This page is dedicated to providing my readers who would like to follow my latest column which I produce on a regular basis every second week.
- Wawatay News :: Live To Drive Another Day
When I was a teenager attending high school in Timmins in the early 1990s people from the James Bay coast were just starting to get accustomed to the modern way of life in the south. There were not a lot of people who had drivers licenses and there were even less people who owned their own vehicles. It was a very special thing to see someone from the James Bay coast driving a vehicle and even more so if they owned the car or truck they were in.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
- Wawatay News :: For My Brother Philip
I’m dedicating this column to my late brother Philip Kataquapit who passed away on Christmas Day in 1990 at the age of 16.
Philip was a very charismatic character. Everyone loved him and wanted to be around him. I always felt that he was a great combination of so many characters in our family all rolled up in one person. He was handsome, slender and tall like the men in mom’s side of the family. He was exciting, quick witted, funny and ready to laugh like dad’s side of the family.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
- Timmins Press :: For My Brother Philip
I’m dedicating this column to my late brother Philip Kataquapit who passed away on Christmas Day in 1990 at the age of 16.
Philip was a very charismatic character. Everyone loved him and wanted to be around him. I always felt that he was a great combination of so many characters in our family all rolled up in one person. He was handsome, slender and tall like the men in mom’s side of the family. He was exciting, quick witted, funny and ready to laugh like dad’s side of the family.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
https://www.timminspress.com/opinion/for-my-brother-philip
Philip Kataquapit, at 16 years of age in 1990 - Wawatay News :: We Need To Do More
I was raised knowing many people in my circle of family and friends who have had to deal with troubles and problems that they had no control over. As I grew up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, tragedy and trauma just seemed be a normal part of life for everyone.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
- Wawatay News :: Remembering War Honestly
Please scroll to the bottom of this post to see photos of the veterans from my column.
Every year at this time myself and my partner Mike have to deal with the devastating losses our families have had to live with due to war. The November 11 Remembrance Day commemoration has always been a day of great sadness in remembering the veterans of the First World War and the Second World War as well as other wars. Those memories have been compounded with more sad truths through the research we have been doing over the past few years. We are working on media projects concerning the two world wars and some of our discoveries have been shocking.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/remembering-war-honestly
James Kataquapit, First World War veteran who was part of the Canadian Forestry Corp. A former Chief of Attawapiskat, he is pictured here in 1948. 
James McGrath, Second World War veteran, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI), Canadian Infantry pictured here in 1950. He is a wounded veteran of the Battle of the Scheldt in the autumn of 1944. 
Patrick McGrath, died at 18 years of age in October 15, 1944 in Belgium during the Battle of the Scheldt in the Second World War. He was part of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. He is pictured here in a newspaper image from 1944. 
John Chookomolin, died at 22 years of age in 1917 during First World War as part of the Canadian Forestry Corp. A member of Attawapiskat FN, he is pictured here in 1917. 
John Bradley Sr, Sergeant in the 26th Battery, 4th Field Regiment and veteran of the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944. He is a member of Six Nations of the Grand River. 
John F Lemieux, Second World War veteran, Royal Canadian Air Force 406 Squadron, pictured here in 1944. He is originally from Smooth Rock Falls and Iroquois Falls, Ontario.
