“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” That’s the theme of Chisasibi’s 25th annual Christmas parade, happening on Dec. 4 at 5pm – it’s also how people throughout the region are probably feeling as holiday events start to unfold.
As this year’s holiday season approaches, the Nation is once again offering some stellar gift suggestions to warm the hearts of your family and friends.
A guest speaker in a Concordia University class on Indigenous history sparked a walkout by students after she asserted that Crees attended residential schools voluntarily and suffered less abuse than others.
A family lost its brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. A church lost its pastor. And a community lost a leader, as people across Eeyou Istchee mourn for the loss of Larry Linton of Mistissini, who passed away October 14.
The Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association (CWEIA) held their 4th Kuukuminuwich Gathering in Nemaska October 2-3, over a year after it was originally planned and postponed due to Covid restrictions.
Since its creation in 1974, the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre has been an innovative force for urban Indigenous issues. This autumn, several new initiatives that have been progressing for years are finally coming to fruition.
Crees gathered to mark the first annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation September 30, which the federal government created this year to replace the informal Orange Shirt Day that had been held the same date to remember the tragedy and injustice of the residential school system.
The ninth summer of children’s literacy camps in Eeyou Istchee was celebrated as a return towards normalcy after a limited pandemic version last year. For four weeks in July, Frontier College organized summer learning opportunities for a total of 158 children in Whapmagoostui, Chisasibi, Wemindji, Waskaganish, Mistissini and Waswanipi.
Results from last winter’s aerial survey confirm fears that Eeyou Istchee’s moose population is significantly declining. A downward trend in moose numbers had been observed for several years by Cree hunters and in success rates reported by sports hunters.
With the slow but steady disappearance of eelgrass along the coasts of Hudson Bay and James Bay, the fall goose hunt is quickly declining. The thousands upon thousands of Canada Geese that used to feed on this special grass that grew from the Comb Islands in the south to Cape Jones in the north are increasingly migrating to better feeding areas.
