One of the first signs of spring is the budding of the leaves on trees and bushes. It feels good after a long hard winter to realize that the sun is coming up earlier and setting a little later. […]
Category: UTNS
We need our northern trains
If you are a railway enthusiast then you got some sad news recently when the Ontario government announced that it would sell off most of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC). That means that our northern Ontario lifeline to […]
Being up front keeps me sober
At first I didn’t know how to react to a question asked of me recently. I had to think about it to provide an answer that made sense. A friend of mine asked me how I could be so public […]
Remembering my father
I can’t believe I am writing words dedicated to the passing of my dad, Marius Kataquapit (October 26, 1938 – March 13, 2013). His death from a heart attack has left a hole in my own heart that I know […]
New school in Attawapiskat is a dream come true
In June 2000, I wrote a column on the J.R. Nakogee Elementary School and the fact that it had been closed down due to contamination from an estimated 70,000 litres of diesel fuel over many years of leakage. I pointed […]
On a dark and dangerous road
I sure am a lucky guy. Most of the time I take my life and all that I enjoy for granted but every once in a while I pause to think of so much I have to be grateful for. […]
Aboriginal women breaking the trail
First Nation women I have met over the years in general have always impressed me. My earliest recollections of Native women are positive. My mom and my two sisters always seemed to be strong people who could pitch in and […]
Keeping the northern skies safe
Travelling in the north has always been a hazard for all kinds of reasons. The remoteness makes it difficult to have all the latest technologies in place. It is not like life in the south where many safety precautions are […]
Back to the future
Winter ice roads could be fading away and airships might be taking over. A report by the Conference Board of Canada is suggesting that hot-air blimps like the ones that dominated the skies in the 1920s and 1930s could […]
The dream catcher
I had a dream the other night. I was a little boy again. There I was, on the land back up on the James Bay coast. I could see the clear water of the Attawapiskat River below and the deep […]