People in First Nations around Timmins are happier, healthier and wealthier because of recent agreements with mining companies, says the head of Wabun Tribal Council.
Wabun is a council of six First Nations, all within about 200 kilometres of Timmins: Beaverhouse, Brunswick House, Chapleau Ojibwe, Flying Post, Matechewan, and Mattagami.
Cliffs Natural Resources has appealed a decision by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner that stops Cliffs from building an all-weather road to the Ring of Fire over mining claims held by another company.
KWG Resources, which through its subsidiary company Canada Chrome Corporation holds mining claims Cliffs wants to cross with its proposed $600-million road, received notice of the appeal Oct. 9.
Ontario needs a plan for its Far North beyond just the Ring of Fire and the Matawa First Nations nearby, says Bob Rae.
Rae, the former NDP premier and Liberal MP, currently works as an advisor to the Matawa tribal council in negotiations with the provincial government regarding mining development in the Ring of Fire, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. Rae talked about those negotiations Oct. 16 as the keynote dinner speaker at the Mining Ready Summit in Timmins, hosted by the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund.
Nolan Tozer has used his love of the outdoors and his home in Moosonee as a base for becoming an award-winning entrepreneur.
Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) presented Tozer, a Moose Cree member, with its 2013 Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award in October.
Nolan, who also celebrated his 24th birthday last month, and his wife Jenn started Moose River Tours about three years ago. The couple’s home-based business provides customers with a range of fishing options and sightseeing tours on the Moose River and James Bay.
Dan Bannon has laid the foundation for hockey in Fort William First Nation in more ways than one.
Bannon recently received the Businessman of the Year award for 2013 from the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF). He has owned and operated his own business in Fort William, Dan Bannon Contracting, for the past 20 years. With six employees, the company mainly builds houses, but sometimes does commercial renovations or sub-contracts for larger jobs.
William Quachegan left Moose Factory for Timmins to attend high school when he was 15. In shop class, he enjoyed woodworking and found he had a knack for it.
He met his wife Loretta in Timmins and later moved to her home First Nation of Mattagami. In Mattagami, he learned carpentry through an apprenticeship program and from Loretta’s uncle, Clayton McKay.
“I was good at it,” he found. “I just picked it up real fast on the reserve.”
Quachegan continued to build houses there and eventually became a construction supervisor.
A Whitefish Bay Anishinabe First Nation woman has received a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Scholarship from the University of Winnipeg.
Diana Cowley is one of two recipients of $5,000 Truth and Reconciliation scholarships for 2013, the university announced Dec. 10. The scholarships recognize the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and honour students who are residential school survivors or descendants of residential school survivors.
Representatives of Sioux Lookout officially welcomed the Little Bands Native Youth Hockey Tournament back to town on Dec. 16.
The weeklong tournament returns to the Sioux Lookout Memorial Arena for its 13th season after one year away at the twin ice surfaces in Dryden. The 2014 tournament, which takes place Feb. 10-16, will still feature two rinks, as games will also be played throughout the week at the Lac Seul Events Centre arena, which opened earlier this year and seats 1,300 spectators.
The hunting season so far hadn’t gone well for the people of Slate Falls First Nation. The weather wasn’t co-operating and no one was having any luck in shooting a moose.
Until now.
Near the head of the rapids, Ryan Loon nailed one of his traps to a tree when a cow moose walked towards him. Ryan’s gun sat in his boat about 30 feet away. He hesitated at first, unsure what to do, then dashed for the boat and got a shot off with his gun before the moose could run away.
When I was a boy growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, I was deathly afraid of looking at the full moon.
I grew up...
I’m happy to see the ongoing support and assistance in our northern remote communities to help our people cope with so many lifelong and generational issues...