Xavier Kataquapit

We Need A Change

Create: 02/27/2021 - 04:06

We are still dealing with this Covid19 pandemic after more than a year and it is not looking like there is any light at the end of the tunnel just yet. Thankfully there are vaccines being rolled out but it is not happening fast enough to keep this virus in check. Governments continue to open everything up way too much and rapidly even though the virologists and epidemiologists have been warning us that is far too dangerous as this virus is mutating into new variants which are much more contagious.

Time To Build A Snowman

Create: 01/23/2021 - 02:26

On a whim, I built a snowman on my front lawn the other day. I was shovelling the driveway during a warm spell when the temperature rose to zero degrees here in northern Ontario. At that temperature, snow turns from a crystalline sandy consistency to a more sticky substance like bread dough. It is cold enough to stay a white mass but damp enough to form into solid shapes that can stick to itself. It was perfect snowman making material and the kid in me moved into snow creative action.

Dancing In The Kitchen

Create: 01/23/2021 - 02:25

I am happy to report that during this pandemic I am spending a lot of time meditating in my kitchen. I just wrapped up a big breakfast that I made with fried eggs, bacon, toast and a generous helping of air fried home fries. While cooking, I cleaned the pans, soaked some dishes and kept wiping down the counter. All this choreographed dancing in the kitchen was something I learned from my mom Susan who had taught me years ago in a fast food kitchen. At one time my parents ran a fast food restaurant in Attawapiskat.

Opioids Are Killing Our Loved Ones

Create: 01/06/2021 - 22:23

The opioid crisis in Canada has resulted in many thousands of deaths over the past decade. Personally, this crisis has affected me from the people I’ve known who have fallen into this dark well of addiction. We all know people in all of our communities across Canada that have either been severely damaged or killed by the use of opioids.

What If It Were Your Treaty?

Create: 11/20/2020 - 03:31

I have never really been that political and I don’t think most Indigenous people are. We come from a very natural history in terms of living, communicating and working with others. Our introduction to the European way of doing things, commercialism, capitalism, ownership of land and resources, religion and how the foreigners saw reality was very different from what we knew and practised.

Under The Northern Sky: Lest We Forget

Create: 11/11/2020 - 23:28

Remembrance Day went by and once again I found myself in sadness for those who lost their lives in war. In the Cree language we have no word for ‘war’, the idea of conflict that involves hundreds or millions of people. Instead we call it ‘Mah-shi-keh-win’ which translates to ‘fighting’. We use the same word to describe two people fighting or to talk about either of the world wars. The Great War and the Second World War took the lives of millions of people as did subsequent conflicts and wars throughout the 20th century.

Strange Days Ahead

Create: 10/16/2020 - 02:03

Tah-gwah-gun, or the fall season has always been a time of foreboding and worry for every culture in the northern hemisphere. It means that winter is on the way and for my people, it meant that we must prepare if we are to survive and endure another freezing season. In many ways this particular fall demands that we need to prepare for dealing with historic developments. With the turning of this season there are other changes on the horizon that are somewhat threatening.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Xavier Kataquapit