Media.Knet.Ca

The Canadian Cancer Society's 2006 "Driven to Quit Challenge" is offering a top prize of a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid or 1 or 7 Sony 32" Widescreen LCD HDTVs for smokers who want to quit and are able to go smoke-free for the month of April. Visit the contest web site at http://www.quitsmokingontario.ca/english/home for more information.

Deadline for entries is March 31,  2006 ... check out the steps to enter this contest ...

• Find a buddy who will support you as you go smoke-free.
• Buddies can win too! To be eligible for a prize valued at $250, buddies must be 19 years of age or older and a non-smoker.
• Get tips on how your buddy can help.

• Register free of charge by March 31, 2006.
• Only one entry per person is permitted.

• Quit smoking by April 1, 2006 and remain smoke-free until May 1, 2006.
• Call the Canadian Cancer Society Smokers' Helpline to increase your chances of quitting at 1 877 513-5333 (optional).
• Names will be randomly drawn on May 1, 2006.
• If selected, both you and your buddy will be contacted and asked to answer a skill-testing question.
• Buddies will be asked to confirm that you have remained smoke-free for April.
• To verify smoke-free status, the potential winner will be asked to take a urine test.
• Smoke-free means no use of tobacco products of any kind. You are allowed, however, to use nicotine replacement therapies (e.g. patch, gum or inhaler) and a doctor's prescription to help you quit.
• Winners will be announced in May 2006.

Asheweig River Camps, a Kasabonika Lake First Nation owned business, launched their new website for its' remote outpost camp on Straight Lake.

http://www.asheweigriver.com offers a glimpse into the Aboriginal Tourism industry for Kasabonika Lake First Nation and the Kasabonika Community Development Corporation.  Since its' first full season in 2005, this operation on Straight Lake, part of the Asheweig River system, strives to offer anglers a remote treat.  Based on a Community Tourism Strategy, KLFN expects to build a tourism sector in its' traditional territory with additional modern amenities on several lakes over the next 5 years for fishing, hunting and ecotourism.

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) is hosting:

2006 Violence Awareness & Prevention and Cultural Awareness for Caregivers Forum

March 21-22, 2006

Forest Inn & Conference Centre

Sioux Lookout, ON

Are you a

• Community Health Representative (C.H.R.)?
• Addictions Counsellor/N.N.A.D.A.P worker?
• Mental Health Worker?
• Health Director?
• Any other health & wellness field worker?

If so, Equay-wuk (Women's Group) invites you to participate in the 2006 Violence Awareness and Cultural Awareness for Caregivers Forum.

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) is able to provide travel, accommodations, and meals for one community representative to attend the forum.  Register today!!

For a registration form and more information, view

http://www.equaywuk.ca/poster.htm

Contact:

Chris Angeconeb     or     Jennifer Derosier
Phone:         807-737-2214
Toll Free:   1-800-261-8294
Fax:           807-737-2699
Email:         equaywuk@nwconx.net
Website:     www.equaywuk.ca

Aboriginal Tourism Canada in collaboration with Société touristique des autochtones du Québec (STAQ) is holding a training conference at the Hotel Hilton, Québec City on March 6-8, 2006. The conference theme is "Our Culture, Our Economy - Let's Create a Future". Click here to visit the conference web site.

The event will bring together First Nations, Inuit and Métis tourism business operators to share information and bring attention to successful trends, products and services. Special emphasis will be on youth entrepreneurs and professional development. The benefits of the forum will be for knowledge sharing on product development, marketing skills, training and human resource development at the individual, community and regional level.

For information : Melissa Guedes, info@Aboriginaltourism.Ca
Linda Webber, lwebber@AboriginalTourism.Ca
Aboriginal Tourism Canada
275, rue Slater, suite 820
Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 5H9
Tél : 1 800 724-7872 ext. 221
Fax : (613) 235-0396
Email : info@AboriginalTourism.Ca

At last week's Sioux Lookout District First Nations Teachers' Conference in Winnipeg, Lt. Gov. James Bartleman announced his plans to expand the delivery of the Summer Literacy Camps to 25 First Nations. Below is a story in today's Toronto Sun about this work and the stories from last summer's camps in 5 Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities.

From the Toronto Sun at http://www.torontosun.com/Lifestyle/2006/02/19/1451149-sun.html

Hope for Native youth - Literacy programs are key
By SYLVI CAPELACI, TORONTO SUN - Mon, February 20, 2006

First Nations youth may be fluent in their indigenous languages of Cree, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree, but it's English they need to speak, according to Frontier College's Philip Fernandez, administrator of the Lt.-Gov.'s Aboriginal Literacy Summer Camps.

English is their springboard to career opportunities within their own communities and to the outside world -- to places far beyond their remote towns tucked away in northwestern Ontario, says Fernandez.

Given the right literacy tools, children of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation will see old age. For many, English is a synonym for survival -- a lifeline from death.

"Every other week, a Native child kills themself. One girl hung herself on a tree in front of the school. It's a real tragedy," says Lt.-Gov. James K. Bartleman.

Soaring suicide rates and their high-level of illiteracy are key reasons he initiated the 2005 summer literacy camps in North Caribou Lake, Kingfisher Lake, Muskrat Dam, Neskantaga and Fort Albany.

"Very few children make it through high school. Those that do are about five years behind other Ontario children," Bartleman says of this struggling population in transition from a traditional to modern society.

The five camps, staffed with 20 councillors recruited from Southern Ontario and about 40 from Native communities, hosted a three-week literacy program for 365 kids between the ages of 4 to 14.

Last July, Bartleman visited the camps and found the children dispelled stereotyping:

"They were really anxious to read and to learn. Even though we brought sports equipment, we found them drifting away from the ball diamonds and going back to the books. "  

Already big plans are in the works to run camps in 25 communities this coming summer and Bartleman has pledges from sponsors to pay for summer programs for the next five years.

---

PHOTOSENSITIVE

Capturing the essence of the Lt.-Gov.'s camps is a compelling photographic exhibition, Summer of Hope, on view until Friday at The Allen Lambert Galleria in BCE Place (or visit website http://www.photosensitive.com/ps/).

The collection of poignant black and white images of First Nations children were taken by five top Canadian photojournalists who belong to PhotoSensitive -- an organization of volunteers who donate their time and their talent to raising awareness towards global and national issues.

"People think it's hopeless, this (the exhibit) shows that it's not. It shows the joy of life in the communities and that's why it's called Summer of Hope." says Bartleman.

---

LT.-GOV.'S INITIATIVES

• In 2004, a program was launched that collected more than 1.2 million books for First Nations school libraries.
• To enrich learning and communication skills, a twinning program was created pairing kids in native and non-native schools.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED:

The Amick (beaver in Ojibwe) Book Club will supply books to aboriginal youth through the months in between summer camps. The Lt.-Gov. urges all Canadians to get involved:

"A $100 donation or even 10 individual $10 donations will pay for a child's participation for one year in the club." With this funding, each child will receive six books a year plus a magazine that they will be encouraged to submit stories to.

---

To make a donation, mail to: Club Amick, The Southern Ontario Library Service, 111 Peter St., Suite 902, Toronto, ON, M5V 2H1, or call 1-800-387-5765.

This past week's gathering of Aborginal Community Coordinators at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) was another step in the preparation for first year medical students who will be moving to their four week Aboriginal community placements at the end of April. The meetings took place in Thunder Bay and Sudbury (click here to see the NOSM press release about this gathering).

From Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal news online, Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 - http://66.244.236.251/article_4232.php

Med students in for remote experiences
By JONATHAN WILSON

The future doctors of Northern Ontario could be in for a major culture shock this spring.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine students will be leaving the relative comforts of Thunder Bay and Sudbury for remote First Nations in mid-April for a month-long immersion program. 

“For most of these students, it will probably be their first time in an aboriginal or First Nation or Metis setting,” Orpah McKenzie, NOSM’s director of aboriginal affairs, said Thursday.

“It’s a variety of experiences, and it’s all going to happen in four weeks.”

The 56 first-year medical students will be sent in pairs to 28 communities from Moose Factory to Muskrat Dam to Sucker Creek.

Besides their clinical training, they’ll each be equipped with laptop computers and Internet access to continue their regular classroom studies for 12 hours each week.

Another 12 hours will be dedicated to participating in cultural activities unique to the remote North.

“Our community, they do a lot of fishing and hunting,” said Don Sofea, director of health and social services for Nibinamik, also known as Summer Beaver. “You would hunt moose and possibly geese.

“I think it’s going to be a fabulous four weeks for them, and a fabulous four weeks for us.”

The First Nations placement program was one of the primary components envisioned when the medical school was being developed, to help introduce future physicians to the realities of Northern medicine.

“It’s a major reason why this school exists,” said Joel Lanphear, NOSM’s associate dean of undergraduate medical education for the Lakehead University campus.

“The real value is immersion in the culture, as part of our social accountability mandate.”

The two students in Nibinamik will likely reside at Amik Lodge, a sort of hotel-overnight unit for resource people who come into the community, or in the teacherage next to the community’s school.

“In some places, they’ll be in the chief’s home,” Lanphear said.

Nibinamik’s population is mostly Ojibwa-speaking, and Sofea said the med students will be encouraged to explore the area and mingle with residents and elders.

They’ll also be challenged to quickly figure out what their patients are trying to tell them about their conditions.

“They’re going to have to really learn about us,” Sofea said.

Translators will be available, along with each community’s regular nursing staff, nurse practitioners and travelling physicians.

McKenzie said the students may also learn from traditional healers about alternative health care, and partake in traditional ceremonies and feasts.

Health co-ordinators from the 28 communities toured the med school facilities in Thunder Bay and Sudbury this week, the latest step in a two-year process to develop the student placement program.

The group which toured LU also met with some of the students who will be placed in their communities from mid-April until mid-May.

“I think they’re going to have a very enjoyable experience, they’re going to get an eye-opener from this,” said Dean Wilson, office manager of the Gizhewaadiziwin health access centre near Fort Frances which co-ordinates health care in several communities from Lac La Croix to Big Grassy First Nation.

The two students placed at Gizhewaadiziwin will travel to all its communities during their four-week placement and learn about the unique challenges of rural transportation.

“People in Lac Le Croix have to drive 2 1/2 hours one way just to see a doctor,” Wilson said.

“The students are going to see what the difficulty is of getting around in Northwestern Ontario, how difficult it is for these people to access some of these services and what they have to go through.”

McKenzie said the First Nations officials themselves are also learning about what the med school students need to advance their education.

The overall goal is to provide an enriching experience, and convince at least some of the students to return to the First Nations later in their lives.

“Hopefully, exposing students at an early stage in their career to Northern communities, rural communities . . . in the end they will stay and practice,” McKenzie said.

“If we get five or six new doctors in the next few years,” added Wilson, “for Northwestern Ontario, that’s very important.
“We’ve got four weeks to sell them.”

The First Nations placements will continue throughout the four-year program, Lanphear said, adding the cultural component is also a part of the students’ everyday learning.

The Kekeenamawkayo 2006 - “Closing the Gaps” conference took place in Winnipeg this past week (February 14 to 16, 2006). Click here for a copy of the Jan 15 version of the Program at a Glance (WORD document)

Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program supported this event through their Ontario Regional Management Organization. Cal Kenny from K-Net travelled from Sioux Lookout to attend the event and gather some video footage and interviews with some of the presenters. Both the Keewaytinook Internet High School (lead by Darrin and his team of KiHS staff) and the Grade 8 Supplementary Courses (lead by Fernando) were highlighted in a day long workshop about e-learning. The Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute (lead by Brian Walmark) presented their findings about the online professional development series on Special Education, Literacy and Child Development hosted by the KORI team. A video conferencing connection was installed in the meeting room for connections to other sites and demonstration purposes. Brian's presentation is posted online within the new K-Net Online Meeting Space and can be accessed by signing up at  http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=9

Click here to see some pictures from this gathering

Staff from the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Sioux Lookout office set up a display booth at Thursday's Career Fair that was held at the Queen Elizabeth District High School. The booth highlighted the work being done at Keewaytinook Okimakanak and provided the career fair participants with a glimpse of the possible career opportunities available within the organization.

Hosts of the display were Marie Carson (Fort Severn band member) and Kanina Terry (Lac Seul band member). Click here to view the pictures taken during this event.

Click here for more information about this event.

The various presentations and information sessions were video conferenced and web cast so others could watch them over the internet. The archives of these sessions are available online at http://webcast.knet.ca/Careers/

"Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

Where:  Heritage Centre, Red Lake
Time:  1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Date:  Saturday, Feb 18, 2006

This workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Celia Haig-Brown, professor at York University, Author of:

• Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School,
• Taking Control: Power and Contradiction in First Nation Adult Education
• Making the Spirit Dance Within: Joe DuQuette High School and an Aboriginal Community.

This workshop is the sixth of an on-going series that is intended to help heal and develop cross-cultural relationships.  This particular workshop will be about de-colonizing / undoing racism work, with the focus on the residential schools.  The workshop will include a tour of the "Where are the Children?" exhibit now on display at the Heritage Centre.

Everyone is welcome to attend; it is not necessary to have attended previous sessions to participate.  Registration is by donation.  Please bring your own refreshments.

For more information, please call Kaaren at 727-3196 or 727-3006. Miikwech!

Michele Alderton
Director/Curator, Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre
P.O. Box 64
51A Highway 105
Red Lake, ON, P0V2M0
Tel: (807) 727-3006   Fax:  (807) 727-2686
Website:  http://redlakemuseum.com

Showing until March 31st at the Heritage Centre:  Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools 
http://www.wherearethechildren.ca
 and Residential Schools, the Red Lake Story,  http://www.redlakemuseum.com (Click on the Education Program link from our home page to see our Events Calendar)

From Kenora Daily Miner News online at http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com./story.php?id=213733

Treaty 3 youth descend on Kenora for healing conference
Aboriginal youth from across Northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba joined with elders and community members Wednesday as they sought ways to the heal the deep troubles facing the new generation.

By Mike Aiken Thursday February 16, 2006

Aboriginal youth from across Northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba joined with elders and community members Wednesday as they sought ways to the heal the deep troubles facing the new generation.

Perhaps the most daunting is the appearance of crystal meth in neighbouring First Nations.

“It’s already in my community,” said presenter Kenny Kakeeway of Whitefish Bay.

Even those going through treatment can take five or six months to recover their sense of self, and another four years to regain their thought processes, Kakeeway noted.

“This is a highly addictive drug,” he emphasized, adding local treatment centres are not yet able to handle clients hooked on the drug.

At Whitefish Bay, residents have lost at least eight young members to suicide within 18 months, while another 26 have attempted to take their own lives.

Two years ago, Treaty 3 declared a state of emergency in an attempt to get outside help for their generation in turmoil. At the time, crisis call workers at Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) were logging 300 calls a month, while intervention workers estimated there were 200 children in care.

“We’re Anishinabe,” said Kakeeway.

“We lost a lot of our culture in the residential schools, so we have to go back to that,” he added, referring to the many traditional, sacred practices described by elders during the conference.

Whitefish allows alcohol, which is how harder drugs find their way into homes on the reserve, said Kakeeway.

If young people learned their traditional names and clans, they could claim their roles in society and gain a sense of belonging.

“Once you have that, then you don’t need drugs and other things,” he said.

Organizer Tina Armstrong estimated about 280 attended Wednesday’s session.