October 4, 2012

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PM#0382659799

Fall harvest teaches traditional activities PAGE 11 Vol. 39 No. 32

Thunder Bay housing shortages PAGE 10

35 films screen at Biindigaate PAGE 7 9,300 copies distributed $1.50

October 4, 2012 Northern Ontario’s First Nation Voice since 1974

www.wawataynews.ca

Connecting First Nations with billiondollar transmission line

Remembering Aboriginal women

Shawn Bell Wawatay News

Rick Garrick/Wawatay News

Full Moon Memory Walk organizer Sharon Johnson helps raise the Full Moon Memory Walk flag on Sept. 28 at City Hall in Thunder Bay. Johnson’s sister was found murdered along the Neebing-McIntyre River floodway in 1992. See story on page 8.

Planning for a northern transmission line that will connect remote First Nations of northwestern Ontario to the southern electricity grid took a big step forward last week, as the steering committee of Wataynikaneyap Power met with the Ontario government and released its Environmental Assessment notice. The meeting between Wataynikaneyap and three provincial ministers marked a milestone in the estimated $1.1 billion project, as Phase 1 – upgrading the existing transmission line to Pickle Lake and running a line to the Musselwhite mine – gets closer to reality. “It’s not going to happen overnight, there are lots of logistics and regulatory requirements, but this (transmission line) has been a priority determined by the communities that want their energy issues addressed,” said steering committee member Margaret Kenequenash. Wataynikaneyap plans to be a 100 percent First Nations owned and operated company, with revenue from the transmission line going back to the communities that are part owners of the company. So far 13 First Nations have joined the company. See WATAYNIKANEYAP on page 5

Province-wide study looks at First Nations nurses Shawn Bell Wawatay News

In an effort to see more Aboriginal people in nursing, a team of researchers at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay has embarked on a province-wide study of nursing schools and the nursing profession. The study, led by Dr. Bruce Minore of Lakehead’s Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research, focuses on interviewing Aboriginal nurses and Aboriginal nursing students to determine why such a relatively small proportion of nurses in Ontario are of First Nations or Metis descent. Minore told Wawatay News that he hopes the results lead to provincewide recommendations on how nursing schools can better accommodate Aboriginal students, and how the profession as a whole can better attract and retain Aboriginal nurses. “There is an emerging awareness of

the importance of attracting Aboriginal people into health sciences generally, given the scarcity of Aboriginal nurses and caregivers,” Minore said. “This study is trying to identify what are the challenges, and what are the remedies for those challenges.”

“There is an emerging awareness of the importance of attracting Aboriginal people into health sciences ...given the scarcity of Aboriginal nurses and caregivers.” -Dr. Bruce Minore, Lakehead’s Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research

Minore said that it is commonly understood that Aboriginal clients

will benefit from having more nurses who share “some of their life experiences and worldviews.” The challenge is that currently so few First Nations and Metis nurses are working in the province. In part due to the limited number of Aboriginal nurses and nursing students, Minore said early indications from the study point to two major problems found in both hospitals and nursing schools: either Aboriginal nurses and students are seen as allknowing, because they understand the cultural background of the clients, or on the other hand, the cultural knowledge that Aboriginal nurses and students have is completely disregarded by superiors and instructors. Minore said both situations fail to acknowledge the reality that all nurses, regardless of cultural background, have individual skills and backgrounds that can complement a school or work environment.

While the study is being conducted out of Thunder Bay, it examines the situation province-wide. The research team has identified five health care facilities to represent a cross-section of the provincial health care situation. Included on the list is Sioux Lookout’s Meno Ya Win Health Centre, which will allow the researchers to gauge the situation in northern, remote First Nations. Minore’s team will also examine the Treaty #3 context at the Kenora Aboriginal Health Access Centre; a large city hospital in Kingston that also serves fly-in communities along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coast; the North Bay General Hospital where there is a large percentage of Metis people; and the Six Nations health centre representing a southern First Nation setting with access to highly populated cities close by. The researchers will also conduct interviews at all Ontario nursing

schools, with a special emphasis on schools that have had success attracting Aboriginal students. Minore said it was important to define a study that took the entire province into account. “The province functions on a system-wide basis, as opposed to regional, in terms of policy formulation,” he said. “If you provide comprehensive views of the situation it will make a more compelling case to create strategies that are going to support change in the education sector and the clinical sector.” The study will be completed in March 2013, at which point recommendations will go to the Ontario government. Before that happens Minore said his team will take the recommendations to the communities and decision makers to ensure that the study has correctly interpreted what was told to the researchers.

Enjoy an evening with us - listen to the Wasaya Hour!

Thursday October 4th, 2012 at 6pm 1.877.492.7292 www.wasaya.com

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Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

INSIDE WAWATAY NEWS

ᐧᐊᐧᐊᑌ ᐊᒋᒧᐧᐃᓇᐣ

THIS WEEK...

ᑭᒋᓇᒣᑯᓯᑊ ᐅᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᑐᓇᐊᐧ ᐅᒪᐊᐧᒋᐦᐃᑐᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ

ᐱᐣᑎᑲᑌ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᑭᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᑌᐊᐧᐣ 40 ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᓇᐣ

ᑭᒋᓇᒣᑯᓯᑊ ᐃᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᒥᓇ ᐅᓇᔓᐁᐧᐃᐧᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᐅᒪᐊᐧᒋᐦᐃᑐᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ ᐅᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᑐᓇᐊᐧ ᐃᒪ ᐅᑎᐡᑯᓂᑲᓂᐊᐧ ᑲᐅᐣᒋ ᒪᒋᐁᐧᓭᓂᐠ ᐅᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑫᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ ᐁᑲᐧ ᐁᐧᑎ ᐅᑕᓇᐠ ᑲᐡᑲᑎᓄᐱᓯᑦ ᑲᑭᐊᐣᑭᒋᒪᑫᐊᐧᐸᐣ ᐅᐁᐧᓂ ᑲᑭᐅᐣᒋᒪᒋᑐᑕᒧᐊᐧᐸᐣ. ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᑕᐧᓂ ᒪᐧᕑᐃᐢ ᑭᐃᑭᑐ ᑲᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ ᐅᒪᐊᐧᒋᐦᐃᑐᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ ᐅᑐᒋ ᑲᑭᑫᐣᑕᓇᐊᐧ ᐃᒪ ᐃᐡᑯᓂᑲᓂᐠ ᑲᑲᐯᔑᐊᐧᐨ ᑫᑯᓇᑌ ᑲᐊᓂᒧᒋᑲᑌᓂᑭᐣ ᐯᑭᐡ ᑲᔦ ᒋᐅᒋ ᓇᓇᑫᐧᐁᐧᔑᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᓇᓇᑐᐠ ᑫᑯᓇᐣ ᑲᐊᓂᒧᒋᑲᑌᓂᑭᐣ. ᒥᐦᐅᐁᐧᓂ ᐯᔑᑲᐧᔦᐠ ᑲᑭᐃᑭᑐᐸᐣ ᒪᐧᕑᐃᐢ ᒋᐊᐸᒋᑐᐨ ᑲᒪᐧᔦ ᒥᓇᐊᐧ ᑭᐁᐧᐅᑕᐱᓇᑲᓄᐨ ᒋᓂᑲᓂᑕᒪᑫᐨ. ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓇ ᐅᓂᔓᐁᐧᐃᐧᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑕᓱᐱᒥᑯᓇᑲ ᐅᑕᔭᑲᐃᐧ ᐸᑭᑎᓇᓇᐊᐧ ᐅᐡᑭᑎᐸᒋᒧᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᒥᓇ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᓂᐠ ᐅᑐᐣᒋᐃᐧᐣᑕᓇᐊᐧ ᑲᐸᐸᔐᐣᑕᑲᐧᑭᐣ ᐊᓂᒧᒋᑫᐃᐧ ᑫᑯᓇᐣ.

ᐊᔕ ᓂᐅᐊᐦᑭᐃᐧᐣ ᐅᐁᐧ ᐃᔑᒋᑲᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᑕᓱᔭᑭ ᑲᑐᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐣᑎᑲᑌ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑫᐃᐧ ᐃᔑᒋᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᑲᑭᓇᑯᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ 40 ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᐊᐧᑌᐸᑲᐃᐧᐱᓯᑦ 27 ᐊᑯᓇᐠ 30 ᐃᒪ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ. ᐅᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑫᐠ ᒉᓴᐣ ᐦᐊᐣᑐᕑ ᐃᐧᓇᐢᐠ ᑲᐅᐣᒋᐨ ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓇ ᐁᐣᑕᓂ ᐯᕑᑎ ᐊᒋᑯᓴᑲᐦᐃᑲᓂᐠ ᑲᐅᐣᒋᐨ ᑭᑲᐧᔭᒋᔭᐊᐧᐠ ᐃᒪ ᒪᐡᑯᐨ ᐊᐃᐧᔭᐠ ᑫᑯᓇᐣ ᐃᐧᐱᑲᑫᐧᒋᒥᑯᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᑭᔭᓂ ᐃᐡᑲᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ, ᐃᓂᐁᐧᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᐃᐧᓇᐊᐧ ᑲᑭᐅᔑᑐᐊᐧᐸᐣ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᑲᐱᒥᐃᐡᑯᓄᐦᐃᑕᐧ ᐃᒪ ᑲᐧᐣ ᑲᐧᓫᐃᐨ. ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓇ ᐊᒥ ᐁᑫᐧᓇᐠ ᑭᐃᔑᒋᑲᓄᐊᐧᐣ ᐁᑭᐊᔭᐊᐧᐨ ᐃᒪ ᑲᑭᐊᔭᒥᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᐃᐧᐱᐦᐃᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ. ᑌᓂᐢ ᑲᕑᐊᒧᕑᑎ ᐦᐊᔾ ᐢᑯᓫ ᐅᑎᐡᑯᓂᐠ ᑭᐊᓄᓇᑲᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᒋᐊᔭᒥᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᐁᑲᐧ ᐊᐧᐁᐧ ᐅᑎᐸᒋᒧᐱᐦᐃᑫ ᐃᐧᓴᑯᑌᐃᐧᓂᓂ ᑲᐅᔑᑐᐨ ᒪᓯᓇᑌᓯᒋᑲᓇᐣ ᐊᑕᑦ ᑲᕑᓂᐟ ᒍᐣᐢ ᑐᕑᐊᐣᑐ ᐃᔑᑲᐯᔑ ᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᐃᒪ ᐅᑭᐅᐣᒋ ᐊᐧᐃᐧᒋᐦᐊᐣ ᑲᑭᐊᔭᒥᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᐱᐦᐃᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ.

KI broadcasts band council meetings Biindigaate screens 40 indigenous films

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s (KI) chief and council meetings have been televised over the community’s cable network since last November’s band election. KI Chief Donny Morris said the televised meetings provide community members with an opportunity to provide input on various issues. The televised meetings were part of Morris’ election platform before he was re-elected. The council also produces weekly updates and video blogs about urgent community matters.

Page 9 ᑲᐧᕑᑎᓂ ᐱᒧᓭ ᑌᑎᐸᑲᒥᐠ ᐁᐱᒥᐃᐧᐣᑕᒪᑫᐨ ᑲᐱᒥᓂᔑᐊᐧᓇᒋᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐊᐦᑭ ᕑᐁᐱᐣ ᑲᐧᕑᐟᓂ ᐱᒧᓭ ᑌᑎᐸᑲᒥᐠ ᑲᓇᑕ ᐃᓇᐦᐊᑐ ᐁᐱᒥᐃᐧᐣᑕᒪᑫᐨ ᒋᑲᑫᐧ ᓇᑲᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᑲᐱᒥᓂᔑᐊᐧᓇᒋᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐊᐦᑭ. ᐁᕑᐅᓫᐊᐣᐟ ᐃᐡᑯᓂᑲᓂᐠ ᐅᐣᒋᑎᐯᐣᑕᑯᓯ ᐊᔕ ᐅᑕᓂᑭᔑᑐᐣ ᐅᐱᒧᓭᐃᐧᐣ ᐊᔭᒋᓇ ᐊᑯᓇᐠ ᓂᐦᓱᐱᒥᑯᓇᑲ ᐁᐱᒧᓭᐨ. ᑭᐃᑭᑐ ᑲᐃᐧᐣ ᐃᑯ ᐁᑕ ᐅᐁᐧᓂ ᒋᐃᔑᐃᐧᒋᐦᐃᑯᐨ ᒋᐊᔭᑌᔑᐣᐠ, ᐃᒪ ᑲᔦ ᐅᐣᒋᑕᐃᐧᓭ ᑕᓴᐧ ᓂᐊᐧ ᐯᔑᑯᔭᑭ ᑲᐱᒥᐊᐣᒋᐁᐧᐸᓂᐠ ᒋᐃᔑᐱᒧᓭᐨ, ᒥᐦᐅᐁᐧᓂ ᐁᔑᒪᐡᑲᐃᐧᑌᐯᐧᑕᐠ ᒋᐃᔑᒋᑫᐨ ᐊᐦᑭᐃᐧ ᐱᒧᑫᓭᐃᐧᐣ ᑲᐃᔑᒋᑲᓄᐊᐧᐠ. ᐊᔕ ᐅᑭ ᑭᔑᑐᐣ ᑊᕑᐃᑎᐡ ᑲᓫᐊᑊᐱᔭ, ᐊᓫᐯᕑᑕ, ᓭᐢᑲᒋᐊᐧᐣ ᒥᓇ ᒪᓂᑐᐸ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᑲᑭᐱᒧᓭᐨ ᑲᓯᑲᐧᓂᐠ ᒥᓇ ᑲᓂᐱᓂᐠ ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓇ ᐊᔕ ᑭᒪᒋᐱᒧᓭ ᑭᐁᐧᑎᓄᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ. ᐅᐃᐧᑲᑫᐧᐅᑎᑕᐣ ᐊᐧᐸᓄᐠ ᓇᓂᑭᒋᑲᒥᐣᐠ ᒪᑯᔐᑭᔑᑲᓂᐱᓯᒧᐣ ᐊᓂᐊᑯᒋᓂᐨ.

Courtney walking across the country for the environment Raven Courtney is walking across Canada to bring a message of eradicating ecocide. The Aroland First Nation member is completing her walk region to region in short spurts of two to three weeks. She said this not only allows her to recover, but enables her to do the walk during all four seasons, which she believes is important for any Mother Earth walk. She completed the British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba portions of her walk during the spring and summer months and has begun the northern Ontario portion. She hopes to reach the east coast by December.

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More than 600 elementary and high school students had the opportunity to learn traditional activites during Seven Generations Education Institute’s fall harvest (top); KI has been televising its band council meetings since the last election in November (mid-left); the Biindigaate Indigenous Film Festival screened about 40 films from Sept. 27-30, including two student films by Jason Hunter of Weenusk First Nation (bottom left); and Raven Courtney of Aroland First Nation is in the midst of a cross-country walk for the environment.

ᑎᐱᑭᐱᓯᑦ ᒥᑯᐣᑕᑫᐃᐧ ᐱᒧᓭᐃᐧᐣ ᐊᔭᒥᐦᐁᐁᐧᑭᐣ ᐊᐱᑕᐊᐧᑎᐠ ᑭᐊᑯᒋᑲᑌ ᐅᐁᐧ ᐊᔭᒥᐦᐁᐧᑭᐣ ᑲᐊᐸᑕᐠ ᐊᐱᑕᐊᐧᑎᐠ ᑭᐊᑯᒋᑲᑌ ᐃᒪ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ ᐅᑌᓇᐠ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᐊᐧᑌᐸᑲᐃᐧᐱᓯᑦ 28 ᑲᐃᓇᑭᓱᐨ ᐁᒥᑯᐣᑕᐃᐧᑕᐧ ᑲᑭᐱᒪᑎᓯᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧᑫᐧᐠ ᑲᑭᓀᐱᒋ ᐊᐧᓂᐦᐃᐧᐣᑕᐧ ᓇᐣᑕ ᑲᑭᓂᓯᐣᑕᐧ. ᑭᐱᒧᓭᐃᐧᓂᑲᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᐊᐧᑌᐸᑲᐃᐧᐱᓯᑦ 29 ᑲᐃᓇᑭᓱᐨ ᐁᑲᐧ ᐊᐱᐣ ᐊᔭᒥᐦᐁᐧᐃᑭᐣ ᑭᑭᐁᐧᐃᐡᑲᐧᐦᐃᑲᑌ ᐅᐱᒪᐦᐊᒧᐃᐧᐱᓯᑦ ᑲᐅᐡᑲᑭᓱᐨ ᐁᑲᐧ ᓂᐦᓴᐧᓱᑯᐣ ᑕᐃᓇᑯᒋᑲᑌ. ᐁᑲᐧ ᐅᐁᐧ ᑎᐱᑭᐱᓯᑦ ᒥᑯᐣᑕᑫᐃᐧ ᐱᒧᓭᐃᐧᐣ ᒪᐊᐧᐨ ᓂᐢᑕᑦ ᑲᑭᒪᒋᑐᐸᐣ ᔐᕑᐊᐣ ᐧᒐᐣᓴᐣ ᐃᔑᓂᑲᓱ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ 2005 ᑲᔭᑭᐊᐧᓂᐠ, ᐊᐱ ᐅᔑᒣᔕᐣ ᑲᑭᒥᑲᐃᐧᒥᐣᑎᐸᐣ ᐁᑭᒥᓯᒥᐣᐨ ᐃᒪ ᓂᐱᐣᐠ ᒪᑭᐣᑕᔪᕑ ᓯᐱᐠ 1992 ᑲᐱᐳᓂᐠ.

Full Moon Memory Walk flag raised The Full Moon Memory Walk flag was raised to half mast at Thunder Bay City Hall on Sept. 28 to honour the lives of Aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered. The walk was held on Sept. 29 and the flag was raised to full mast on Oct. 1 and will be flown for seven days. The Full Moon Memory Walk was first organized in 2005 by Sharon Johnson, whose younger sister Sandra was found murdered on the frozen Neebing-McIntyre River floodway in 1992.

The 4th annual Biindigaate Indigenous Film Festival screened about 40 films from Sept. 27-30 in Thunder Bay. Local filmmakers Jason Hunter of Weenusk First Nation and Henry Beardy of Sachigo Lake First Nation were on hand for any questions from the audience following the screening of their respective films, which they produced while studying film production at Confederation College. The festival also included a live scriptreading session for the first time. Students from Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School took on roles in a feature-length script written by Metis filmmaker Adam Garnett Jones of Toronto, who was on hand for the reading.

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ᑲᑕᑲᐧᑭᐠ ᑲᒪᐊᐧᐣᑐᓂᑲᑌᑭᐣ ᑭᑎᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᑭᒥᓄᓭ ᑲᑭᐃᔑᒋᑲᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ ᐯᔑᐠ ᐃᒪ ᐃᐡᑯᓄ ᐱᒧᒋᑫᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᑲᑭᑐᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᑕᑲᐧᑭᐠ ᑲᒪᐊᐧᐣᑐᓂᑲᑌᑭᐣ ᑭᑎᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᐊᐊᐧᔑᒣ 600 ᑲᐊᑲᔐᔑᐊᐧᐨ ᐅᑎᐡᑯᓂᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐦᐊᔾ ᐢᑯᓫ ᐅᑎᐡᑯᓂᐠ ᑭᐃᔕᐊᐧᐠ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᐊᐧᑌᐸᑲᐃᐧᐱᓯᑦ 25 ᐊᑯᓇᐠ 27 ᐃᒪ ᐸᐧᕑᐟ ᐃᐧᓫᐃᔭᑦ ᑫᑌ ᐊᔕᐊᐧᐱᐃᐧᑲᒥᑯᐠ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ. ᐅᑎᐡᑯᓂᐠ ᑭ ᐊᐧᐸᑕᐦᐊᐊᐧᐠ ᓇᓇᑐᐠ ᐸᐸᑲᐣ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᐃᔑᒋᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ, ᐊᔑᐨ ᒥᓇ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᑕᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ, ᒪᑌᐧᐦᐃᑫᐃᐧ ᑭᑭᓄᐦᐊᒪᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ, ᐊᓴᐱᐠ ᑲᐅᔑᐦᐃᐣᑕᐧ, ᒪᓄᒥᓂᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᑭᓄᑫ ᐅᔑᒋᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᔑᔑᑊ ᑲᐅᔑᐦᐊᑲᓄᐨ, ᒪᐡᑭᑭᐣ ᒥᓇ ᒪᐡᑭᑭᐊᐧᐳᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᒧᓴᐧᔭᓂᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᒪᑭᓯᓂᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧᒥᒋᒥᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᒥᓇ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᐊᐸᒋᒋᑲᓇᐣ ᑲᐅᔑᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ.

Fall harvest a success in Thunder Bay Seven Generations Education Institute’s fall harvest event was attended by more than 600 elementary and high school students from Sept. 25-27 at the Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay. Students learned about a variety of traditional activities, including storytelling, drum teachings, fishnet making, wild rice preparation, fish preparation, bird preparation, medicines and teas, hide preparation, moccasin making, traditional foods and traditional crafts.

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OCTOBER 4, 2012

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Mental health first aid training for Treaty #3 Rick Garrick Wawatay News

Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong has received a Bell Let’s Talk mental health initiative grant to provide training for more than 400 Treaty #3 frontline staff. The $50,000 Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund grant will “fund mental health first aid training for frontline staff,” said April Medwechuk, project manager with Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong. “Anyone that is dealing directly one-to-one with a client.” Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong has partnered with Bimose Tribal Council, Kenora Chiefs Advisory and other local Aboriginal agencies to train a variety of frontline staff, including teachers, community health representatives, National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program workers, prevention workers, employment workers and welfare staff in six First Nation communities and 11 Treaty #3 organizations. “Kenora Chiefs Advisory has certified trainers, so they have contributed in kind a trainer at no cost,” Medwechuk said. “Bimose will be training their own trainers to become certified ... and they will be training 300 of their staff, which includes principals, teachers, education

Rick Garrick/Wawatay News

Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong has received a Bell Let’s Talk mental health initiative grant to provide training for more than 400 Treaty #3 frontline staff.

assistants, everyone in their school system.” The Bell Let’s Talk grant will cover the purchase of training manuals and a trainer for the recognized program put out by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. “Bell is extremely pleased to lend our support to Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong and the 60 other community organizations across the country that are part of the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund this year,” said Mary Deacon, chair of the Bell mental health initiative. “Each of these groups is truly making a difference

at the grassroots level. We’re very proud to be helping them provide much needed resources to enhance mental health services and programs for those affected by mental illness.” Medwechuk said many of the people who will be trained are those who see mental health issues first hand while performing their jobs. “So they’re (being) trained to recognize it and refer to the appropriate service,” Medwechuk said. “A lot of times workers will say ‘I know something is off, but I don’t know what it is, I don’t know how to say it to

the person and I don’t know where to go for help.’ Those are the types of things it is going to address.” The Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong project will run from October 2012 to October 2013. Bell launched the five-year Let’s Talk charitable program in 2010 based on four action pillars: anti-stigma, care and access, research, and workplace best practices. The Let’s Talk initiative is designed to support a wide range of programs to enhance awareness, understanding and treatment of mental illness and promote access to care and research across the country.

Environmental group starts Ring of Fire campaign Shawn Bell Wawatay News

Food and refreshments will be provided

The environmental organization CPAWS Wildlands League is hoping pressure from people across Canada will convince the Ontario government to refocus its involvement in the Ring of Fire. CPAWS kicked off its latest campaign in Toronto in September with a series of media advertisements geared at the Ring of Fire. The goal is to convince Ontario to create a regional plan for development in northern Ontario’s mining sector, said CPAWS spokesperson Anna Baggio. “For many years now we’ve been hoping (the government) would do some sort of regional planning in regards to the Ring of Fire,” Baggio said. “We’re very worried – I don’t think they have a plan for the region. Instead, the development is happening in a piecemeal way, where everyone’s got their own little part of it.”

Baggio said CPAWS is concerned that ecosystems are being put at risk, endangered species like woodland caribou are being ignored and First Nations communities are being left on the sidelines as the government pushes forward with the massive mining development. She said that the advertising campaign will spread from Toronto to other Ontario cities and eventually across Canada. “We want concerned Canadians to send letters to Ontario, to get the government’s attention,” Baggio said. “There are some big issues around the Ring of Fire that need to be talked about, some big things at stake,” she added. “We’re frustrated because we know public money is going to go into this, yet the decisions being made are all shrouded in secrecy. It seems like only Cliffs and Ontario are making decisions.”

CPAWS Wildlands League has began a campaign to convince the provincial government to refocus its involvement in the Ring of Fire. This campaign includes ads such as this one.

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Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

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From the Wawatay archives 16-5th Avenue North P.O. Box 1180 Sioux Lookout, ON P8T 1B7 Serving the First Nations in Northern Ontario since 1974. Wawatay News is a politically independent weekly newspaper published by Wawatay Native Communications Society.

ᓂᐢᑕᑦ ᑲᑭᒪᑕᓄᑲᑌᐠ 1974 ᐁᐅᒋᐊᓄᑲᑌᑭᐣ ᑭᐧᐁᑎᓄᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᑕᐃᑦᔑᑫᐧᐃᓇᐣ. ᑕᓱᓂᔓᐱᒥᑯᓇᑲ ᐅᔑᒋᑲᑌ ᐧᐊᐧᐊᑌ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐧᐃ ᐊᒋᒧᐧᐃᓇᐣ ᒥᓇ ᑲᐧᐃᐣ ᐅᓇᔓᐧᐁᐧᐃ ᑲᓇᐧᐊᐸᒋᑫᐧᐃᓂᐠ ᒋᐃᔑ ᐸᐸᒥᓯᒪᑲᐠ ᐧᐊᐧᐊᑌ ᐊᒋᒧᐧᐃᓂᑫᐧᐃᓇᐣ. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER David Neegan

When kids can’t go to school Shawn Bell EDITOR

L

ike any 14-year-old, Shayna Cheechoo was excited and a little nervous for the beginning of high school. But Shayna’s school year was cut short just a few days into her Grade 9 year. She was called to the principal’s office at lunch on the third day of school, told that her “tuition” had not been paid, and was sent home. This was not a private school where you pay tuition to attend classes. This was a public, provincially funded high school, and just like hundreds of thousands of her peers across Ontario, neither Shayna nor her parents had given any thought to the idea of paying to attend high school. But Shayna is not considered the same as any other student in Ontario. She is First Nations, and her parents live on a reserve that neither she nor they are members of. No one seems to know where funding for Shayna’s schooling should come from. Consequently her tuition went unpaid. And a 14-year-old girl had to suffer from the flaws of the government education funding system. Shayna’s father, Bill Cheechoo, is a Moose Cree member while Shayna and her mother are Eabametoong members. But she has never lived on her reserve and, for the past four years, her and her family have called M’Chigeeng First Nation, on Manitoulin Island, home. Bill Cheechoo is frustrated by the response of the high school principal for sending his daughter home at lunchtime. “What if no one was home and the doors were locked?” he said. He is also frustrated with Eabametoong First Nation, as his efforts to have them pay for Shayna’s schooling have gone nowhere. He’s trying to temper his frustration with M’Chigeeng First Nation – after all, their community is where his family lives, and M’Chigeeng has been good to them. But most of all, Cheechoo is frustrated with a system that seems designed to prevent First Nations people’s right of mobility. M’Chigeeng’s elementary school principal and education director Neil Debassige shares Cheechoo’s frustration with the system. Debassige is an awardwinning educator whose school has earned accolades for its efforts to bring the Anishinabe language back to students and community members alike. Shayna is not the only nonM’Chigeeng student wanting to attend Debassige’s school. Every year the First Nation deals with a handful of cases just like hers. Which puts the school, and the band council, in an awkward position. On one hand, they want to

educate as many children as possible – especially First Nations children. On the other hand, it costs $11,000 per year to educate a child. If the First Nation does not get reimbursed for those extra children it educates, what is the impact on M’Chigeeng’s own students? “This is a huge political issue,” Debassige says. Meanwhile, the problem is compounded by the fact that reserve schools are not all funded in the same way. Some schools, like M’Chigeeng, have five year funding agreements. Other First Nation schools run on one-year funding agreements. The federal government’s response to the issue so far has been to tell schools such as M’Chigeeng to switch back to the one year funding formula if they are worried about funding for non-reserve students. But as Debassige explains, the five-year funding agreement was a step in the right direction, allowing his school to plan for the future. They do not want to go backwards; they just want help sorting out the issue of funding. As M’Chigeeng’s councillor responsible for education, Robert Beaudin says the First Nation is expecting the problem to grow as more First Nations people relocate around the country. For starters, Beaudin wants to see a First Nations funding formula that would allow individual First Nations the ability to flex the number of students they are educating, even by three or four students per year. That would alleviate problems such as the one facing M’Chigeeng with Shayna. As for the broader issue, Beaudin sees a solution in agreements between First Nations that would cover the costs of students moving from one reserve to another, and regional agreements that would make it easier to support mobility between First Nations. But so far, Beaudin says the federal government has refused to acknowledge the problem, leaving First Nations such as M’Chigeeng scrambling to find band-aid solutions to a growing issue. Fortunately, in Shayna’s case, her tuition funding has been sorted out and she is back in school with the rest of her peers. But as her father puts it, “there have got to be other kids dealing with the same thing.” M’Chigeeng plans to bring these specific questions, and the broader issue of who funds First Nations students who live on different reserves, to the Assembly of First Nations’ education conference in early October. “We have to take responsibility for educating our own,” Beaudin says. “But we believe ‘our own’ is across the spectrum. If you’re native, you’re our own.” Let’s hope the federal government realizes that there is a problem here, before another young boy or girl has to be told they cannot go to school.

Wawatay News archives

Ogoki, Hockey Practice.

Walking about and anthills Mario Wassaykeesic Special to Wawatay News

S

itting down one sunny summer afternoon in a park can sometimes bring about some humbling thoughts. Sitting there, you notice those others that take in the advantage of a warm summer afternoon. While I am taking a notso-often random break from a walkabout, I take a glance around at my surroundings. I see others play around with a frisbee, tossing it back and forth. Others play catch with their faithful companion, all wags and eager to play fetch. A young family is taking their young out to mill about the water sprinklers or to wade about in the shallow pool. And, there are those that jog by with their ears plugged into an iPod strapped to their arms. I got into the habit of going for long walkabouts, often venturing off for a few hours, treading my soles amongst either the gravelly paths or on a paved walkway. My preference is really not that important; however, the pavement is nice. My habit became a hobby or an inexpensive pastime, depending on if I left my debit

card at the apartment. If I could calculate my walkabouts, I’ve estimated that a good five kilometres equals an hour; so, sometimes I’m gone for a good afternoon just out for a walkabout. Mind you, I am not on my feet for that long; I do have the occasional breaks where I do sit down; hence, the park. Walkabouts can be aimless but to some degree, they aren’t. I like scouting around my surroundings, especially the areas that I may take for granted via driving in my vehicle. As I pass by certain shops, my attention is often grabbed by a certain window display but not enough for me to stop. So, sometimes I plan my walkabouts where I will find myself walking by the window display and checking out the shops. Walkabouts are definitely not a new idea, for they can be quite a logical choice, stemming for many different reasons. Perhaps you desire to lose some weight; a walkabout can sure help you, and the unwanted weight, along. Perhaps you recently read somewhere that walks can help decrease the risk of diabetes; naturally then, the choice of

walking a healthy walk is a good one. Or, perhaps the thoughts are collected into a ramble of mish-mash, keeping you very occupied; then, yes, a good walkabout can aide you along. While enjoying my quick snack, and studying my gentle milieu of the Saturday afternoon at the park, I glanced down and noticed a little anthill. I munched away and began to focus my attention on the anthill, watching them ants busy themselves away, coming and going from their home. I wondered what they were thinking, or if they were thinking. I focused on one of the countless ants, watching him (or her) exit the hill and off somewhere. I lost track as he (or she) stepped out into the jungle of cut grass. I wondered if he (or she) was off on an adventure him, or her, self, going off on a walkabout, like me. Okay, perhaps the imagination kind of adopted the computer animated movie depicting ants as a person, or an individual without a thought (or with). As I sat there and continued to watch the community of ants at their anthill, I wondered

how they must be busying themselves for the winter months. While I sit high above their eye level, I must appear to resemble the grasshopper enjoying the summery days from a child’s story. Hmm… I think the ants can be like ourselves in the concreteness of the city. We sometimes get ourselves so busy, caught up in the preparing our plan-filled day with errands and runs and whatever else. It does lead somewhere at the end of it all; the plans are all checked out and we can enjoy the rest of the day, depending on the checklist. It ain’t a bad thing, by the way; just got to remember to enjoy it from time to time. I didn’t stick around too much longer that afternoon, watching the anthill or the peoples around the park. I did have a plan for that sunny summery day: I was on a walkabout. So, I got up and left my observations on the anthill, allowing them to continue with their busyness, and started off again. Where to? Hmmm, I think I’ll head off in this direction next; perhaps that window display will be worth the walkabout.

CONTACT US Sioux Lookout Office Hours: 8:30-5:00 CST Phone: ....................737-2951 Toll Free: .....1-800-243-9059 Fax: ...............(807) 737-3224 .............. (807) 737-2263

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER David Neegan davidn@wawatay.on.ca EDITOR Shawn Bell shawnb@wawatay.on.ca WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER Rick Garrick rickg@wawatay.on.ca WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER Lenny Carpenter lennyc@wawatay.on.ca

ART DIRECTOR Roxann Shapwaykeesic, RGD roxys@wawatay.on.ca GRAPHIC DESIGNER Matthew Bradley matthewb@wawatay.on.ca SALES MANAGER James Brohm jamesb@wawatay.on.ca CIRCULATION Adelaide Anderson reception@wawatay.on.ca

TRANSLATORS Vicky Angees vickya@wawatay.on.ca Agnes Shakakeesic agness@wawatay.on.ca CONTRIBUTORS Chris Kornacki Stephanie Wesley Joyce Atcheson Mario Wassaykeesic Guest editorials, columnists and letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of Wawatay News.

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Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

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BOOK REVIEW

Leaves and butterflies Butterflies (memengwak) are Nanabosho’s way of teaching life of joy, freedom, colour and on-going learning when it is done the Anishinabe way rather than in a formal setting of a school. This story reminds children they are capable, as are all Anishinabe.

Joyce Atcheson Special to Wawatay News

Colours are the key to life. Nokomis shows her grandchildren the empty residential school and tells them that is where she went to school, a school where the desire was to kill the Anishinabe way. The children want to know more and Nokomis in her wise way uses a story to show the Anishinabe way of learning. She tells of Nanabosho’s finding of two dependent children who cried rather than learn for themselves. They had siblings who did everything for them

and the babies were totally dependent. In her story Nanabosho uses colours and joy to restore balance to the babies and they learn to crawl, walk and run as they find the joy of finding freedom and self-directed learning.

Nanabosho and the Butterflies -- Joe McLellan and Matrine McLellan, illustrated by Jackie Traverse (Pemmican Publications, Winnipeg, MB; 2010; ISBN 978-1-894717-58-8); 43 pages; $10.95)

Wataynikaneyap Power to be 100 per cent First Nations owned Contined from page 1 Kenequenash said the plan has Phase 1 construction starting sometime in 2014. Phase 2, which involves connecting communities through a central transmission loop from Pickle Lake, is expected to start sometime in 2015, she said. Communities of the north have been calling for a transmission line to connect them to the southern electricity grid for years. Recent warm winters have shortened the winter road season, limiting when communities can bring diesel in by truck for their diesel generators. There are also environmental concerns with the pollution from the diesel generators, as well as the potential for spills along the winter roads. The current diesel power systems in communities have also limited growth, both in terms of hooking up new houses to the grids and in setting up businesses and other economic development projects. As Frank McKay, another Wataynikaneyap steering committee member, explained, most of the communities of the far north are at capacity when it comes to power, and diesel generation continues to cost the federal government a lot of money each year. “The cost savings to the federal government of having this transmission line, in the long run it will save the government a lot of money,� McKay said. Funding the project is expected to be the main hurdle for getting the transmission line off the ground. The organization is currently examining its options for financing, with the

A proposed transmission line (in green) could connect northern communities that rely on diesel generators to the southern powergrid. provincial and federal governments expected to contribute in a meaningful way. Ontario has identified the Pickle Lake upgrade as a key component in its future electricity system, and Wataynikaneyap is banking on the province contributing funds towards the project. Musselwhite mine will also be a major customer – the mine’s operator, GoldCorp, is funding the preliminary work involved in setting up Wataynikaneyap and planning the transmission line. McKay said the Ontario ministers that the group met with – including Natural Resources’ Michael Gravelle, Northern Development and Mines’ Rick Bartolucci and Energy’s Chris Bentley – were receptive to the plan and supportive of the proj-

gazine

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ect. “They know there’s power needed in the north,� McKay said. Kenequenash noted that hooking northern First Nations to the energy grid is not only a benefit to the First Nations. There are potential hydro electric power sites across the north, which she said become a possibility once a transmission line exists to bring power south. There are also a number of mining projects planned for the region, which would benefit from having electricity available, she said. Wataynikaneyap is considering extending the transmission line west to Red Lake and east to the Ring of Fire to make the power available to the mining developments in those regions.

Registration is now open for the 2ND Annual Mining Ready Summit October 23 - 24, 2012 Valhalla Inn - Thunder Bay, ON Sponsorship opportunities also available. Register at www.miningready.com or call 1-800-465-6821.

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Some of the featured articles include... Racing Raftsmen First they built rafts from scrap materials, then they raced. Some raftsmen navigated the Kitchenuhmaykoosib waters better than others. All of them entertained the shoreline crowd. A=?FAW5 )* FRWAW )# WA& ,[R = q7[ ) =FRWA< )* , )WA[&” A) ,& =?FAW5 )# 5" R )* =[AF7[ ) ,RA)q )0( 5 )* R [i,# =F[M?i,# ,* )& ?9=}# u?* [9A; A= &F A[ ), )* R )* =NY[ ) )& A=?9A)q ) )*

Wapekeka Grown

CE AFT RA R T A E THE GR

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When Coun. Clara Winnepetonga decided Wapekeka needed a community garden, her husband Derek worried about keeping up with her vision. There have been other worries too – cold and caterpillars – but in its second year the garden has already expanded to feed the local appetite for fresh produce.

Book your ad for the Fall issue, set for distribution on December 2. The deadline to book your ad is October 25. For rates and more info, contact: James Brohm sales@wawatay.on.ca 1-800-243-9059

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Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

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Raven Courtney’s walk across Canada NAN Legal expanding Shawn Bell Wawatay News

Raven Courtney hopes she can help unify people across the country to support environmental protection. To do it, the Aroland First Nation member is letting her feet do the talking. Courtney is walking across Canada, bringing her message of eradicating ecocide to communities and gatherings in every region of the country. “The walk itself is not a campaign, but the direction of the walk is a campaign,� Courtney said during a break from walking in Thunder Bay. “Too much damage has been done from dangerous industrial activity. “I’m not saying no mining, no forestry,� she added. “We do need those resources. But we cannot continue to hurt the land and animals in the process.� Courtney is completing her walk region by region, in short spurts of two to three weeks at a time. Part of the strategy is to give her body time to recover after walking each section of the country. But it also allows her to do the walk throughout all four seasons, something

Shawn Bell/Wawatay News

Raven Courtney of Aroland First Nation is in the midst of a crosscountry walk where she bringing a message of protecting Mother Earth. she said is important for any Mother Earth walk. She has completed the British Columbia mountain section of the walk and the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba prairie walks over

the spring and summer. Now Courtney is on a three-week walk through northern Ontario, before heading to Quebec and the east coast during the snows of November and December. At each stop during the

NOTICE OF A COMMENCEMENT OF TERMS OF REFERENCE New Transmission Line to Pickle Lake Environmental Assessment, Wataynikaneyap Power Project Name: New Transmission Line to Pickle Lake Project Description: Wataynikaneyap Power (Wataynikaneyap) is proposing a 300 km transmission line in northwestern Ontario in support of Ontario’s Long Term Energy Plan (2010). Wataynikaneyap is being formed as a partnership between the Central Corridor Energy Group (CCEG) comprising 13 First Nations with interest in transmission and green energy development, and Goldcorp. The Project is being designed based on a twophase planning and permitting process: ‡ 3KDVH LV D NP N9 WUDQVPLVVLRQ OLQH that will originate from an existing line along the TransCanada Highway and terminate at Pickle Phase 1 - New Transmission Line to Pickle Lake Lake; and ‡ 3KDVH LV WKH H[WHQVLRQ RI WKH JULG QRUWK RI 3LFNOH /DNH WR VHUYLFH UHPRWH FRPPXQLWLHV Wataynikaneyap is initiating an Environmental Assessment (EA) for Phase 1 of the Project under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (EAA). Preliminary corridor options being considered for Phase 1 DUH VKRZQ RQ WKH DGMDFHQW ¿ JXUH Process: 7KH ($ ZLOO EH FDUULHG RXW LQ DFFRUGDQFH ZLWK WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI WKH ($$ 7KH ¿ UVW VWHS LQ WKH process is the preparation of a Terms of Reference (ToR). The ToR sets out the proponent’s framework and work plan for addressing the EAA requirements when preparing the EA, including things like routing alternatives for the transmission line that will be considered and engagement activities that will be carried out. If approved by the Minister, the ToR will provide the framework and requirements for the preparation of the EA. Engagement: Wataynikaneyap recognizes the importance of meaningful and respectful Aboriginal and stakeholder engagement. As such, Wataynikaneyap strongly encourages members of the public, Aboriginal communities, agencies and other interested persons to actively participate in the planning process by attending engagement opportunities or contacting staff directly with comments or questions. Engagement opportunities are planned throughout the EA process. Upcoming engagement events, such as open houses will be held in communities to receive feedback on the draft ToR, and will be advertised in local newspapers. Letters will also be mailed to communities/individuals. Additionally, any announcements, as well as a copy of the draft ToR will be made available on the Project website [www. wataypower.ca]. Copies of the draft ToR are being distributed for public review and comment. The target date for availability of the draft ToR is September 24, 2012. It will be available during normal business hours at the following locations: Mishkeegogamang %DQG 2I¿ FH 1 First Nation Street Mishkeegogamang, Ontario 3 9 +

6ODWH )DOOV %DQG 2IÂż FH 48 Lakeview Drive Slate Falls, Ontario 3 9 &

&DW /DNH %DQG 2IÂż FH Cat Lake, Ontario 6DXJHHQ %DQG 2IÂż FH 3 9 - Savant Lake , Ontario :DELJRRQ %DQG 2IÂż FH 3 9 6 Site 115 R.R. #1 /DF 6HXO %DQG 2IÂż FH Dryden, Ontario Hudson, Ontario P8N 2Y4 3 9 ; (DEDPHWRRQJ %DQG 2IÂż FH Eabamet Lake, Ontario P0T 1L0

Township of Ignace 0XQLFLSDO 2IÂż FH 34 Highway 17 West Ignace, Ontario P0T 1T0 Ignace Public Library 36 Main St, P.O. Ignace, Ontario P0T 1T0 Sioux Lookout 0XQLFLSDO 2IÂż FH 25 5th Avenue Sioux Lookout, Ontario P8T 1A4

Sioux Lookout Library 21 5th Ave, Sioux Lookout, Ontario P8T 1B3 Pickle Lake Municipal 2IÂż FH 2 Anne Street, Pickle Lake, Ontario 3 9 $

Dryden Municipal 2IÂż FH 9DQ +RUQH $YHQXH Dryden, Ontario P8N 2A7 Dryden Public Library 9DQ +RUQH $YHQXH Dryden, Ontario P8N 2A7

Pickle Lake Library Koval Street Pickle Lake , Ontario 3 9 $

walk, Courtney is talking to communities, political leaders and school groups about ending ecocide – a term for environmental destruction and damage. She looks at the education aspect of her walk – the talks to school children and First Nation chiefs alike – as the key components of the journey. “It’s not the miles,� she explained. “Each mile is my own battle. But when I’m going to educate I cannot slip up.� Her message revolves around a proposal to the United Nations that ecocide be made an international law. In Courtney’s view, once this law passes the health of people and the planet will become the top priority when governments and leaders determine whether or not to pursue industrial and other activities. As for the walking, Courtney said it is just her way of doing her part to help bring this new way of thinking about the environment to the country. “I’ve always been a walker,� she said. “What better way to show my support for where we live and to encourage that we have to go to extremes to lend our support?�

alternatives to jail Rick Garrick Wawatay News

Pikangikum, Weagamow and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug community members now have access to Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation’s Restorative Justice and Talking Together programs. NALSC recently entered into a protocol with the Ontario Provincial Police similar to the protocol it has with NishnawbeAski Police Service for precharge diversions to the Restorative Justice program and referrals to the Talking Together program. “We have now succeeded in getting the same protocol with the OPP, who service Pikangikum, Weagamow and Big Trout Lake,� said Celina Reitberger, executive director of NALSC. “It has had a good start but we found, with the OPP as well, that the officers need good training. Where we have managed to train the officers, we are getting the diversions.� Reitberger said NALSC has

not trained all the NAPS officers to date, so they are planning to train those officers this fall. “We want to do training as soon as possible with the OPP officers as well,� Reitberger said. Reitberger said diversions have been increasing for the two programs. The Restorative Justice program is based on community accountability conferencing and adapted for the needs of Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities by integrating local traditional processes and practices. The Talking Together Program is a dispute resolution method based on traditional circles used since time immemorial to restore harmony between family members. It provides an alternative to the court process, which frequently results in children being removed from their home community, and returns control to First Nations concerning the planning and protection of their children.

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Township of Ignace 0XQLFLSDO 2IÂż FH 34 Highway 17 West Ignace, Ontario P0T 1T0 Ignace Public Library 36 Main St, P.O. Ignace, Ontario P0T 1T0 Sioux Lookout 0XQLFLSDO 2IÂż FH 25 5th Avenue Sioux Lookout, Ontario P8T 1A4

Sioux Lookout Library 21 5th Ave, Sioux Lookout, Ontario P8T 1B3 Pickle Lake Municipal 2IÂż FH 2 Anne Street, Pickle Lake, Ontario P0V 3A0

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We kindly ask for your comments on this draft Terms of Reference by Wednesday, November 14, 2012. For further information on the EA or the Project please contact:

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Brian McLeod, Project Management 2IÂż FH Central Corridor Energy Group 366 Kingston Cres. Winnipeg, MB R2M 0T8 Tel: (204) 415-5973 Email: Brian.Mcleod@imaituk.ca

Brian McLeod, Project Management 2IÂż FH Central Corridor Energy Group 366 Kingston Cres. Winnipeg, MB R2M 0T8 Tel: (204) 415-5973 Email: Brian.Mcleod@imaituk.ca

Adele Faubert, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine P.O. Box 7500 STN P Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6S8 Tel: (807) 928-3017 Email: Adele.Faubert@goldcorp.com

Kelly Beri, Project Manager Golder Associates Ltd. 2390 Argentia Road Mississauga, ON L5N 5Z7 Tel: (905) 567-4444 Email: Kelly_Beri@Golder.com

Adele Faubert, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine P.O. Box 7500 STN P Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6S8 Tel: (807) 928-3017 Email: Adele.Faubert@goldcorp.com

Kelly Beri, Project Manager Golder Associates Ltd. 2390 Argentia Road Mississauga, ON L5N 5Z7 Tel: (905) 567-4444 Email: Kelly_Beri@Golder.com

1

Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

The Resource Centre has a great collection for all your your needs.. needs. For all your educational needs, please contact: The Ojibway and Cree Cultural Centre 273 Third Avenue, Suite 204 Timmins, ON P4N 1E2 705-267-7911 fax. 705-267-4988 www.occc.ca

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Sioux Lookout Library 21 5th Ave, Sioux Lookout, Ontario P8T 1B3 Pickle Lake Municipal 2IÂż FH 2 Anne Street, Pickle Lake, Ontario P0V 3A0

Dryden Municipal 2IÂż FH 30 Van Horne Avenue Dryden, Ontario P8N 2A7 Dryden Public Library 36 Van Horne Avenue Dryden, Ontario P8N 2A7

Pickle Lake Library Koval Street Pickle Lake , Ontario P0V 3A0

=A<)FN? u F=,0=5[M=0& =5=7 )W ) A q[M# ) Y= )& ==[ )99R< )& R)x ,9 )h# A$A5Y,i; ” =},* ?9# <?& )=<9R& (= ) [[AFF< )& [&9 ) Y= )& F ? )W )# AYW?# J0q$ ARi[( Ak )* Brian McLeod, Project Management 2I¿ FH Central Corridor Energy Group 366 Kingston Cres. Winnipeg, MB R2M 0T8 Tel: (204) 415-5973 Email: Brian.Mcleod@imaituk.ca

Adele Faubert, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine P.O. Box 7500 STN P Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6S8 Tel: (807) 928-3017 Email: Adele.Faubert@goldcorp.com

Kelly Beri, Project Manager Golder Associates Ltd. 2390 Argentia Road Mississauga, ON L5N 5Z7 Tel: (905) 567-4444 Email: Kelly_Beri@Golder.com

7

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Photos by Chris Kornacki/Special to Wawatay News

Audience members listen to filmmakers during the 4th annual Biindigaate Indigenous Film Festival.

Biindigaate takes over downtown Thunder Bay Chris Kornacki Special to Wawatay News

The fourth annual Biindigaate Indigenous Film Festival not only showcased over 35 Aboriginal films from filmmakers both regionally and internationally, but also featured an art show and concerts at various venues in downtown Thunder Bay. The festival held Sept. 27-30 at the Paramount Theatre also differed from previous years as having four days of programming instead of three. “This year is really important,� said the festival’s media coordinator Jamie Monastyrski. “We’re taking over the whole downtown and promoting Indigenous arts.� On Sept. 27, Definitely Superior Art Gallery in partnership with the festival opened an art show featuring Aboriginal artists from across the region. The art show stayed open to the public for the duration of the film festival.

“Just put your heart and soul into it and love what you’re doing.� -Filmmaker Jason Hunter’s advice on making films

The festival also featured musical performances, with Robin Ranger and Classic Roots performing during the art show opening. On Sept. 28, the festival’s after party took place at The Foundry, where Nick Sherman of Sioux Lookout and James Burnstick of Winnipeg performed an eclectic mix of folk, indie, and country. “We also did a live script read-

ing for the first time ever,� Monastyrski said about new additions to this year’s festival. The live script reading took place on Sept. 30 where students from DFC read lines from a feature-length script written by Metis filmmaker Adam Garnet Jones of Toronto, who was on hand to direct the reading. The festival also flew in some of the film directors from all over Canada to do a question and answer session with the audience after their film screened. This includes Jeff Dorn for his film “Smoke Traders,� Lisa Jackson for her film “Parkdale,� Jones for his film “Liar,� and Joe Ironstand for his film “Inheritance.� The festival featured films from some local emerging filmmakers. Henry Beardy of Sachigo Lake had two films, a short drama and documentary, screen on Sept. 28. Jason Hunter from Weenusk First Nation had his documentary called “Bannock� screen during the same session. Following the film, Hunter answered some questions from the audience. “I only had a week to shoot and edit the documentary, so it was really fast paced,� he said after being asked how long it took him to complete the film. “Bannock� was done as a project while he was a film student at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. Hunter also gave young and upcoming filmmakers some advice: “Keep going at it and don’t give up. Since 2006, I’ve been going at it and it takes a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. Just put your heart and soul into it and love what you’re doing.�

Thank You

Vezina Secondary School of Attawapiskat would like to thank the DreamCatcher Fund for their generous donation to the 2012 Vezina grad trip. The donation was used for bus travel from Timmins to Sudbury to join other First Nation students from Ontario and Quebec at Cambrian College to explore college life, as well as look into further choices in careers. The trip was an excellent experience for our graduates that participated. DreamCatcher Fund greatly assisted in this success. A special thanks to them from Vezina Secondary School. Mary Anne Davis

Jason Hunter of Weenusk answers audience questions.

Monastyrski said the community of Thunder Bay has been responding positively with the Biindigaate Film Festival every year with more sponsors, more films and higher attendance. “There’s something for everybody,� he said. “Hard hitting documentaries, touching feature length dramas, animation and experimental films, and the community and sponsors really came out to support us this year.� “The festival’s committee is getting bigger every year and the amount of films being submitted is getting larger and larger, so it’s difficult but rewarding for the selection committee to select the films that are in the festival,� Monastyrski said. For Biindigaate it’s been another successful year and Monastyrski said they are already looking forward to the fifth annual festival. “Highlighting regional, Indigenous artists both film, visual and music is pretty amazing,� he said about the festival.

8

Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

á?§á?Šá?§á?Šá‘Œ á?Šá’‹á’§á?§á?ƒá“‡á?Ł

Memory walk flag raised Rick Garrick Wawatay News

The Full Moon Memory Walk flag was raised to half mast at Thunder Bay City Hall on Sept. 28 to honour the lives of Aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered. “I’m honoured that this is happening because that means the City of Thunder Bay is acknowledging that there is a problem with missing and murdered women,� said Gladys Radek, who co-founded Walk4Justice in 2008 to raise awareness about the plight of missing and murdered women across Canada. “This is a great honour that they are doing this on behalf of the women who are missing (and murdered), especially for the families.�

“We have to acknowledge that somebody took that person’s life and we have to feel in our hearts that justice has been done or you never ever get closure when that happened.� - Jackie Fletcher

Radek feels the flag raising is a “fabulous first step� to acknowledge missing and murdered women. “I have several relatives that have gone missing or murdered over the last four decades,� Radek said. “Most recently there were several on the Highway of Tears. My niece Tamara Lynn Chipman was disappeared out of Prince Rupert, B.C., Sept. 21, 2005, and she is

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Obituary

Rick Garrick/Wawatay News

Full Moon Memory Walk organizer Sharon Johnson, centre, helps raise the Full Moon Memory Walk flag on Sept. 28 at City Hall in Thunder Bay. The Full Moon Memory Walk was held the next day from City Hall to where Johnson’s sister was found murdered in 1992. still missing.� Full Moon Memory Walk organizer Sharon Johnson said her sister Sandra’s murder has still not been solved after 20 years. “Her body was found on the Neebing-McIntyre River floodway in the east side of town here,� Johnson said. “We do have a memorial walk every year at the full moon in September. The walk has grown each year.� The 8th Annual Full Moon Memory Walk, first organized in 2005, was held on Sept. 29 and the Full Moon Memory Walk flag was raised to full mast at City Hall on Oct. 1 to be flown for seven days. “I just feel very good about what we are doing,� Johnson said. “It’s still a very touchy thing because of my sister’s unsolved case. It would have been her birthday on Wednesday, the 26th.� Johnson has not heard of any new leads or changes in her sister’s case for a long time, but

Shibogama Health Authority is seeking Registered Nurses to work at Musselwhite Mine 1 Full Time and Relief Nursing is required PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: ‡ 3ULPDU\ KHDOWK FDUH VHUYLFHV LQFOXGLQJ FRPSUHKHQVLYH SK\VLFDO DVVHVVPHQWV DQG QXUVLQJ FDUH ‡ (PHUJHQF\ VHUYLFHV LQFOXGLQJ WUDXPD VNLOOV SKOHERWRP\ ,9 VWDUWV GH¿EULOODWLRQ ‡ &RRUGLQDWLRQ DQG GHOLYHU\ RI RFFXSDWLRQDO KHDOWK VHUYLFHV WR 0:0 (PSOR\HHV ‡ ,PSOHPHQWDWLRQ RI +HDOWK (GXFDWLRQ +HDOWK 3URPRWLRQ ,OOQHVV DQG ,QMXU\ 3UHYHQWLRQ VWUDWHJLHV ‡ :RUNLQJ .QRZOHGJH RI 2FFXSDWLRQDO +HDOWK DQG 6DIHW\ ‡ .QRZOHGJH DQG SUR¿FLHQF\ LQ &RQVXOWDWLRQ DQG UHIHUUDO SURFHVV ‡ ,PPXQL]DWLRQ ‡ $GPLQLVWUDWLYH UHVSRQVLELOLWLHV VXFK DV PRQWK HQG UHSRUWV RUGHULQJ FOLQLF VXSSOLHV ¿OLQJ 4$ RQ HTXLSPHQW SUHVHQWDWLRQV FROODERUDWLRQ DQG OLDLVLQJ ZLWK 0:0 DGPLQLVWUDWLYH VWDII DQG RWKHU +HDOWK &DUH 3URIHVVLRQDOV QUALIFICATIONS: ‡ 51 ZLWK FXUUHQW FHUWL¿FDWH RI UHJLVWUDWLRQ ZLWK &12 ‡ 5HJLVWUDWLRQ ZLWK WKH 2FFXSDWLRQDO +HDOWK 1XUVHV $VVRFLDWLRQ RI 2QWDULR RU ZLOOLQJQHVV WR FRPSOHWH FRXUVH ‡ 0HPEHU RI WKH 51$2 LQ JRRG VWDQGLQJ DQ DVVHW ‡ &XUUHQW &35 )LUVW $,' $&/6 $(' FHUWL¿FDWLRQ ,9 WKHUDS\ ‡ $GYDQFHG :RUG ([FHO DQG 3RZHU3RLQW H[SHULHQFH ‡ 6WURQJ LQWHUSHUVRQDO DQG FRPPXQLFDWLRQ VNLOOV YHUEDO DQG ZULWWHQ

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she feels the flag raising would raise more awareness about the issue in the area. “And we’re going to Ottawa the day after the memorial walk for a (Families of Sisters in Spirit Oct. 4) vigil on Parliament Hill,� Johnson said. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Women’s Council member Jackie Fletcher called for more say when First Nations people go missing or are murdered. “I have a cousin who was shot to death,� Fletcher said. “I don’t care how it happened — we have to acknowledge that somebody took that person’s life and we have to feel in our hearts that justice has been done or you never ever get closure when that happened.� Johnson’s sister Marcella hopes the flag raising would send out a message to young people. “Especially the young girls,� Marcella said. “That they learn to value themselves and not to think that this is the way it goes for all women.�

The Lead Resolution Health Support Worker will implement the overall healing program with NAN territory by providing direct supervision to the Resolution Health Support Workers and provide eligible former IRS students and their families with access to emotional support that allows former students and their families to safely address issues related to their IRS experience. The Lead Resolution Health Support Worker will plan, develop, report, evaluate, GRFXPHQW DQG ÀQDQFLDOO\ PDQDJH WKH program at the NAN level. The deadline for applications is 4:00pm EST, October 12th, 2012.

In loving memory of Murray Junior Keesic who passed away at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on September 14th at the age of 50. He is survived by his mother Maggie Keesic, his sons Joshua and Vincent and one grandchild. He is also survived by his brothers and sisters Mona Boland, Shirley Keesic, Dean Keesic, Irwin Keesic, Miriam Keesic, Durrell Keesic, and Karen Geyshick. A funeral service will be held on Friday, September 21st at 11 am at the Red Lake Mennonite Church with Pastor Kevin Miller officiating. Interment will follow in the Red Lake Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 20th from 7 to 9 pm in the Herold Funeral Home “Red Lake Chapel�. Donations may be made to the Homeless Shelter through Herold Funeral Home Box 237, Red Lake, ON P0V 2M0.

Job Opportunity Registered Nurses Required (Full-time/Part-time/Relief)

Shibogama Health Authority is an independent, progressive group of First Nation communities that have a vision and desire to make a difference in their health care. We are seeking Registered Nurses to be a part of a team of health care professionals willing to pave a new way for the holistic well-being of these remote, Northwestern 2QWDULR FRPPXQLWLHV .LQJ¿VKHU /DNH :DSHNHND DQG :XQQXPLQ /DNH 7KH FRPPXQLWLHV KDYH WUDQVIHUUHG WR D community-based health care delivery system. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: ‡ 3ULPDU\ KHDOWK FDUH VHUYLFHV LQFOXGLQJ FRPSUHKHQVLYH physical assessments and nursing care ‡ (PHUJHQF\ VHUYLFHV LQFOXGLQJ WUDXPD VNLOOV SKOHERWRP\ ,9 VWDUWV GH¿EULOODWLRQ ‡ &RPPXQLW\ KHDOWK DQG HGXFDWLRQ QUALIFICATIONS: ‡ 51 ZLWK FXUUHQW FHUWL¿FDWH RI UHJLVWUDWLRQ UHTXLUHG ‡ Member of the RNAO in good standing an asset ‡ &XUUHQW &35 $&/6 71&& UHTXLUHG 3$/6 RU (13& preferred ‡ &RPSOHWLRQ RI WKH 1RUWKHUQ &OLQLFDO 3URJUDP SUHIHUUHG ‡ Sound clinical background with strong assessment skills ‡ 7ZR \HDUV QRUWKHUQ QXUVLQJ RU HPHUJHQF\ QXUVLQJ experience We are welcoming individuals with a sincere respect for the Native culture and the ability to work independently and collaboratively with a team of health professionals and community members. For questions, call or submit your resume in FRQ¿GHQFH WR /RUHQD /HJDU\ 1XUVLQJ 'LUHFWRU Shibogama Health Authority 3 2 %R[ .LQJ 6WUHHW 6LRX[ /RRNRXW 2QWDULR 3 7 $ (PDLO ORUHQDO#VKLERJDPD RQ FD )D[ 3KRQH [

To download the complete job description, please visit www.nan.on.ca or contact Rod Geddes, Human Resources Assistant, at (807) 625-4948, or Ian Beardy, Human Resources Director, at (807) 625-4941 for more information.

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Our company is currently looking to build our team and is searching for an energetic individual to work in our Retail Store in Sioux Lookout as a

SENIOR RETAIL ASSOCIATE (Sioux Lookout)

Position: This team member/leader position involves: ‡ 5HWDLO VXSSO\ PDQDJHPHQW RI WKH 6LRX[ /RRNRXW RSHUDWLRQ ‡ 'DLO\ PRQWKO\ UHVSRQVLELOLWLHV - helping customers - operating a point of sale system - providing advice about products we carry - keeping the store in a neat and orderly appearance - providing leadership at the local store level (hiring, supervision, training etc.) - report to and liaison with the Stationery Team Leader - completing customer deliveries Essential Skills: Candidates interested in this position should be able to consistently provide great customer service, possess above average computer knowledge and have a friendly/outgoing personality. :DJH DQG %HQHÀWV This is not a minimum wage position. Starting salary ZLOO GHSHQG RQ SULRU ZRUN H[SHULHQFH DQG TXDOL¿FDWLRQV &RPSDQ\ EHQH¿WV include but are not limited to the following: ‡ SDLG VWDWXWRU\ KROLGD\V ‡ H[WHQGHG KHDOWK FDUH LQFOXGLQJ SUHVFULSWLRQ GUXJ FRYHUDJH DQG YLVLRQ care) ‡ OLIH LQVXUDQFH DQG ORQJ WHUP GLVDELOLW\ ‡ FRPSDQ\ 5563 SODQ ‡ SURGXFW GLVFRXQWV ‡ SDUWLDO UHLPEXUVHPHQW RI PRYLQJ H[SHQVHV VKRXOG UHORFDWLRQ EH UHTXLUHG ‡ VXEVLG\ DYDLODEOH WR KHOS RIIVHW WUDYHO H[SHQVHV LI OLYLQJ RXWVLGH RI 6LRX[ Lookout Terms of Employment: Full time position. Must be willing to work Saturdays and have a valid driver’s license. Some heavy lifting required. Training will be provided. Before October 12th, applicants may drop off a cover letter and resume to our Sioux Lookout store or fax/email a copy to: 5HLG :LOVRQ fax: (807) 737-1291 reidw@wilson.ca

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1

Wawatay News

Cancer strategy aims for education, screening

OCTOBER 4, 2012

9

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Broadcasting meetings for transparency in KI Rick Garrick Wawatay News

Shawn Bell Wawatay News

The Ontario Cancer Society hopes an increased focus on cancer education, early screening and prevention efforts will help stem the rapidly growing rates of cancer in First Nations and Metis populations in Ontario.

“With colorectoral and breast cancers, the rise we’ve seen in First Nation communities has been very drastic.� – Alethea Kewayosh, director of Aboriginal Cancer Control for Cancer Care Ontario

The second Aboriginal Cancer Strategy, released Sept. 10, outlines six priorities needed to deal with cancer rates in Aboriginal communities that are much higher than the general provincial population. Alethea Kewayosh, director of Aboriginal Cancer Control for Cancer Care Ontario, emphasized that First Nation and Metis communities need more cancer screening to identify treatable cancers before too late. She cited breast cancer and colorectoral cancer as two examples of highly treatable cancers that have to be caught early for treatment to be successful. In too many cases in Aboriginal communities, however, breast and colorectoral cancers are not discovered until it is too late for treatment, she said. “With colorectoral and breast cancers, the rise we’ve seen in First Nation communities has been very drastic,� Kewayosh said. “Most Aboriginal people are not surviving them, because we are diagnosing them too late, even though they are highly treatable, highly survivable cancers.� The Aboriginal Cancer Strategy follows upon an initial strategy that was in place from 2004 to 2009. Kewayosh said the first strategy allowed the organization to start building relationships with regional Aboriginal organizations across the

province. Those relationships helped form the plans outlined in the recent cancer strategy, she said. “I wanted to have the conversation with them to make sure we’re accountable, and make sure First Nations are made aware of the strategy,“ Kewayosh said. “We want to make sure this strategy isn’t just sitting on the shelf.� Besides early detection of cancer, Kewayosh said it is crucial to start educating people on preventative lifestyle choices to limit the chances of getting cancer. She emphasized that everyone should be aware of the effects of smoking and drinking alcohol – “if you smoke, stop,� she said, noting that both activities are related to increased risk of cancer. She also said healthy eating and getting physical activity are ways of limiting the chances of getting cancer. Both prevention and education are given their own place in the strategy as two of the six goals. The other goals include a screening blitz, research and surveillance, supportive care and building productive relationships. Under research and surveillance, Kewayosh said it is crucial for caregivers to get more accurate information on the rates of cancer in First Nations, Metis and Inuit populations. While researchers do know that prior to 1991, First Nations people were less likely than non-Aboriginal people to acquire cancer, that has changed in the two decades since then. And due to that rapid increase in cancer, the health care system is having to deal with a large number of Aboriginal cancer patients despite a limited number of resources for doing so. “We’re focusing on the importance of screening, because we want to make sure we’re catching it early, but at the same time we have people with cancer now,� Kewayosh said. She added that many community leaders across the province have expressed their desires to see more palliative care geared at Aboriginal people.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s (KI) chief and council meetings have been televised over the community’s cable network since last November’s band election.

“All our council meetings are televised Mondays and Thursdays. That is how we try and promote our transparency and accountability to the membership.� – KI Chief Donny Morris

“All our council meetings are televised Mondays and Thursdays,� said KI Chief Donny Morris. “That is how we try and promote our transparency and accountability to the membership.� Morris said the televised meetings provide community members with an opportunity to provide input on various

Submitted photo

KI chief and council discuss an issue during one of their regularly broadcast meetings. “We try to keep it to what issues. “From a community per- the agenda item is about,� spective, some do comment,� Morris said. Luke Sainnawap, previously Morris said. “While we’re having meetings some of them a cable technician with Telewould call in and have mes- com, the community’s cable sages passed to us to comment station, developed the televised meeting system after or make a note of something.� The televised meetings were Morris won the election. “I had to wire up the whole part of Morris’ election platform for more transparency building from the cable station during the Nov. 30 band elec- up to the band office,� Sainnawap said. “I did the pole tion. Morris said the televised work and everything in the meetings work better than the middle of the cold winter.� Sainnawap said the teleold meetings.

vised meetings have run for the whole day, depending on the agenda. “If there are no really big agendas, we can run for an hour or two,� Sainnawap said. “But if there’s a heavy topic, we can run until the end of the day.� Sainnawap said the televised meetings keep community members connected to the issues in their community. “It makes them understand a bit about how the band office works based on what they hear and see,� Sainnawap said. “Follow up is done pretty good too — whatever is discussed is followed up. They have to be accountable for what they say.� Sainnawap also produces weekly updates and video blogs about urgent community matters for broadcast over the cable network for a couple of days. “We use Youtube a lot too, but not with internal matters,� Sainnawap said. Sainnawap is available to train technicians from other communities on how to set up similar systems in their communities.

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN OPEN HOUSE FOR THE CLIFFS CHROMITE PROJECT Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (Cliffs) recently initiated a provincial and federal Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Cliffs Chromite Project. The EA will assess the following four components of the Project: 1) 2) 3) 4)

The Mine, located near McFaulds Lake; An Ore Processing Facility, co-located at the Mine; An Integrated Transportation System (ITS) to transport product/supplies and workers to and from the Mine; and A Ferrochrome Production Facility (FPF), located in Capreol, within the City of Greater Sudbury.

Progress to Date Throughout 2011 and 2012, Cliffs held Open House and community meeting events to obtain feedback on its May 2011 Project Description Report as well as the draft Terms of Reference (ToR). Cliffs has now formally submitted its ToR to the Ministry of the Environment for the Project, which provides the framework for the provincial component of the EA. The federal EA will be carried out concurrently with the provincial EA, and will follow the federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Guidelines issued to Cliffs on December 23, 2011. Cliffs is now moving forward with the coordinated EA and is beginning the next phase of consultation and engagement activities.

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Cliffs Chromite Project Location You Are Invited Community members, government agencies and other interested persons are encouraged to actively participate in the provincial EA planning process by reviewing and providing feedback on the preliminary list of Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs), the results of the baseline studies and Project alternatives assessment. To obtain your feedback Cliffs will hold an Open House (please see details below). Cliffs and its consultants (Golder Associates Ltd) will be present at the Open House to answer your questions and hear what you have to say.

If you cannot attend the Open House you are encouraged to forward questions or comments on the preliminary list of 9(&ÂśV WKH UHVXOWV RI WKH EDVHOLQH VWXGLHV DQG RU WKH Project alternatives to: Jason Aagenes Director, Environmental Affairs 1159 Alloy Drive, Ste. 200 Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6M8 Phone: 1-855-353-4766 Fax: 216-694-4035 Public_affairs@cliffsnr.com

We look forward to meeting you. Refreshments will be provided. Wednesday October 17, 2012 Wednesday October 24, 2012 Thursday October 25, 2012

4:00 p.m. Âą 8:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Âą 8:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Âą 8:00 p.m.

Open House Details Geraldton Community Centre, 200 Wardrope Avenue, Geraldton, ON Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre, 698 W Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON Capreol Community Centre, 200 Meehan Street, Capreol, ON

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10

Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

ᐧᐊᐧᐊᑌ ᐊᒋᒧᐧᐃᓇᐣ

Housing struggles affecting low-income First Nation people in Thunder Bay Stephanie Wesley Wawatay News

Finding an affordable and safe place to live in Thunder Bay has never been easy for a lot of First Nations individuals who have to move to, or reside in, Thunder Bay. Low-income housing organizations in the city have waiting lists that are months, often years long. “I applied for Native Housing once a few years ago but they never got back to me, I always had to call them,” said a client of low-income housing, who asked to remain anonymous. “They told me to keep calling every month to keep my file active. I missed calling them one time, and when I called back the next month to check in, they told me that they had lost my file and I had to re-apply. I didn’t bother.” The client has been living in a Thunder Bay District Housing unit with her daughter and her grandchildren for the last several years. “I applied for Thunder Bay housing and it didn’t take long for them to place me,” she said, adding that she was a single mother of two at the time. “I moved in about two weeks after I applied.” In Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s spring 2012 Rental Market Survey, Thunder Bay had one of the lowest rental apartment availability rates at 3.1 per cent. A rental unit is referred to as available if the unit is unoccupied or if the existing tenant has given or received notice to move and a new tenant has not signed a lease. With such a small pool to wade through when it comes to finding an affordable and suitable place to live, it is hard to acquire one of the low-income or rent-geared-toincome homes that many First

Nation members on fixedincomes need. Those who are already in Native or Thunder Bay housing tend to stay put. Ramona Netemegeesic has been a long-term client of Native Housing – she is in her third unit. Before she was in Native Housing, Netemegeesic described her prior search for an apartment as very hard. She said she had a lot of hassles being a single, young First Nations mother. “I was living in a basement apartment and it flooded. I was looking around for a new apartment. Everything was unavailable. (The landlords) would say that they don’t accept young mothers, they would tell me no,” Netemegeesic said. “The landlords kept asking me how I was going to pay the rent since I didn’t work,” she said. Netemegeesic was told by a relative to apply to Native Housing. It only took a couple of months before she was placed in a unit with her family.

“I applied for Native Housing once a few years ago but they never got back to me, I always had to call them,” – Low-income Housing Client

“People keep asking me, how did you do it?” Netemegeesic said about when others ask her how she managed to get into Native Housing. “I have a friend who has been on the waiting list at Native Housing for six months now. She is pregnant and has two kids already, and she is having trouble getting an apartment.”

Stephanie Wesley/Special to Wawatay News

Finding affordable housing, such as these Limbrick apartments, is becoming more difficult for First Nations people moving to Thunder Bay. The need for affordable housing in the city for First Nations people who are on fixed-incomes like disability, old-age pension or socialassistance is a pressing matter. Many times, Elders from northern communities have to move to the city for medical needs that cannot be met in their home communities. Martin White, who runs the Kizhaay Anishinaabe Niin program at the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Center, feels that finding a place to live in the city is “almost impossible.” Martin helps out with the Lifelong Care program at the Friendship Center, which is centred around assisting Aboriginal Elders. “I know that those affordable housing places do not put Elders in need first. If an Elder ever brought a family down with them, maybe they would,” White said. “If she had all of her grandchildren then maybe they would be put in a high needs category.” White worries about the Elders who have to live in bad neighborhoods because it is all

they can afford on their fixedincome. “Right now, some of our Elders are living near undesirables,” White said. “I hear stories of individuals who are just terrified, they are living in the ghetto in the middle of town. They are afraid to open the door because of what is going on in the other side.” The client from Thunder Bay District Housing often deals with hearing rowdy people at night who walk around the rental properties. “The neighborhood is a little bad, it is noisy at night especially on weekends,” she said. “There are people partying, they walk by our apartment and you can hear them. I just try to mind my own business in this area.” Being a single mother does not always guarantee you a place to live with places like Native Housing and Thunder Bay District Housing. The client explained that her daughter has been on the waiting list for affordable housing for almost eight months now. “She is being

30 th

Ann iver sary

told to keep calling to find out where she is.” “It’s tough,” said White. “There was a young man who came to town with his two kids in May. He went to try to get help at social services. The workers asked him, why aren’t your kids in school? And he told them they needed a place to stay. He needed help; they said they were going to call Dilico on him because his kids weren’t in school. So he didn’t want to go back there.” White said that the young man’s chief and council put him up in a motel for three months before Native Housing found his family a home. “There’s something missing,” White said. Candace Davies, Nihdawin Family Support Worker with Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA), said that there is a profound lack of non-profit housing options in Thunder Bay. Nihdawin is a program that aids in placing children and their families into affordable homes to gain stability. Davies said that stability is the key for

working on existing familial problems and avoiding children being removed by childwelfare groups. It is still hard to find affordable homes in Thunder Bay even for a program like Nihdawin who uses Native Housing and Thunder Bay housing, Davies explained. “I think it’s due to the economy, the rent is high. It’s putting poverty on the people who can’t afford to pay the rent,” Davies said. Davies said, for example, a bachelor apartment in Thunder Bay is now going for over $500. She then went on to say that a single person on socialassistance gets a maximum of $372 for shelter costs, and that the rent will have to come out of the basic needs portion of their assistance. “This leaves them with about $50 for a whole month,” Davies lamented. “There are high-waiting lists for low-income housing,” she explained. “Right now, Ontario Works is suggesting people go into the mainstream (for-profit housing lists) to look for places to rent.” Davis said that ONWA’s Nihdawin program does see a lot of First Nations clients who are migrating to the city from up north and are often left on waiting lists for affordable housing for months at a time. “Ontario Works is going to discontinue the community start-up benefit, which will put a lot of restraints on people moving to the city,” Davies said. Community start-up was around $750 and could help a person cover their first and last month’s rent, she said. “How can they afford to pay first and last rent without that benefit?” Davies questioned. “Thunder Bay needs more non-profit and low-income houses.” “A home increases a family’s self-esteem,” Davies said. “It keeps families together.”

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1

Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

11

ᐧᐊᐧᐊᑌ ᐊᒋᒧᐧᐃᓇᐣ

Photos by Rick Garrick/Wawatay News

Left: A group of students check out a variety of hides at the hide preparation station. More than 600 elementary and high school students took part in the Seven Generations’ fall harvest celebration. Top: Wild rice winnowing was one of the wild rice processing steps taught to students at a number of wild rice stations.

Fall harvest another success for Seven Generations Rick Garrick Wawatay News

Corn soup, popped wild rice, bannock and labrador tea were on the menu at Seven Generations Education Institute’s fall harvest in Thunder Bay. “I’ve got wild rice soup inside (for the volunteers),” said Mark Sault, director of Seven Generations’ Post Secondary Student Support Program. “I might bring that out this afternoon (for the students) if they don’t eat it up at lunch.” Originally from Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation in southern Ontario, Sault also made corn soup with 10 to 15-year-old dried corn during the fall harvest, which was held from Sept. 25-27 at the Fort William Historical Park in

Thunder Bay. “It will last pretty much forever once it’s dried,” Sault said. “Just like wild rice, it’ll last forever too once it’s dried.” More than 600 elementary and high school students attended the fall harvest, where they learned about a variety of traditional activities, including storytelling, drum teachings, fishnet making, wild rice preparation, fish preparation, bird preparation, medicines and teas, hide preparation, moccasin making, traditional foods and traditional crafts. Eabametoong Elder Felicia Waboose noticed the students are becoming more interested over the three years she has been helping with the fall harvest.

“Some kids will say I was here last year,” Waboose said. “Where’s your partridge, where’s your mallard.” Waboose taught the students about the different parts of game birds and how they were traditionally prepared. “For example, when you bagged up what you cleaned, there were no Ziploc bags,” Waboose said. “Instead of Rubbermaid containers, birch bark baskets were used mostly.” Couchiching Elder Willie Yerxa has been helping out with the Thunder Bay fall harvest for the past four years and the Fort Frances fall harvest for about 15 years. “I enjoy sharing with the kids the little bit that I know,” Yerxa said. “They are becoming very knowledgeable of how to pro-

cess it all through the different stages.” Yerxa received his knowledge of wild rice processing from his parents when he was “very young.” “They passed it on to me and I’m trying to pass it on to the kids,” Yerxa said. “They’re listening; they’re learning.” Pic River’s Nathaniel Moses taught the students about traditional drums and songs. “We’re trying to show our children the understanding of who we are as Anishinabe,” Moses said. “We’re trying to share that we are all good people, no matter if we’re green, purple or pink. We’re all one and we’re all community.” Ecole Gron Morgan viceprincipal Darren Lentz taught the students about snowshoe

weaving, the history of snowshoes and the different types of snowshoes. “I learned from an Elder from Ogoki Post, Gilbert Baxter,” Lentz said. “He passed on that knowledge and it’s nice to be able to pass that on to kids.” Lentz said the fall harvest provides students with an opportunity to experience a variety of traditional activities “hands on”. “It’s getting to see people doing it live right in front of them and getting to experience, you know, taste the food, try out burning the feathers off the goose, weaving a snowshoe,” Lentz said. “It’s authentic and they get to do it. Then they can take it back and read and write about it in the classroom.”

Pic Mobert Elder Sara Sabourin mixes up another batch of bannock during the fall harvest celebration in Thunder Bay.

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12

Wawatay News

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Lac Seul to run World Marathon Challenge Rick Garrick Wawatay News

Obishkookaang Elementary School students in Lac Seul are training for the World Marathon Challenge to beat Patrick Bakau’s 2:03:38 world marathon record. “We’ll see if we can’t get (Lac Seul) Chief Clifford Bull to run the first leg,” said Scott Haines, phys-ed instructor at Obishkookaang and board member with the Aboriginal Sport and Wellness Council of Ontario. “We’ll have it right out in front of our school, at 9 a.m. on Oct. 16. We’ll keep the baton moving there and afterwards we’ll have a feast.” The World Marathon Challenge features teams of children aged 11-13 from around the world running simultaneous 200-metre relay legs in support of Save the Children, an international nonprofit organization committed to ensuring children realize the rights they are entitled to under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Haines said the students have been practicing on crosscountry trails in the community to build their endurance levels. “We have a cross-country team so a lot of them have been running there,” Haines said. “We’re hoping to challenge a few other (Nishnawbe Aski Nation) communities. I’ve been talking with Sandy Lake again and Kasabonika to see if they want to come up to the challenge.” Sandy Lake was one of three

Rick Garrick/Wawatay News

Lac Seul students Lauren Gray and Diamond Carpenter (red shirt) practice baton passing in preparation for their school’s World Marathon Challenge on Oct. 16. communities across Canada that participated in last year’s World Marathon Challenge. Wabauskang First Nation also participated, with former Treaty #3 grand chief Diane Kelly running a lap, along with two teams from Toronto. Haines said the Lac Seul students have participated in a video conference call with the World Marathon Challenge organizers in England. “They suddenly realized how small the world is in a sense because they were asking ‘Let’s talk to other kids in other countries,’” Haines said. “I think the kids are starting to realize that this is something more than just running. This is something where you get a chance to reach out to the

world, in essence.” Haines said the students will be running 211 laps of 200 metres for a total of 26.2 miles, the full Olympic marathon distance, during their World Marathon Challenge. Their times will be shared online and on Twitter @WorldMarathon along with other teams from around the world. Another event has been added to the World Marathon Challenge this year, a 1,500metre challenge for children aged seven to 11 years old. “They added that to be able to have the younger kids participate,” Haines said. Haines said about 500 communities across the world are participating in this year’s World Marathon Challenge.

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