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.
- Goodbye To The Hudson Bay Company
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
- Wawatay News :: Our Health Care Professionals Are Precious
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
- Windspeaker :: I Will Try To Do Better
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
- Wawatay News :: Where I Come From – Omushkegowuk Aski
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
- Wawatay News :: Eighty Nine Seconds And Counting
My father Marius Kataquapit, a hunter, trapper and traditional person from the remote Attawapiskat First Nation could understand the English language but seldom spoke it yet every night he tuned into the late night CBC news and he encouraged me to also. He was curious about everything and he believed it was important to have an awareness of what was going on in the world even though the news was often filled with war and tragic events. He made me aware that other outside forces had control of our lives.
…. to read the full column, please click on the link below
https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/eighty-nine-seconds-and-counting