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.
That’s what happened when Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke performed a haka in New Zealand’s parliament – it went viral. Known as a “war challenge” or “war cry” in Māori culture, the haka was traditionally performed by men before going into battle. The aggressive facial expressions were meant to scare the opponents, while the cry itself helped lift their morale and call on the gods to help them win the day. This tradition became a part of today’s validation of Māori culture and lifestyle.
In the past it meant a lot, and even today it has power. For example, during WWII skirmish, Māori soldiers were outnumbered by the Japanese, but when they chanted the haka the Japanese surrendered because they found it so beautiful.
On November 14, members of the New Zealand Parliament voted on a contentious bill that would reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi signed by the Māori and the British in 1840. That was when the youngest Māori MP stood up, ripped up a copy of the bill and started chanting a haka. She was joined by other MPs as well as spectators in the visitors’ gallery. When the Speaker declared the session suspended and asked that the gallery be cleared, supposedly a security guard could be heard joining the haka.
Later, when the session resumed, Maipe-Clarke was suspended from Parliament for the afternoon, and her
But today there
are
changes and we can all hope that one haka will lead to many more to ensure that we are respected as Peoples in this world
action called disrespectful and disruptive. While this may be true, it is an action all too familiar to Indigenous Peoples across the world. The desire to limit or erase treaties and agreements by settler governments is nothing new and will continue as long as there are politicians ready to create divisions between Indigenous and settler residents for their own benefits.
The demagogues, or those who claim to speak for us all, love these moments. Who are they to continue to cost us? A statement that ignores the past and the present. While people will give and accept legal rights to places rented to them, the claims of Indigenous Peoples are regarded as a thing of the past and no longer valid. Even as they respect the claims of
landowners and landlords to charge them rent for where they live.
Fighting for their rights in New Zealand in a traditional manner is something sublime. Years may pass by but as with mainstream society the same rights and laws should always be respected regardless of race, culture or even opinion.
The time when governments could ignore Indigenous Peoples is no longer possible. Elijah Harper with his feather would have gotten a far larger audience today via social media which unfortunately did not exist back then.
But today there are changes and we can all hope that one haka will lead to many more to ensure that we are respected as Peoples in this world.
N. Diamond, E. Webb EDITOR IN CHIEF Will Nicholls DIRECTOR OF FINANCES Linda Ludwick EDITORS Lyle Stewart, Martin Siberok MANAGING EDITOR Randy Mayer STORY COORDINATOR Patrick Quinn
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS X. Kataquapit, S. Orr, P. Quinn, N. Fedosieieva DESIGN Matthew Dessner SALES AND ADVERTISING Danielle Valade, Donna Malthouse THANKS TO: Air Creebec
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Concordia offers
to build awareness of Indigenous realities Pîkiskwêtân
webinars
by Natalia Fedosieieva
Pîkiskwêtân, which means “let’s talk” in Cree, is a free series of anti-racist training and professional development webinars for Concordia University staff, faculty, students and alumni. Over 200 people attend each of these Indigenous Learning workshops at Concordia held throughout the academic year.
Manon Tremblay, a member the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, is the Senior Director for Indigenous Directions at the university. She said the series aims to increase awareness and understanding on matters that are important to Indigenous peoples in Canada.
She believes racism is still ongoing in Canada, and not only towards Indigenous people. “Any person of colour would tell you that racism is quite prevalent in this country,” said Tremblay.
Thus, the Indigenous Directions staff created a set of webinars for the Concordia community on Indigenous perspectives, racist attitudes and how the Indigenous are presented in the media. Indigenous cultural practices and worldviews, obstacles to decolonization and reconciliation are also explored.
“It is important for people to know what our lives are like,” Tremblay said. “It is a part of the education process.”
Among the topics, she highlighted the importance of the “Indigenous Perspective on the Ethical Conduct of Research” webinar, in which participants are invited to reflect on respectful ways to conduct academic research.
“It is important for researchers to understand specifics when they come into the communities,” she explained.
Tremblay presented the workshop November 15 to bring awareness to current and future researchers of the impact of research on Indigenous communities, collectives and organizations.
She said discussion topics included access to communities, data management, Indigenous perspectives on and experiences with research, intellectual property rights, and Indigenous research ethics and protocols.
Another webinar, “A Day in the Life of Indigenous People,” discusses daily lives of Indigenous students, staff and teachers – and the relationships they have with Canadians and governments.
“It is about the racism that we have: the lack of medical services, drinking water in some of the communities,” Tremblay stated. “It is important for people to know what our lives are like.”
She also mentioned the workshops on Indigenous languages, their status and “what led to the fact that these languages are in danger.”
“Last semester I offered a workshop on the interaction to the Cree language,” Tremblay said. “We just sat around the table and started learning how to speak Cree. It was big mix of participants, professors, staff and the students; there were some Indigenous students, including a couple of Cree students.”
Started during the Covid pandemic, Indigenous Learning series grew popular with relevant topics and the ease of its online approach, she explained.
“We make a choice on which topics we believe people want to hear about,” Tremblay said. “It is eye opening, something that they didn’t know about; for them it is part of their awareness of Indigenous issues.”
Her next webinar, “Hiring and Retaining Indigenous Employees,” is designed to help managers effectively hire, retain and mentor Indigenous employees. Attendees explore unconscious biases in the hiring and evaluation of Indigenous employees.
Donna Goodleaf, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, is Concordia’s first Decolonizing Curriculum and Pedagogy director. As one of the facilitators, she believes the Pîkiskwêtân Learning Series plays a significant role in understanding the Indigenous community at the university.
“The learning series serves as a platform to make Indigenous voices visible and heard on issues we perceive to be critical and important for all learners at the university,” Goodleaf said.
The workshop “Territorial Land Acknowledgement: Going Beyond the Rhetoric of Performative Acts” that Goodleaf leads explains the importance of recognizing the land that Concordia occupies. Participants learn how to deliver a territorial acknowledgement that is respectful and meaningful.
Goodleaf says it is important “to engage in critical self-awareness and be action-oriented to take it upon themselves to self-educate on matters that are important to the Indigenous community at the university.”
Department of Commerce and Industry
Getting to know candidate Jeannie Pelletier
by Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Arun-off election for Cree Health Board chairperson will be held November 27 between Jeannie Pelletier and incumbent Bertie Wapachee. As none of the five candidates received more than 50% of ballots cast November 12, a second round of voting is held for the top two candidates in the first round.
Advance run-off polling will be held in Cree communities November 21 with travelling polls November 25 at traditional camps near communities along with Eleanore Mine, Osisko (Windfall), KM 381 of the Billy Diamond Highway, Troilus Mining Camps and Quebec City’s embassy office.
Among the 2,578 ballots received November 12, Wapachee received 902 votes (35%), while Pelletier had 705 (27.3%). Not advancing to the second round are George Diamond (18.2%), Emma Virginia Wabano (10.7%) and Sherry Ann Spencer (8.7%).
While the final list of candidates was released October 23, the Nation had already gone to print featuring interviews with only Wapachee and Diamond, being unaware of others who intended to run. The candidates were discouraged from campaigning prior to this release, though this is not required under election bylaws. Some suggested an inherent conflict of interest because Returning Officer John Henry Wapachee is the brother of the incumbent chairperson, although no election discrepancies were observed.
“It seems like there are no rules even though I was trying to follow them,” said Pelletier. “I was even told I couldn’t go to the local radio stations because we have to be fair to all the others and they hadn’t submitted their recordings.”
Pelletier’s candidacy came from the same desire to help her people when she went south in 1989 at age 17 to pursue a career as an emergency nurse, getting an initial posting at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
“But it’s not easy going back to your community working in ‘emerg’,” Pelletier noted. “The people you face are close family members; it’s not the same as people you don’t know. For two years I did that and felt it was hard. It took a toll on my family too.”
Pivoting to prevention and primary care, Pelletier began a nursing degree at the University of Ottawa. While in the city, she worked six weeks in outreach nursing at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, which offered sharing circles and innovative approaches to Indigenous healing.
Run-off vote for CHB chair
Stepping into a management role after 14 years in community health, Pelletier advocated for reintroducing Cree midwifery in Chisasibi. She became the director of Chisasibi’s Community Miyupimaatisiiun Centre (CMC) and introduced the teambased Nisk model of care after researching solutions for more positive working environments.
“I went to the Southcentral Foundation in Alaska and was sold,” Pelletier recalled. “It was like being at Woodstock – that’s how we started the pilot project with 300 clients and the results were staggering. After a few visits, people really improved.”
With people tired of repeating their story to a revolving parade of doctors and nurses, the Nisk model gives more access to family doctors with one phone number to call or text questions to. Given a “blank canvas” to transform the family centre, Pelletier worked with architects and healthcare providers to develop a more responsive approach.
“You know the open concept of a teepee?” asked Pelletier. “The communication is open; everybody shares the responsibility and they get to know each other at a different level. The name of the training is Nitutaamh, Cree for ‘all my relations,’ meaning we’re all here for a common purpose.”
If elected, Pelletier hopes to expand this primary care availability throughout Eeyou Istchee, listening to community needs and inspiring change within the system. She wants to improve accessibility to health services, decentralizing resources and simplifying navigation for people seeking specific care.
“The main reason why I ran was to promote transparency,” Pelletier asserted. “We need to create spaces where community members can observe Board of Directors meetings. We’ve grown so fast and so big, people don’t actually know what we offer.”
Further studies at McGill University and UQAT influenced her understanding of human resources, which she believes should encourage a healthier work-life balance. To staff the many facilities under construction, she believes concepts such as a four-day work week would help draw younger people to healthcare careers.
Pelletier recently led an initiative on youth violence, working to understand and address hardships experienced in communities today. She supports expanded land-based healing with services at family cabins as one way of confronting residential school trauma.
“We have to appreciate the distinctness of our worldview and traditions,”
said Pelletier. “There’s a part of our processes we still need to Indigenize. There’s a lot of focus on Montreal but they need to come back to the community, where the needs are.”
The three pillars of her campaign platform are “reclaiming our path, restoring our health and rewriting our story.” Priorities include “operationalizing sacred teachings” as guiding principles for the board, integrating Cree cultural advisors and ensuring orientation training features Eeyou/Eenou customs and worldview.
With 28 years of experience at the health board and her community’s council, Pelletier suggested that her wide network would help grassroots voices transform the organization. She’s a big supporter of traditional healers, believing the growing Nishiiyuu department can offer alternative medicines unavailable in CMCs.
“Our most important resource are the people, not the buildings,” Pelletier argued in support of her efforts to improve working conditions and staff retention.
“I hope people start to understand how they have power over their health,” said Pelletier. “Considering inequalities that exist, I hope to close this gap to achieve Miyupimaatisiiun and demystify this concept.”
Treaty training for the next generation
The Grand Council of the Crees is organizing a year of activities leading up to the 50th Anniversary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement next year on November 11.
And initial event saw about 80 Cree youth aged 16 to 35 participate in a JBNQA treaty simulation organized by the Gordon Foundation and Cree Nation Youth Council in Ottawa November 8-10.
“We were divided into four teams, with each team representing one of the parties: Cree Nation Government, Government of Quebec, Cree Tallymen, and Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government,” explained participant Benoit Matoush. “Then each team made a proposal regarding moose conservation and management to present at the negotiating table.”
Participants brainstormed their side’s priorities before negotiating a mock treaty.
Wemindji student Jessika Danyluk said the public speaking experience helped many to come out of their shells.
“I feel like a lot of youth in our communities lack confidence in themselves about what they’re going to do in the future and what they’re going to improve in our communities,” Danyluk told CBC. “The youth need to step up and understand what goes on with our treaty and negotiation process[es]. We’re going to be in charge of the Cree Nation.”
The Gordon Foundation has organized dozens of trea-
ty simulations across Canada since 2019, transferring negotiation skills to emerging leaders. At this event, participants learned to deal with the pressure of modern treaty negotiations.
Robert Kanatewat, one of the four Cree signatories of the JBNQA in 1975, made a deep impact on the young delegates. He told the room that he feels confident that Eeyou Istchee is in great hands moving forward.
Wemindji youth council representative Charly Gilpin said Kanatewat’s involvement “felt like a full circle moment.”
The CNYC plans to have more treaty simulations for youth in the coming years.
“They kept saying at the treaty simulation that there might be a future Grand Chief in the room,” Gilpin said. “I feel like these youth aren’t our future leaders, they’re the leaders now.”
Cree Nation Police Officers Awarded Medal of Valour
At the Eeyou Eenou Police Force’s (EEPF) first Exemplary Service Awards Ceremony on September 6, officers Charlie Gunner, Derek St-Cyr and Sylvain Proulx received the Medal for Valour.
The incident ended with a dramatic takedown of the shooter after officers had taken between 100 to 120 rounds of shots towards them
They were recognized for an event that occurred in Mistissini on October 15, 2010, when they responded to shots fired, engaging a drunk male on a shooting spree with a 12 gauge shotgun and a “pail full of rounds.”
Sylvain Proulx, who was on duty that night with fellow officer Charlie Gunner, recalled the nearly three-hour standoff while receiving gunfire.
“I heard shots hit the house beside me, then I heard Charlie saying he was hit,” Detective Proulx explained. Bleeding from minor wounds, Gunner stayed on duty and returned to the police station to take calls from terrified community members.
Mistissini police officer Derek St-Cyr was next to arrive on the scene, followed soon by RCMP backup. The incident ended with a dramatic takedown of the shooter after officers had taken between 100 to 120 rounds of shots towards them and the scene spread over a kilometer
and a half, strewn with shell casings.
All the officers involved received the Governor General’s Medal for Bravery in 2012. Proulx is now a violent crimes detective with the Gatineau police and secretary of the police union while sitting on several important committees. He no longer carries a gun and lives with PTSD.
Gunner passed away with four other Mistissini hunters in a tragic cabin fire in 2015. He was remembered as an excellent hunter, husband and father but also a dedicated law enforcement officer whose heart was with the badge. Fearless in his dedication, his casket was topped with a Superman logo.
“Even to this day that is our symbol for him,” said his widow Rachel MacLeod. “I have a plate on our truck that has a superman logo and my son wears a superman t-shirt. It’s our way of remembering him. He was our superman.”
Indigenous leaders voice hope and skepticism at COP29
by Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
While we are witnessing an ever-escalating cascade of climate disasters, leaders from the world’s most polluting countries were conspicuously absent from COP29, the United Nations’ annual climate conference.
Others boycotted the conference because of host country Azerbaijan’s rampant human rights abuses, particularly its ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh
last year. Papua New Guinea called the conference “a total waste of time.” Meanwhile, Azerbaijan appointed Elnur Soltanov, the head of its state energy company Socar, as its chief executive to the conference. Soltanov appeared to use the occasion as a forum to cut deals with international petroleum corporations.
Nonetheless, there were still over 65,000 registered delegates – making it the second largest in COP’s history.
One of those delegates was Chief Wesley Sam from BC’s Ts’il Kaz Koh Nation.
The Nation reached Chief Sam during his first “conference of parties” (COP) in Baku, Azerbaijan, after a journey he said took four flights. As chairperson of K’uul Power, a First Nations-led organization pursuing the development of renewable energy projects, he is negotiating with BC
Helping Steerthe Ship
Hydro to own a transmission line cutting through several Indigenous territories.
“I’m just coming from an event with beautiful wind, solar, earthbased projects and carbon-capture systems,” Sam told the Nation. “First Nations are an absolute key to the success in green energy projects. It’s time to heal.”
Sam is optimistic that green energy solutions will power the future. “Our youth are getting very engaged – we call them K’uul kids,” he enthused. “I’d like to bring my youth to the next one so they can start ground-pounding like I am.”
Climate change has ravaged his region with forest fires, disappearing salmon stocks and a devastating pine beetle epidemic. At COP29, Sam noted that Indigenous peoples worldwide are facing similar issues yet doing what they can locally to make a difference.
“This shows we’re not alone in this fight,” Sam asserted. “It’s us that have to clean it up. What will come out of this is worth the time and energy. There’s a chance we can help steer the ship.”
He joined the First Nations Climate Initiative (FNCI) delegation in Baku to showcase Indigenous partnerships in zero-emission and low-carbon energy projects. FNCI is pitching liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a potential emissions solution for Asian steel and shipping industries.
However, critics like LNG senior strategist John Young from Climate Action Network have stated LNG has 33% more emissions than coal when shipping, production and methane leaks are considered. FNCI maintains that its responsible production and monitoring process can contribute to decarbonization and Indigenous economic self-determination.
After the last summit’s historic pledge to transition away from fossil fuels, oil giants like Saudi Arabia have attempted to sidestep commitments, alleging they were “an option” rather than a goal. The major
focus at COP29 was climate finance, with demands that rich countries to help poor countries pay for their fossil fuel transition and cope with climate change repercussions.
As talks entered their final days, hopes for confirming the $1 trillion annually demanded by developing countries were diminishing. Indigenous voices at COP29 were vastly outnumbered by fossil fuel lobbyists. But they were adamant be heard, asserting they look after 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity but receive less than 1% of global climate finance.
“Sea level rise is eating us up,” said Flora Vano from the South Pacific island state of Vanuatu. “It threatens our food security, contaminates our water source, infrastructure is destroyed and the increase in gender-based violence goes sky high.”
Many Indigenous peoples are alarmed by the prospect of carbon credit trading without adequate safeguards and transparency, as these projects have already resulted in land grabs and rights violations. While some leaders suggested these initiatives have potential to support First Nations communities, they affirmed their fundamental rights must be paramount.
Indigenous delegates like Panama’s Giuseppe Olo Villalaz believed this conference was an opportunity to prepare for next year’s climate gathering in the Brazilian Amazon where more decisive commitments are expected.
At COP29, Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Australia and the Pacific joined forces to demand shared leadership of future climate talks. Meanwhile, in Rio de Janeiro where the G20 meeting was taking place, Brazil’s Indigenous movement launched a campaign called “The Answer Is Us” and demanded official co-presidency at COP30.
Wishing you happy travels and many joyful moments this holiday season!
Aviation Ambitions
Gull family reunites for Remembrance Day
by Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Among the thousands gathered at Canada’s National War Memorial in Ottawa for Remembrance Day November 11 was a Cree family who had travelled from Waswanipi to cheer on Officer Cadet Zakia Gull. Gull was part of a delegation enrolled in the Indigenous Leadership Opportunity Year at Kingston’s Royal Military College (RMC).
“It felt like I was actually fully part of the armed forces,” Gull told the Nation. “It’s been inspiring, motivating me to keep going and put all my effort into the training.”
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has offered the oneyear course since 2008, providing individual, group and cultural instruction to help build leadership and life skills. With free tuition and a cadet’s salary, participants experience military life and its opportunities.
Gull joined 17 other Indigenous youth from across Canada in August. Alongside a range of first-year university courses, participants receive military training in field and classroom exercises. Gull credits his work with a personal trainer before joining the program with helping him meet its steep physical demands. \
“I was not expecting how much it would take a toll on me physically,” admitted Gull. “An orientation period introduces you to waking up before 5, to be outside the building within five minutes. The staff would start yelling at you to wake up – it was very stressful.”
Gull’s first field exercise involved rifle training, then a 2.4 km “ruck march” carrying 40 pounds of gear before setting up a tent and building defences. As cadets took turns guarding the patrol base through the night, staff would simulate attacks with blank rounds.
“Nights were hell,” said Gull. “Everyone sleeping has to get up and go to their defence post within 10 seconds, grabbing their rifle, helmet, vest and gas mask. It was fun looking back at it.”
Ambitions
“I just wanted to cry, I was so proud of him”
- Karen-Lee Gull
Another early highlight from the program was touring a battleship to learn about potential careers as a naval warfare officer or weapons engineer. After completing this program, Gull will choose between several trades and degree programs to pursue.
Graduates have the opportunity to become infantry or other non-commissioned members of the CAF or continue at RMC under the Regular Officer Training Plan in a fully funded four-year bachelor’s degree in arts, engineering or science. There’s also the option to return to civilian life.
Canada is increasingly celebrating the long history of Indigenous peoples in the military. On this year’s Indigenous Veterans Day on November 8, Belgium honoured the country’s 4,000 Indigenous soldiers who fought in the First World War with a national ceremony. A plaque commemorating Alex Decoteau of Saskatchewan’s Red Pheasant Cree Nation was installed in Flanders Fields, where he was killed in action.
Decoteau was an Olympic runner and Canada’s first Indigenous police officer, who commanded his own station in Edmonton before joining the army. The Canadian delegation paid tribute to Decoteau and Mi’kmaw soldier Sam Glode with an emotional performance of the Mi’kmaq Honour Song.
Back in Ottawa, CAF commander-in-chief Governor General Mary Simon was the first to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial and a special flypast of vintage military aircraft marked the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The idea of becoming an air force pilot is what first drew Zakia Gull to the military, inspired by his older sister Karen-Lee Gull’s aviation ambitions.
“I just wanted to cry, I was so proud of him,” shared Karen-Lee. “He got accepted to the same school as me but changed his mind. I took him to an air show and he even tried the flight simulator at my school. I want to work for Air Creebec.”
Spending most of her days in the bush, she remembers lying in her blind about five years ago when a jet flew by overhead. Thinking to herself, “I wish I were the one flying that aircraft,” Karen-Lee decided to leave the
“We’re really happy with what they’ve dedicated their lives to” - Jerry Gull
income security program and go back to school. After saving money at the Windfall mine for a year, she enrolled in Dawson College’s one-year Journeys program and started looking into flight schools.
“I had a mentorship project at Dawson, so I interviewed Rita Rabbitskin, a pilot for Air Creebec,” Karen-Lee explained. “She gave me insights about being a pilot, the hardships and everything in between. It was supposed to be a 15-to-30-minute meeting, but we ended up talking for over three hours.”
Karen-Lee faced her share of turbulence chasing her dream, denied admission to one school and struggling to raise tuition funds from the Cree School Board and other sources. Eventually she was accepted into Select Aviation College’s Integrated ATPL Commercial Air Transport Pilot License program in Gatineau, which she called “the most prestigious pilot license in Canada.”
“Despite facing a lot of financial hardships, I still try to remain positive because I receive a lot of support from people in the Cree Nation, which helps me to keep going and I constantly remind myself that all my struggles will someday pay off,” she said. “Having a classroom in the sky is something else.”
While Karen-Lee will soon begin the commercial pilot phase of her program and Zakia is looking forward to the Blizzard Nordique field exercise after Christmas, the family was all together for Remembrance Day in Ottawa. Their father, Jerry Gull, couldn’t be prouder of his children.
“I’d drive him to school every day and talk about his future,” Jerry reminisced.
“I told him I wished I had that opportunity when I was young. My parents were always in the bush, so I pushed him to a higher level. We’re really happy with what they’ve dedicated their lives to.”
Community
Keep it local
New app added to tools meant to boost Cree economy
by Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In time for the holiday shopping season, the Cree Nation Government’s Department of Commerce and Industry (DCI) is launching a mobile app designed to reward community members for supporting businesses within Eeyou Istchee. Starting December 1, community members can upload receipts over $10 to the Keep It Local app and gain entry to a monthly $500 gift card draw.
With the CNG calling this the “year of economic development,” the DCI hopes to coordinate this initiative with its new Cree business registry, which already has over 250 businesses registered. Once consumers download the user-friendly app, they can upload up to five proofs of purchase each day for a chance to win in draws until April 15.
“It’s an initiative where everybody wins,” said DCI director Anthony MacLeod. “It’s a tool to demonstrate our focus on innovation in addressing the needs of Cree businesses in our communities. Growing our Cree economy is truly a community effort.”
While MacLeod understands that community members will always be drawn to neighbouring towns for groceries and materials, often by necessity, he was inspired by “support local” campaigns such as in Chibougamau that sometimes simply involve submitting your name in a ballot box.
“I thought why don’t we do something similar for Eeyou Istchee,” MacLeod explained. “Everybody has a phone. The regional sector experienced a bit of a bump during Covid when it was difficult to travel. We bought things locally where the money stays in the community.”
Adapting the concept to the Cree Nation means integrating local artisans. As long as the receipts are valid, consumers can transfer their purchases of snowshoes or any other Cree crafts to the app. With a rapidly growing population, the initiative is part of a larger movement to modernize the Eeyou/ Eenou economy.
“There are a lot of opportunities in our communities to monetize your passion,” said Raymond Jolly, owner of Eeyou Istchee Lifestyle. “Do what you love to do – you just have to find a need. People will talk about you but keep moving forward.”
Jolly is working with DCI to develop a promotional video for the Keep It Local app. Since launching his brand in 2021 following business studies, the young Waskaganish entrepreneur has co-founded Eeyoupreneur with Samuel McLeod and began hosting the popular Little House podcast alongside Terence Hester and Conrad Blueboy.
“We started with $5,000 cash as a start-up and now we have three people on payroll with the help of ASD [Apatisiiwin Skills Development],” explained Jolly. “We purchased a trailer to travel around for popup shops and invested in a new retail location. We have a hangout room and new styles coming in.”
In August, the DCI teamed up with Eeyoupreneur for the inaugural Cree Nation Business Summit in Chisasibi,
which featured influential guest speakers and a group case study competition. At next year’s edition in Mistissini, MacLeod hopes to encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors while promoting the success of more experienced Cree entrepreneurs.
“I think we’ll be looking at some sort of business exchange day because we need to share the success stories,” MacLeod told the Nation. “The government organizations are the major employers here and the private sector is a very small percentage of jobs. We have to grow that sector and have tools to initiate that.”
On November 13, the Secretariat to the Cree Nation Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Alliance (SCNATEA) held its 21st annual business exchange day in Val-d’Or. Hosted by Christopher Hérodier, the event drew about 200 people for business meetings, mentorship and networking.
SCNATEA president Ted Moses was presented a beaded medallion and discussed the coming year’s 50th anniversary of the JBNQA, for which he was a key negotiator. In his address, he advocated for the Cree Nation’s involvement in not only the region’s economy, but in Canada and beyond.
A new addition this year was a special presentation of Niimuudaan, a culturally adapted mentorship program for the Cree Nation that SCNATEA recently
launched in partnership with Réseau Mentorat.
“It is Cree entrepreneurs who are already in business with experience and careers being paired with entrepreneurs starting their journey or aspiring entrepreneurs,” explained SCNATEA director general Julie Martin. “Coaching and counselling are people getting paid to give you advice. Mentorship is a free relationship that comes from within, the passion to transfer knowledge to the next generation.”
Former Air Creebec president Matthew Happyjack was introduced as Niimuudaan’s head mentor while Charlotte Ottereyes will mentor Cree women. As president of the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association, Ottereyes helped organize the first Indigenous Women’s Leadership Conference in March.
Throughout the year, the Secretariat remains open to inquiries about facilitating partnerships and promotes its Allia app. An array of resources adapted to the realities of the Cree Nation are empowering an increasingly diversified regional economy.
“We want to be facilitators so it’s easier for people to take that first step,” asserted Martin. “It gives me a lot of hope for the Cree Nation claiming that power in the economy. All those new structures that are starting to emerge show a great future for Cree entrepreneurs.”
Wishing you a holiday season filled with love, joy, and good health, and a New Year of peace and prosperity. Merry Christmas from all of us at the Cree Trappers’ Association.
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by Margie E. Burke
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Under the Northern Sky
We need to do more
by Xavier Kataquapit
Iwas 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.
My parents’ generation grew up with limited formal education. What schooling they had was in the residential school system, where they faced abuse, colonization and a sense that they were less than human. They passed this trauma on to their children. Some families survived this communal trauma to varying degrees, but many others were unable to cope –falling into drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness.
Some went to southern communities to find a way out of poverty through work, education and other opportunities. Instead, they found little help and far more ways to complicate their lives. Those who failed to find a life in the south returned defeated to their community. This was difficult as there was a lack of housing or any kind of dedicated care to deal with addictions and mental health conditions.
According to the Homeless Hub, a Canadian Observatory on Homelessness project at York University, 80% of homeless individuals surveyed in the Cochrane District of northwestern Ontario in 2021 identified as Indigenous.
Over the decades, conservative-leaning governments at every level have had simplistic responses to this problem – by stepping up policing and creating rules to outlaw homelessness. Trying to hide the problem only makes matters worse. The homeless, addicted and those with mental problems were ignored or worse, condemned.
It’s necessary to spend money to assist people suffering from these situations. But when you think about it, society always ends up paying for it by spending huge sums in health care, policing and incarceration. There’s also the violence that goes along with these tragic situations. We need to realize that it is best to
There is a bonus to taking care of people and in helping them to live healthy lives. They go on to take care of others around them and they participate in the community in positive ways.
deal with all these critical problems now to help people heal.
If we don’t care enough to come up with healing solution, those people who are unwell will go on to harm themselves or others, which leads to more emergency health care. People who are homeless, addicted and mentally unwell fall into criminal behaviour, which then leads to increased public costs of judicial services, courts, incarceration and band-aid social services that don’t really work.
The alternative is to take care of people now before things get worse. When people are not left to fall through the cracks of society, they are less likely to drift into criminal behaviour and less likely to hurt themselves or others. The savings appear because more people are well, fewer use public health care and far fewer end up in the judicial system.
There is a bonus to taking care of people and in helping them to live healthy lives. They go on to take care of others around them and they participate in the community in positive ways.
There is already a precedent for this in Canada. At the end of the Second World War, the country provided a nation-
al housing program for low-income families by creating what is now known as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The need corresponded with a population boom at the time. If those families had not been helped, they would have naturally fallen through the cracks and the country would have in turn paid for the consequences of a struggling population.
A more modern example is in Finland, where government programs promote a “housing first” initiative to house people. In Finland, a country of 5.5 million people, these programs have reduced homeless from 18,000 in 1987 to 4,000 now with less than 500 actually spending the night outside. They don’t just provide housing, they help people deal with drug abuse, mental-health problems and in finding jobs.
This is in contrast to what Canada has been doing for the past few decades: cutting social-program funding with the results being an increase in the number of homeless people, people living on the verge of homelessness and higher rates of incarceration.
