Xavier Kataquapit

Like that old song says “there aint no cure for the summer time blues”. I remember very well what it was like being a teen in summer back home up the James Bay coast in Attawapiskat. I always had to work and that was good in a way because it kept me busy and out of trouble more or less. Still, when I was 16, 17 and 18 I wished that I could leave my dusty, remote rez and head out to the big world where cities with sky scrapers, thousands of people, cars, trains and planes captivated my imagination.

I have just gotten over a terrible flu. I felt miserable for 10 days and this sickness lingered on giving me congestion in my lungs, problems with my sinuses as well as a headache and weakness. I have been so careful this flu season and have been watching out for people with symptoms and staying away from them. In addition I have been staying away from groups of people and washing my hands often. One of the reasons I am taking such great care is due to the fact that my partner Mike has a lung condition and it is dangerous for him to end up with a cold or flu.

Health leaders and advocates gathered at the Temiskaming Hospital on June 6 for the Grand Opening of the new Mino M’shki-ki Indigenous Health Team office in Temiskaming Shores. The opening of this new Indigenous health care office was made possible by the collaborative efforts of several organizations in the Temiskaming area in northeastern Ontario. Mino M’shki-ki, a name selected by an Elders Council translates as ‘good medicine’ and the title is meant to reflect the type of modern health care services that will be provided in a culturally sensitive environment.

It is time for the federal and provincial governments to seriously deal with the annual flooding and evacuations of Kashechewan First Nation or Kash as we, the Cree people of the James Bay, refer to it. Kashechewan, which is Cree for ‘where the water flows fast’, sits on the banks of the Albany River and has been flooding for a very long time on an annual basis.

At the start of this winter, when the snow began to accumulate and the cold temperatures had hardened the ground, my older brother Ah-twen headed out into the open tundra north of Attawapiskat. His English name is pronounced Antoine Kataquapit and he is a traditional hunter, trapper and knowledge keeper who has years of living on the land. The place he went to is called Mooshoowak, an area on the corner of land where the bays of the Hudson and James meet. The Cree word is a description that basically describes the land as ‘clear’ or ‘without features’.