Author: Xavier Kataquapit

It was good to see recent developments by northern Indigenous political leadership to deal with the epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse and the dire situation of suicide primarily by young Native people in northern Ontario. I know we are all fed up with watching so many of our family members and friends becoming helpless with addictions and the resulting violence in our northern First Nations. We are also feeling helpless with so many of our people dealing with mental health issues.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://www.timminspress.com/opinion/we-might-need-a-miracle

Recently I have been watching news reports on how the left more socialist parties in our country and other parts of the world are being taken over by more conservative, right wing factions and some of this I suspect is also happening in Indigenous political organizations. When I look at political trends and decisions being made by governments, I follow the old saying that states “always follow the money”.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/we-need-wake

Welcome to 2024. This is one of the warmest starts to winter I can recall in almost five decades. Most of my life I remember growing up with four distinct seasons and winter was always freezing with lots of snow. Winter came in November up north on the James Bay coast and left at the end of April and even stayed at times into May.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://www.timminspress.com/opinion/mother-earth-needs-us-now-2

I recall being at home as a boy in our small three bedroom house in Attawapiskat in the 1980s. We were a huge family of nine children and two parents and at one point we lived with our Mooshoom (our grandfather) James Kataquapit. We lived a relatively quiet life in the north and every night dad would turn on the television to watch the nightly news. We seldom understood what was happening in the world because we felt we were far removed from everyone and everything in our small remote community in the wilderness.

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https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/new-year-resolution-peace

Holiday Season is here and you can see everyone is excited in the annual high of getting ready for Christmas. Different religions and cultures celebrate this period and some don’t at all. I grew up in the remote Indigenous community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast and through colonization and the invasion by Christian missionaries my people for many years ended up becoming swept up in either the Catholic or Protestant religions depending on who was doing the the invading. We all became part of this religion and managed also to incorporate some of our own original traditions and culture. However, most of our traditions and cultural practices were banned and considered evil by these new religions.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/i%E2%80%99m-dreaming-safe-and-happy-christmas

I think most of us feel like we have been through several very weird years with the Covid19 pandemic, climate change events like the recent forest fire summer and of course the terrible wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza. I wish I could be more optimistic in looking towards the future but it is not easy.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/protecting-our-elders-should-be-priority

November 11 or what we refer to as Remembrance Day is a very sad time for myself and my partner Mike. I have been doing a lot of research on my great-grandfather John Chookomolin and my grandfather James Kataquapit who along with 22 other young men from Attawapiskat were literally kidnapped by an army recruiter back in 1917 and taken to Europe to participate in the Great War. My great-grandfather John did not return however grandfather James did make it back after the war.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/we-will-remember-why

Winter is fast approaching and I worry about all my family members and friends from up the James Bay coast and in Northern Ontario that have to deal with the treacherous conditions on our highways during the snowy and icy season.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/take-care-winter-roads

I am feeling a little better about the state of democracy these days thanks to the election of Wab Kinew as Canada’s first Anishinabe Premier. He was elected recently with a majority government in Manitoba. So, congratulations to Wab and his New Democratic Party team and as well thanks to all those members of the voting public who chose to make their decision based on values that have to do with social democratic ideals of sharing, openness, tolerance and caring for everyone, the environment and the future of our planet. The fact that he has promised to save and enhance the public health care system is a bonus.

…. to read more, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/kitchi-meegwetch-wab-kinew