Archive - 2002

November 22nd

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) Gathering 2002 - Sioux Lookout

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) will be holding a Gathering & 2002 General Meeting December 9-13, 2002 at Sunset Inn, Sioux Lookout, o­n.  Various workshops will be held at this time as well, nominations are being accepted to sit o­n Equay-wuk's Board of Directors.  Contact Equay-wuk should you have any questions (807)737-2214 or toll free 1-800-261-8294.

November 21st

Muskrat Dam 1st annual Kanina Beardy Memorial Gospel Jamboree

Muskrat Dam is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Kanina Beardy Memorial Gospel Jamboree commencing November 29 through December 1.

Please tune in to Wawatay for live broadcasting.

For more information please phone

Doug Beardy at (807) 471-2524  (work)
Tilleya Nothing at (807) 471-2574  (work)

Great Moon Gathering 2003 - Moose Factory

GREAT MOON GATHERING - FEBRUARY 2003

On February 13, 14, 2003 Omushkego Education is coordinating the Great Moon Gathering at Delores Echum Composite School in Moose Factory, O­ntario, to promote better educational opportunities for our children.

The theme of the conference is OUR STRENGTH, WORKING TOGETHER IN EDUCATION

Over 250 participants take part in this regional educational conference which includes workshops for Day Care, Elementary, and High School Staff, including Elders, Youth, Parents, Local Education Authorities, Administrators and other interested community members. Numerous workshops and presentations suited to meet the requirements of our schools are presented during the two days.

This year's keynote speaker is Jonathan Solomon, Hishkoonikun Education Authority of Kashechewan. The gathering also features entertainers including the Missanibe Cloggers, Kashechewan Step Dancers and Moose Factory Ministik School students.

For more information contact:Colleen Nelson at 705-658-4222, ext 233 or at cnelson@mushkegowuk.ca

November 18th

Little Band's Youth Hockey Tournament in Sioux Lookout

1st Annual Little Band's Youth Hockey Tournament - Sioux Lookout Arena - January 25 & 26 , 2002

3 Divisions : Atom Division - 9-10 yrs old
                   Peewee Division - 11-12 yrs old
                   Bantam Division -13-14 yrs old

Limit to 4 Teams per Division                     $500.00 Entry Fee per Team
First Teams paid per Division            
Players must have status cards and consent forms from parents

Entry Fee deadline : December 13 , 2002
Certified cheques or Money Order Paid to : Little Band's Youth Hockey Tournament 2003

Contacts: Roy Anderson (807)737-4166 (h) after 5:00pm
               Steven Fiddler (807)737-2152 (h) after 5:00pm
               Ziggy Beardy   (807)737-3398 (h) after 5:00pm
               Raymond Beardy (807)737-1585 (work)

November 16th

K-Net Staff Complete C-Band Satellite Conversion

K-Net Staff Complete C-Band Earth Station Conversion to the Public Benefit Satellite Transponder

Working with our many partners over the past few months, the successful conversion of the satellite system providing broadband connectivity for the First Nations of Fort Severn and Slate Falls was completed o­n November 14, 2002. The first use of the new system was an IP telephone conversation between K-Net’s office and the Slate Falls Band office. The video conference link from Slate Falls and Fort Severn was also tested o­n the new system as the settings were adjusted to accommodate the newly installed Linkway equipment.

Several partners worked with Keewaytinook Okimakanak throughout this development project, ensuring that the existing service in the communities was maintained and supported. In particular, FedNor Telecommunications Officer Carl Seibel, the SSI Micro team lead by owner Jeff Philips, the Telesat Canada team, the Blair Electronics team, staff in the First Nations Fort Severn (Madeleine Stoney and Angus Miles), Slate Falls (Michael Loon), Webequie (Barney Beaver), Weagamow (Lyle Johnson), and Fort Hope, Shibogama First Nations Council (Bob Popovic), and Windigo First Nation Council (Ernie Buswa). This group of people worked along with the K-Net team consisting of Dan Pellerin (Network Manager), Adi Linden (Network Systems Analyst) and John Moreau (Helpdesk Manager) to make sure the conversion to the new system was smooth and trouble free. Three more satellite served sites (Cat Lake, Kasabonika Lake and Sachigo Lake) will soon be added to this new broadband service to complete this phase of the project development.

This opportunity became available back in February 2002 with the announcement that Industry Canada was entering into a partnership with Keewaytinook Okimakanak for K-Net Services to act as their agent in the management and development of the public benefit C-Band satellite transponder space being made available under agreement with Telesat Canada (see press release). In April 2002, after many meetings with various stakeholders, Keewaytinook Okimakanak hosted a meeting in Winnipeg with representatives from across Canada (see http://smart.knet.ca/satellite) to examine the different development options for this resource. Since that time, planning and construction work has been taking place in all these First Nations to ensure they would be able to access these broadband services before the winter months.

Another phase of development for this project will see other remote regions of Canada being served by this satellite system (in particular the Kativik Region in Northern Quebec o­n the northern shores of the Hudson Bay). As well, the other satellite served First Nations in Northwestern o­ntario (Muskrat Dam, Peawanack, Lansdowne House and Ogoki) are now searching for funds to become part of this network service.

Check out the pictures of the upgrade to the earth station in Sioux Lookout that provides connectivity into the Kuh-ke-nah Network via the fibre optic local loop construction project.

November 15th

Aboriginal Ontario - Open for Business

The November 14, 2002 issue of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal had an insert called "Aboriginal o­ntario - Open for Business". It contained more than 25 stories about Aboriginal businesses across o­ntario and the people involved in setting them up and operating them. All the articles are written by Rick Garrick (a Lac Seul band member living in Sioux Lookout). GREAT SUCCESS STORIES!! Lots of GREAT IDEAS!! And best of all it is available o­n-line at the Aboriginal o­ntario website.

November 13th

Neskantaga First Nation Memorial Gospel Jamboree!!!

Jamboree is set for November 22, 23 &24 2002.

Special guests include:

Roy Fiddler from Muskrat Dam, o­nt.
Jerome Harper from Winnipeg, Man.
Linda Beardy from Sioux Lookout, o­nt.
Abe Kakapetum from Sioux Lookout, O­nt.
Stillwater Gospel Band from Neskantaga First Nation.
Our local Neskantaga Gospel Singers.
And many many more to come.

For Further information, Please contact coordinators:
Edward Moonias - 807-479-2631 (h)
Duane Moonias - 807-479-1126 (h)
or call either o­ne of them at the band office, at 807-479-2570

Thank You / Miigwetch

Partnership Agreement between Oshki-Pimache-O-Win and Lakehead University

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute and Lakehead University recognize the potential benefits of working together as partners in the development and delivery of post-secondary education and training programs for Aboriginal students.  Further, the partners recognize the independence and expertise of each partner, acknowledge the need for each partner to continue to honour its existing agreements with other organizations or entities, and its authority to enter into new agreements with other organizations and entities.

The purpose of this agreement is to develop a patnership that will enable Oshki-Pimache-O-Win and Lakehead University to enhance existing, and/or new, courses, programs and services and to provide additional educational opportunities to the student population served by each institute.  The partners will encourage excellence in learning so that the students jointly served may meaningfully contribute to society through the maximization of their individual personal potential.

For more information, please contact Ruth Baxter, Executive Director of Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute at (807) 346-2770. Check out the pictures of the signing of the partnership agreement between Oshki and LU.

November 9th

NADF hosts Small Business Development Workshops on-line

Innovation, partnerships, training, sharing and demonstrating new opportunities were key themes delivered by Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund staff and their partners during Small Business Week (the week of October 21 to 25). Some of the other key partners in this workshop included the First Nations, FedNor, NAN, K-Net and SLAAMB.

Rachel Garrick, an NADF Project Officer, approached K-Net staff with a proposal to use the broadband network to deliver a series of Small Business Development workshops for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities that have video conferencing facilities already established. Sites were identified with a number of partners (for example, in Sioux Lookout the SLAAMB board room was donated for local First Nation organizations and nearby communities), promotional material was distributed, training and planning was completed and all the different resource people were coordinated for this two day event that took place o­n October 24 and 25. Check out the Wawatay News story about this virtual workshop.

Pictures and more information about this event are also available at http://photos.knet.ca/NADF-workshop.

KO Chiefs participate in SmartLabrador's Northern Solutions Conference

During the Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Board Meeting, the KO chiefs participated in SmartLabrador's Northern Solutions Conference o­n November 6, 2002 by video conference. The opportunity to share some of our stories, best practices and lessons learned with the folks involved in building the SmartLabrador initiative, "Technology o­n Top of the World".

A presentation entitled "Enabling Technology in Canadian Aborginal Communities" was prepared and delivered. Questions and responses provided everyone with the opportunity to learn about the power of these new communication tools and how we can easily connect with others. Check out the pictures of this session and the Chiefs' Board meeting at in the K-Net photo gallery.