Wawatay Native Communications Society

The federal government is pushing through legislation regarding Metis recognition that will greatly affect First Nations without consultation and participation. The Chiefs of Ontario met at their Annual Chiefs-in-Assembly in Thunder Bay, between June 13 and 15 where this issue was discussed. The consensus was made to urge all Chiefs, First Nation members and the public to contact their federal member of parliament about the Metis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreement, which is to be introduced June 19, 2023, to oppose passing the bill by unanimous consent.

We have proof that when governments work together good things can happen and that was demonstrated in Matachewan First Nation when the community announced recently the settlement of a Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) claim. The announcement was made on May 25, by Chief Alex ‘Sonny' Batisse of Matachewan FN, along with Will Bouma, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs on behalf of the Honourable Greg Rickford and also by the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Canada's Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations. This TLE was formed under Treaty #9, also known as the James Bay Treaty, which the community originally signed onto in 1906.

I never quite realized how hard life was when I was growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast. At the time in the 1980s, our Elders saw the community as becoming modernized and more comfortable compared to what they had known a few decades before.

Warmer than average temperatures prevailed across Northern Ontario in early June. For gardeners in the Northwest this warmth was accompanied by generous rain amounts, hence a good beginning to the growing season. However, a much cooler air mass moved into the region in the second week. Widespread frost was experienced in northern communities and morning temperatures just above the freezing point were common in locations like Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Thunder Bay on June 10th and 11th. Gardeners that pay attention to weather forecasts and/or are able to “read” weather conditions themselves probably covered their plants. Most avoided serious frost damage.

The 17th Annual Wabun Youth Gathering was held in Mattagami First Nation in a week long event from July 15 to 19 for over 38 First Nation youth. The event was organized by the Wabun Tribal Council Health Department with the support of the tribal council’s member First Nations. “Its important for us to keep this event going because our young people look forward to it every summer. They get to build life long friendships and stay connected to other youth and adults from the other communities. It’s a time for all of us to learn about our Indigenous heritage and to connect with the land.

I have been working in media as an Indigenous journalist, columnist and videographer for more than a quarter century at this point. This has been such an incredible experience and continues to be for so many reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason I love this work is because I continually learn from every story I must research and all of the amazing Elders, Chiefs, council members, Indigenous and non Indigenous people that I interview.

There is this new duck on the lake here at my far north wilderness camp. I am sure that Shee-sheep, the Cree word for ‘duck' is a mallard and so I decided to call her Daisy. She seems to be frantically searching the lake for something. I am guessing that she is looking for her partner and ducklings. She likes to sit on my freshly renovated dock. I sent her away the other day and now I regret it.

Faye Naveau, an Indigenous actress, artist and performer from Mattagami First Nation has a vision that revolves around the creation of an Indigenous Theatre reality that features a venue, programming and a place where First Nation people can showcase their art in all forms. Currently she is taking part in a leading role as ‘Sybil' in the upcoming play ‘Witches In The Woods' during the inaugural Tamarack Festival in Timmins from September 13 to 15. Naveau hopes to inspire young Indigenous actors, performers, story tellers and writers into joining local theatre arts groups and encourage them to use the dramatic arts to share their stories and take part in a positive and creative outlet.

It seems these days that anyone protesting against the war in Ukraine or Gaza is challenged with push back from governments, various security forces and those in power that for some insane reason feel that conflicts that are killing many thousands of people are something we should all accept. Politicians, academics and media people are discouraged from questioning these wars and when they do the result can be sad as they are discredited, branded as unpatriotic in some way and in some cases actually fired from their jobs.

Every year at this time myself and my partner Mike have to deal with the devastating losses our families have had to live with due to war. The November 11 Remembrance Day commemoration has always been a day of great sadness in remembering the veterans of the First World War and the Second World War as well as other wars. Those memories have been compounded with more sad truths through the research we have been doing over the past few years. We are working on media projects concerning the two world wars and some of our discoveries have been shocking.