Lenny Carpenter — Wawatay News

CBC recently aired a documentary television story that compared the Crees of northern Ontario to the Crees of northern Quebec.
Flooding, sickness and suicide are rampant in Kashechewan, the CBC reporter says, while similar issues reign in Attawapiskat along with its much-publicized housing crisis.
Images of dilapidated homes and flooded streets accentuate the words.
Meanwhile, the Crees in northern Quebec are “flourishing.”
The Eeyou Istchee in Quebec has well-run schools, health services and well-built homes.

As he enters his sixth month of chemotherapy treatment for a tumour along his liver, colon and stomach lining, Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit remains optimistic in his battle with cancer.
“I feel fine with the usual chemo aftereffects,” he said. “I’m back on the job full-time and I’m enjoying what I’m doing.”
Last fall, Louttit underwent surgery to remove tumours from his colon and liver but surgeons discovered the cancer has spread to his stomach lining.

After months of maintaining grades, rehearsing and fundraising, 17 Sandy Lake students joined other First Nations youth to take the big stage in Toronto for a dance performance on June 4.
“Oh my gosh, don’t even get to that part,” said 12-year-old Arlen Goodman when asked how it felt to take the stage at the Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto.
Goodman was so happy, “I was crying.”
The performance was the culmination of Outside Looking In (OLI), a national high school credit-based dance program that encourages student retention.

Randy Morrisseau of Couchiching First Nation made the shot of lifetime when he scored an albatross on a par 5 during Seven Generation Educational Institute’s 15th Annual Four-Person, 18-Hole Scramble Tournament on June 14.
After teeing off, Morrisseau sunk in his second shot from the fairway to give him three-under-par for that hole. According to golf experts, the odds of scoring an albatross on a par 5 is one in 1,000,000 – much rarer than a hole-in-one on a par 3.
Morrisseau and his teammates were stunned when they learned he sunk in his shot.

Attawapiskat residents who were evacuated last month due to sewage backups were recently transferred closer to home while their houses continue to be repaired.
More than 30 Attawapiskat evacuees were transferred to Kapuskasing on June 17 after spending more than five weeks in Fort Frances, a northwestern Ontario town located near the U.S. and Manitoba borders and far from their homes along the James Bay coast.