Author: Xavier Kataquapit

The government of Ontario is pushing through Bill 5 which aims to designate the Ring of Fire as a so-called “special economic zone”. This bill is intended to reduce regulatory processes across major infrastructure, mining, and resource projects. The bill affects several key Acts, including: Ontario Heritage Act, Ontario Energy Board Act, Environmental Assessment Act, Mining Act, Environmental Protection Act, Electricity Act, Endangered Species Act and Rebuilding Ontario Place Act. The Ring of Fire is located in northern Ontario just west of the James Bay lowlands and my home community of Attawapiskat. The proposed development that is being pushed in this region is basically the head waters of the Attawapiskat River which would directly affect all the water flowing out to James Bay.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/and-it-burns-burns-burns-ring-fire

ATTAWAPISKAT – The government of Ontario is pushing through Bill 5 which aims to designate the Ring of Fire as a so-called “special economic zone”. This bill is intended to reduce regulatory processes across major infrastructure, mining, and resource projects. The bill affects several key Acts, including: Ontario Heritage Act, Ontario Energy Board Act, Environmental Assessment Act, Mining Act, Environmental Protection Act, Electricity Act, Endangered Species Act and Rebuilding Ontario Place Act. The Ring of Fire is located in northern Ontario just west of the James Bay lowlands and my home community of Attawapiskat. The proposed development that is being pushed in this region is basically the head waters of the Attawapiskat River which would directly affect all the water flowing out to James Bay.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.netnewsledger.com/2025/06/03/under-the-northern-sky-and-it-burns-burns-burns-that-ring-of-fire/

As a First Nation person I have been terrorized by alcohol and drug addiction all my life. I grew up with this reality and continue to witness the effects of addictions today. From the time I was a child I realized how terrible life was because of alcohol and drugs. I vowed to never head in that direction however, as soon as I went into my teen years I joined the party.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/road-recovery

In a world that is so upside down these days we really need to count on our leadership and Elders to stand up for us, for mother earth and to make sure that there is a world in place for future generations. When I first started out writing and faced with interviewing government representatives like Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Parliament, local, regional, provincial and national Chiefs, council members, Mayors, bureaucrats and business corporate executives I was intimidated. I recall my partner and mentor Mike an experienced journalist enlightening me that all these people were just ordinary folk like everyone else. As he commented “they all go to the toilet just like every human being”. I thought this was so funny but also it really did remind me that I had no reason to feel intimidated by anyone just because they held a position in government or had some form of power. That little trick gave me confidence.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/mother-earth-our-side

One of the last hunting trips I took with my father Marius Kataquapit was out onto our traditional lands next to the opening of the Attawapiskat River on the James Bay coast. Dad had injured his foot that winter and although he had a cast on, he insisted on heading out for Niska Tah-mah-nah-oon, (the goose hunt) with myself and my two younger brothers Joseph and Paul. To my dad, it was an easy and short trip as the ride was only an hour snowmobile ride away.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/niska-tah-mah-nah-oon-goose-hunt

I think all of us northerners are fed up with this long and dismal winter. The misery is made because so many people in my life have passed away this winter over the past month. It does not feel like spring.

I have lost my cousin Norman Kataquapit, a kind and gentle man I grew up with. I know his brothers Robert, Billy, Steve, Ron, Eric and Lindy and their families and friends will always hold the memory of Norman in their hearts. It’s especially sad as our families have only recently recovered after losing their brother Jeffery just over a year ago.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/it-time-healing

The historic Hudson Bay Company has been diminished and the company is on its way to becoming lost to the history books. Starting this past month in March 2025, the company filed for creditor protection which forced it to liquidate all of its stores across the country except for six key flagship stores in major cities including the historic flagship location on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.

As an Indigenous person, who grew up in the shadow of this all consuming company in my home community of Attawapiskat, I am happy to see it disappear from the landscape.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/goodbye-hudson-bay-company

grew up on the James Bay coast and from an young age I learned early on that we were more or less on our own when it came to medical emergencies. We had limited health care on the James Bay coast as was the case with most remote Indigenous communities across Canada. Most have never had a full time on site doctor and if any serious health matter arose, people had to be airlifted from Attawapiskat to Moosonee, Timmins or Kingston on emergency flights. The health care system has been striving to deal with cutbacks, all kinds of shortages in doctors and nurses and health care practitioners for years and it is getting worse rather than better as time goes on.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/our-health-care-professionals-are-precious

Winter flu season is causing all kinds of sickness and notably for our senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems. This past couple of weeks have been so hard as two of my favourite Elders have passed, John Mercier of Timmins and Ignace Koostachin from my home community in Attawapiskat. They will always have a place in my heart and memories, and they were known and well respected far and wide.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.windspeaker.com/under-northern-sky-xavier-kataquapit/i-will-try-do-better

Attawapiskat First Nation is my home community and it was where I was born and raised with my family. When I think about where I grew up, I feel like I came from some different country or part of the world that is not part of Canada at all. It was so different to everything I later learned about that was outside my home community.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/where-i-come-%E2%80%93-omushkegowuk-aski