere. Then Covid reared its ugly head once again and the fourth wave hit our communities. How? By travellers.
Despite a difficult experience since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Cree School Board Chairperson Sarah Pash is confident that Eeyou Istchee is ready for a return to almost-normal classroom activities.
It’s always interesting to see what the different candidates have to offer when an election is called. How many promises will be made? How many will be kept, compromised in the name of pragmatism or how many will simply disappear, never to be seen again even if the candidate making them is elected?
When was the last time you went offline and spent time away from the internet and social media? How often do you find yourself checking to see what is happening online during your day?
It’s been nearly two years since I ventured out by vehicle and I’m expecting a post-apocalyptic scene. The tourism industry was hit hard as hotels and restaurants reopen and ready themselves for the new passport that will enable people to roam freely. The lack of workers is evident, but not the effort of those who are there working for us in the hotel industry. I get to skip the dishes literally.
I’ve had the privilege to travel a lot during my short but busy lifetime. I visited many countries and yet, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like Inuit Nunangat, Inuit country. Some of the most beautiful landscapes I had the chance to see are in our neighbours’ territory.
It seems that this summer has been a bit of a disappointment with no real moderate temperatures to sooth the soul, instead it has fluctuated between scorching hot weather or foggy, rainy days. You can’t decide what to wear – shorts or jeans, t-shirts or jackets, flipflops or gumboots – the weather had us beat every time.
