Shawn Bell - Wawatay News

When Lance Geyshick was 12, he had to petition his elementary school’s principal to be allowed to dance in a high school program new to his community of Lac La Croix.
Four years later, Geyshick, 16, has just finished his fourth solo dance performance at a major Toronto showcase event hosted by the national dance program Outside Looking In (OLI).
Geyshick was joined at the 2012 Toronto showcase by 14 other youth from Lac La Croix, the Treaty #3 community that has helped put OLI on the map.

Neskantanga First Nation is stepping up efforts to block Cliffs’ proposed transportation corridor to the Ring of Fire.
The Matawa First Nation has launched a two-pronged attack on the 340-kilometer, all-weather access road that Cliffs wants to run south from the Ring of Fire to Nakina.
With its first move, Neskantaga applied to an obscure Ontario mining court to decide whether the First Nation has rights to the land over which the corridor would be built.

First Nations across northern Ontario are being trapped in a cycle of high debt loads that leave them unable to deal with massive housing needs, says a Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) deputy grand chief who believes he has a solution to the problem.
Les Louttit, NAN deputy grand chief, told Wawatay News that NAN communities have to pool their resources, prioritize housing needs across the North and create a NAN-owned and operated housing organization in order to move forward on the dire needs facing the communities.

Governments and industry are “running roughshod” over First Nations and ignoring Treaty 9 when it comes to the Ring of Fire, say the First Nations behind an upcoming eviction notice being sent to industry in the region.
Six First Nations plan to issue 30-day eviction notices to all mining companies with exploration and development camps on Matawa First Nations’ traditional territory.

Three years into a community beautification project, Marten Falls First Nation is looking better than ever.
The program that started with litter cleanup and brush cutting between houses has now expanded to clearing much of the thick brush along the Albany River banks, opening up a view of the spectacular river from the community.
Marten Falls’ councillor Grace Baxter-Bottle, who initiated the program three years ago, said the idea is to encourage community members to take care of the community.