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The Mattagami FN 12th Annual Pow Wow was held on August 15 and 16, 2026. Pictured is Chief Jennifer Constant, Mattagami FN (in the green dress) leading the flag bearers for the opening of the first day of the Pow Wow on Saturday August 15. The Mattagami FN 12th Annual Pow Wow was held on August 15 and 16, 2026. Pictured is the second day opening ceremonies (from front row L-R) with Head Female…
photo provided by Joseph Kataquapit The Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering committee are a dedicated group of volunteer community members who worked throughout the year to organize the 2026 event which was held from August 2 to 8, 2026. In back L-R are: Linda Kataquapit, Anna Keboke, Flora Iahtail, Lydia Linklater, Fiona Spence, Markiesha Sutherland, RoseAnne Sutherland and Jenny Hookimaw. In front…
Forest fires have always been a deep worry for those of us who live in the far north of Ontario. We are surrounded by endless forests and we know full well what it means when these trees start to burn in the peak heat of summer. I remember a few hot summers in the 1980s, when I was growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, seeing large columns of smoke rising west of…
PHOTO CUTLINE photo provided by Kohen Mattinas Nishnawbe-Aski Nation First Nation Youth Delegation at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Gevena, Switzerland are from L-R: Ryan Fleming, Attawapiskat FN; Keira Spence, Moose Cree FN and Kohen Mattinas, Lac Seul FN / Constance Lake FN. First Nation youth representatives are letting the world know that Indigenous…
My home community of Attawapiskat First Nation is celebrating the annual graduations of students from Kattawapiskak Elementary School and Vezina Secondary School. These are proud moments for our community as families get to celebrate their children. These moments are especially important for our First Nation communities, as education in my parents' time was a traumatic event that affected the…
The traditional custom of making Nah-Mesh-Tek, smoked goose is a practise that has been handed down for generations in Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay coast. Here we see Janie Wesley with her nephew Orion Kataquapit as they hold up their latest batch of Nah-Mesh-Tek, smoked goose. Photo by Brian Wesley. I was happy to see my nieces and nephews in Attawapiskat taking the opportunity to…
Maachestan, the Cree word for the annual spring river ice breakup, is happening all along the James Bay coast. This is a very important time of year for remote communities along the coast. Over the past few weeks, my family has been sharing regular reports of what is happening on the Attawapiskat River. I was happy to hear them all talk about this time of year, as it reminded me of hearing my…
Northern First Nation youth addressed the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) Twenty-Fifth Session which was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from April 20 to May 1, 2026. Pictured (L-R) at the UN in New York are: Kohen Mattinas, Lac Seul FN / Constance Lake FN; Jeronimo Kataquapit, Attawapiskat FN and Ramon Kataquapit, Attawapiskat FN. (Photo provided…
When I was a boy growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, I was deathly afraid of looking at the full moon. I grew up in a very traditional Cree environment in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast in northern Ontario. In the 1980s, my family and I only spoke Inineemoon or ‘James Bay Cree’ because it was the language our parents and grandparents…
I’m happy to see the ongoing support and assistance in our northern remote communities to help our people cope with so many lifelong and generational issues, trauma and pain that our people carry. It took me many years to understand that these programs or services are not a one-stop service or a single program that will provide instant resolutions or cures for the issues that plague our people.…
