As the sun shines in their faces and the 1000-person crowd starts moving, the anxiety that had preceded the walk out to their stage marks melts away, leaving in its place a calm euphoric flow. “The sound is so big,” […]

This summer I have had the pleasure of being visited by some of my family members. It made me realize how things have changed back home in Attawapiskat. I see those changes in smiling faces of hope. My nephew Philip […]

It has been a hot and humid summer in northern Ontario. However, the political climate for First Nation people in this province and right across Canada has been refreshing. Good things are beginning to happen for First Nations in education, […]

My great-grandfather, John Chookomolin, died of the Spanish flu 99 years ago after being transported by ship to England to fight in the First World War as part of the Canadian Forestry Corps. When I first visited his grave at […]

My mother, Susan Kataquapit, passed from this world on July 23 at the age of 73. My brothers and sisters, her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren are feeling the loss of our matriarch and the connection to our traditional past. She […]

I was lucky. Raised in a large family by my mom Susan and dad Marius, my eight siblings and I were always well cared for and guided. Life was not very easy for any of us living in Attawapiskat 20 […]

Despite the challenges Attawapiskat youth have faced recently, one group of teens has managed to rise up from the dust and, with the help of the DAREarts charity, has produced a music video that speaks to both their frustrations and […]

Victoria Lean’s documentary After the Last River follows the one-sided relationship between Attawapiskat, one of Canada’s poorest Indigenous communities, and De Beers, the world’s largest diamond mining company. In 2008, De Beers opened the Victor Mine, just 90 km up […]

The difference in attitude toward First Nations people with the new federal government is amazing. The contrast with the closed and hostile Harper government is huge. That difference was illustrated by the meeting in early June that members of a […]

The 2000 Cree of Attawapiskat have lived through multiple crises of the past few years that have garnered headlines throughout Canada. The latest media storm followed a rash of suicide attempts in April, when seven children aged 9-14 were rushed […]