When Irene Bearskin House was 10 years old, she learned in school that the fiddle wasn’t an instrument from her own culture. She became curious: what was played in Cree culture? Bearskin House asked one of her grandmothers, a […]
Post Tagged with: "tradition"
An ancient treatment for a modern disease
Elder Minnie Awashish never imagined that she would have a key medication compound for diabetes treatment named for her. After nearly 15 years of working with scientists from universities in southern Quebec and Ontario, the Mistissini Elder was surprised […]
This year’s Mattagami powwow honours the Elders
A trio of eagles in flight greeted the seventh annual Mattagami First Nation Powwow August 19-20. Elder Mike Naveau pointed out that the three eagles had been over the community leading up to the gathering. Local members took it as […]
National Indigenous People’s Day
Aboriginal Day has come and gone and, for the most part, Canadians have gone about their lives, as usual, without noticing. In this time of reconciliation, it could be time for the federal government to recognize June 21 as a […]
Cree artists climbing up the charts
As all of Eeyou Istchee prepares for a productive Goose Break, Adrian Sutherland and the guys from Midnight Shine are packing their gear for a different rite of passage. This marks the second year in a row for the band […]
Sensitization sessions for Montreal police
“Where are you from?” With those four simple words, Montreal police officers can learn to build bridges and avoid confrontation when coming in contact with members of the city’s Aboriginal community, which now numbers more than 26,000. That is the […]
Using virtual reality to strengthen Cree language
The Cree School Board (CSB) will be offering the most cutting-edge language-teaching technology in Quebec, if not the whole country, when three pilot projects begin in Chisasibi, Nemaska and Oujé-Bougoumou this month. The Cree Syllabics Virtual Reality (CSVR) project, called […]
Throat Singing at the Ashukan Cultural Space
Nina Segalowitz, an Inuk from the Northwest Territories who has lived in Montreal since she was a newborn adopted during the Sixties Scoop, couldn’t learn throat-singing from an Elder, so she and her friend Taqralik Partridge learned from a cassette […]
Reconnecting with the spirit: Matthew Mukash on Indigenous spirituality
As a child, I wanted to learn the traditional spiritual teachings of my Mi’kmaq ancestors. No one in my family was a particularly traditional or spiritual but I found a book in my aunt’s library called Mi’kmaq Hieroglyphics. I was […]
Where’s the tea?
As a boy living in Attawapiskat, there were some things that were constant in my life. My mom Susan and dad Marius always made sure myself and my siblings had a roof over our head and food to eat. Back […]