Category: Culture and Tradition

Nemeska’s Nishiiyu Cultural Gathering

Nemeska’s Nishiiyu Cultural Gathering

The voices of Elders, youth and women flooded a crowded gymnasium in Nemaska for the sixth annual Nishiiyu Council of Elders Cultural Gathering September 5-8. The event brought together more than 30 speakers during 16 workshops that offered an opportunity […]

Hunting identity: Duncan McCue’s trapline memoirs

Hunting identity: Duncan McCue’s trapline memoirs

CBC reporter and host Duncan McCue was in the midst of a 10-month fellowship for leading journalists when one of his instructors challenged him to write about a teacher who had changed his life. McCue thought about it, and then […]

Moving beyond the Indian Act

Moving beyond the Indian Act

The following is adapted from a speech Philip Awashish delivered to the AGA of the Assembly of First Nations July 12 in Niagara Falls I am a member of the Cree Nation of Mistissini of Eeyou Istchee. We call ourselves […]

Chisasibi display encourages the return of midwifery to Eeyou Istchee

Chisasibi display encourages the return of midwifery to Eeyou Istchee

  Until the last half-century or so, Cree mothers almost always delivered their babies at home in Eeyou Istchee. Only in the 1970s did the practice of having babies in hospitals become regular practice. Now, all Cree babies are delivered […]

Keeping the culture alive – Waswanipi elders teach pass on traditional skills

Keeping the culture alive – Waswanipi elders teach pass on traditional skills

Various organizations in Waswanipi, including the Cree Trappers Association (CTA), the Cultural Department and the Waswanipi Youth Department, have asked community Elders to teach traditional practices to the Cree youth. “The point of the event is to teach our youth […]

On the Land

On the Land

It has been many moons since I’ve been moose hunting. I was talking to OJ Chief Curtis Bosum and at the end of our business we chitchatted. I mentioned that my wife Amy was pregnant and looking for moose or […]