The rush to get to camp is on so we can harvest geese, caribou, bear and other wildlife that abound on our lands. I hear a small bush plane taking off with a load of cargo or passengers, noting that everyone has that new look on their faces, the one that glows with anticipation of returning to camp. Yes, it’s that time of the year again – Spring Goose Break.
There was electricity in the air when Kahnawake Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer spoke about a special moment in Mohawk history. She was referencing the co-ownership deal on a proposed $1.1 billion transmission line to export yet more electricity to New York City that the community signed with Hydro-Québec.
There’s little wonder why the ancients were in a state of shock and panic during a total solar eclipse. Many cultures feared the “end of times” or some other impending catastrophe during an eclipse.
I phoned my brother to give him some sad news about myself. I admitted that I’ve been sick and needed to let him know. His bravely solemn tone indicated that this wasn’t what he was expecting to hear from me. He wanted to know what was wrong and I stated rather seriously that I had goose fever.
As Goose Break approaches, I share the heartbreak of my fellow Crees who won’t have a campsite to return to this season. I’m also holding my breath, hoping this forest fire season won’t be as bad as the last.
March was Cree language month. Various people did different things to acknowledge it such as the local Mistissini Cree Language Conference. Cree language has been taught in our schools for many moons now. This is both in the written and spoken forms in Southern and Northern dialects.
The pounding blizzard, beating rain, deafening hail and the fallen trees laden with jagged ice. Then the disconnection from the power and communication grid. Apocalypse? Hardly, it’s just typical northern Quebec weather that will change several times during a day in the supposed warm spring months.
I have learned a few things after almost five decades on this earth. One of them is to live in the moment. Ever since my partner suffered from a lung disease, I am more aware of how important it is to savour life, to be kind as possible and to find joy in your work. It’s not always easy, but I find it leads to a happier existence.
Just when it seems that things are going better between Indigenous Peoples and the government, news arrives showing that it isn’t so. Yes, there have been some funding increases, but not nearly enough to address acute inequalities, especially for housing. The Liberals have budgeted $2.7 billion for on-reserve housing, but that’s far short of the $40-60 billion that is necessary, according to the Assembly of First Nations.
I received my copy of No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in the Defense of the Sacred by Klee Benally around the same time as the Oppenheimer-dominated Oscars ceremony. I learned about Benally a while ago through his activism against radioactive waste from nuclear bomb testing in Diné (Navajo) territory that still poisons his people and his land to this day.
