Rick Garrick — Wawatay News

Ken Wakegijig’s beautiful deer antler rattle was one of the artworks for sale at this year’s Sequin Aboriginal Spring Fine Arts and Crafts Show.
“I went to Fort William First Nation for a walk one day,” said the Thunder Bay resident whose parents were originally from Wikwemikong and Whitefish Lake near Sudbury. “On the way back home I was walking on the railway tracks and I looked on the ground and saw the antler. It was so fresh that the blood was still coming out of there.”

Nishnawbe Aski Nation hockey fans can’t wait to watch the new Winnipeg National Hockey League team in action.
“When the Winnipeg Jets were playing I used to go to their games ... every time the Toronto Maple Leafs were there,” said Stephen Fiddler, one of the organizers of the Little Bands Native Youth Summer Hockey Tournament being held Aug. 11-14 at the Port Arthur Arena in Thunder Bay. “I can’t wait for the Toronto Maple Leafs to be in Winnipeg.”

Neskantaga’s Norman Moonias is remembered for his woodcarvings of everyday life in the north.
“He was a great artist,” said his son William Moonias. “Whatever the type of carvings he did was always the way he lived.”
Although Moonias didn’t see much of his father while he was in residential school, he still respected the way he did things.
“He loved the north,” Moonias said. “It was sad to see him come to the city. I know how he missed his way of life.”

The KAIROS Cross Canada Train Tour is raising awareness about the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples.
The train stopped in Sioux Lookout June 17.
The tour is part of the Roll With the Declaration national campaign organized by KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives.
The campaign calls on the Canadian government to use the UN declaration to improve conditions faced by many Indigenous communities in Canada.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) is holding a referendum July 5 on two documents: the KI watershed declaration and the KI consultation protocol.
The watershed declaration will look at ways to protect water resources in KI territory and the consultation protocol will be used when dealing with outside developers looking to use lands or resources in KI’s traditional lands.