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The team from Gold Trail Open Network Society in British Columbia is coming to visit Sioux Lookout, Poplar Hill, North Spirit Lake and Balmertown this week. They plan to videotape a series of interviews and community scenes that show the impact that the Internet is having on daily life in rural communities, both in Ontario and British Columbia.

They are producing a video documenting the process involved in establishing high speed connectivity in rural communities. By showing the work done by K-Net and Gold Trail Open Network Society, they hope that this video will assist others to establish broadband connectivity in their own regions.

The team includes Quinn Savage, the videographer, John Savage, the Gold Trail Open Network facilitator and Sandy McElroy who is overseeing the development of online craft level training modules for the development of local connectivity. Les Meekis and Dan Pellerin will be the tour guides. 

 NOTE: In March 2003, Sandy first visited K-Net (see the news story) to discuss training and partnership opportunities. He shared some a powerpoint presentation about the GTONS that is available on-line (Click Here).

On July 9, five of the six Regional Management Organizations (RMO) with Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program met over their IP video conferencing network to discuss various collaborative initiatives. Check out the pictures of the meeting using the new network bridge.

In anticipation of some additional opportunities to develop and support a variety of additional services and on-line applications, each of the RMO shared their ideas and recommendations. Each team agreed to take on different tasks to ensure all the First Nation schools across Canada are able to benefit and participate in these innovative initiatives.

1st Annual "Celebrating Our Heritage" Fundraising Golf Tournament

Date: August 30, 2003 from 3:00pm-6:00pm

Location: Centennial Golf Course (320 Thompson Rd), Thunder Bay

Entry Fee: $50.00 includes green fees and prizes

"9 hole, 4 Person Best Ball", Everyone is welcomed to participate

Name:

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Address:

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Phone:

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Organization:

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Golf ability: Beginner, Intermediate, Advance(handicap)

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Teams will be selected on ability; call if you would like to golf with your special someone.

Mail registration and entry fee to:

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute

107 Johnson Ave., Thunder Bay, ON  P7B 2V9

Phone: (807) 346-2770, 1-866-636-7454

Fax: (807) 345-2924

Amoung other courses, Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute offers courses such as Native Language, Syllabic Writing, Dreamcatchers, Storytelling, Beadwork and a NAN History course.  These courses are taught so we may keep our culture and tradition alive.  Proceeds from the tournament will be used for the future development and delivery of this unique series.  As a charitable, not-for-profit organization, we welcome in-kind or monetary contributions to support our current and future activities.

If further information is required or you would like to register, please contact Wes O'Connor directly at 807-346-2773, e-mail, woconnor@oshki.ca or visit our website, www.oshki.ca.

The July 10 issue of Wawatay News contains two more news stories about the work being completed within the Kuh-ke-nah Network of Smart First Nations demonstration project.

This week's issue of the Kuh-ke-nah page in Wawatay News include the following articles:

• IP telephones improving First Nation communication - Slate Falls First Nation employees are now able to have telephones on their desks instead of having to share the single public pay phone. Community members share their stories and plans for the use of community-own IP telephony systems operating on their community broadband network.
• Telework a reality for K-Net communities & employees - Darlene Rae and other K-Net staff share their experiences about being able to be connected to their offices and work from wherever they are able to find a high speed Internet service.
• K-Net Showcase - contains photos from the North Spirit Lake First Nation portal (http://nsl.firstnation.ca)

Rick Garrick is researching additional stories for future articles. If you have a story that you want to share about this project and the work that is happening in your community to get connected, please send us an e-mail.

Various newspaper articles are being scanned and stored for reference purposes in this photo gallery.

Wasaya Airways and Bearskin Airlines will be conducting a traditional signing ceremony at the Bearskin Lake First Nation on Wednesday July 9/03 at 3:00pm.  There will be a live broadcast of the ceremony via webcast at the url http://streaming.knet.ca/Stream1.  

North Spirit Lake First Nation Band Council has hired a number of summer students in the community.  Each student started working, Monday, July 7, 2003.

Check out the pictures that Michelle Campbell is taking and working with Arnold Thompson to post on the North Spirit Lake web site.

Go to North Spirit Lake Photo Gallery and check the pictures out.

Fernando Oliveira, former KiHS teacher in Poplar Hill and Fort Severn during 2001-2002, worked with KiHS staff and the Grade 8 teachers and students in KiHS partner First Nations to develop and deliver a supplemental science curriculum course material using the KiHS e-learning platform.

The final report including student and teacher feedback about this program is now available on-line. The program proved so successful that plans are now being discussed to expand this service to include supplemental Mathematics and English curriculum material for Grade 8 students.

From the Background Summary in the Overview section of the report ...

The

Supplemental Grade Eight Science Program was a pilot program created by KiHS in partnership with The Smart Demonstration Project and a number of KiHS Partner Communities. The impetus for this program evolved out of the following rational:

Students entering high school in many northern communities are not adequately prepared in the core subjects, especially in Science.

Students become better equipped to handle the rigors of high school when they are exposed to the type of activities currently being taught within the KiHS e-learning environment.

Students who are exposed to the expectations of the high school system are better capable of making informed decisions about where to complete their grade 9 program.

As computers and the Internet play an increasingly important role in academic participation, students who are computer literate are better prepared to meet the academic challenges of high school, and that of the work force in general.

Literacy and numeracy among students can be strengthened through participation in an online program that supplements the core subject areas.

Over 12 MILLION hits on the K-Net servers for the second month in a row!!

Several of the K-Net servers that are being monitored for hits, visits and usage statistics using the webalizer program again showed an increase in June. In particular, the http://myknet.org server rose again to over 6.4 million hits during this month.

Please note:

• the Hosting server statistics are no longer included in the monthly K-Net statistics because individual sites are monitoring their own traffic;
• other on-line K-Net services, such as K-Net chat and the video streamer are not included in these numbers;
• server traffic monitoring information is located at http://tech.knet.ca/~tech/monitoring.

PRESS RELEASE

June 30, 2003

NOMS recognizes a friend

Northern Ontario Medical School recently recognized the outstanding support and commitment of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Goyce Kakegamic with the presentation of a special plaque. The award was made at the close of NOMS' Aboriginal Workshop held recently in the Anishinabeg community of Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation near Kenora.

In making the special presentation Dr. Roger Strasser, Founding Dean of NOMS, acknowledged Kakegamic's successful efforts in ensuring that Aboriginal People have a strong voice on the new NOMS Board of Directors. He also acknowledged Kakegamic's contribution to the development of NOMS' curriculum, governance, and to the issues around recruitment and retention of Aboriginal students.

"Goyce has been a strong advocate for Aboriginal People, and for the cause of NOMS," said Strasser. "It hasn't always been easy for us to hear what Goyce has to say, but there is no doubt that NOMS is a better institution because of Goyce's support, advice and assistance."

In accepting the award Kakegamic thanked Strasser, and the staff and faculty of NOMS. He acknowledged the efforts to bring Aboriginal issues to the forefront within NOMS, but said there is still a great deal to be done.

"I accept this recognition not for myself but for all of the partners; NAN, Grand Council Treaty #3, Anishnabek Nation, who worked collectively to bring a full campus to Thunder Bay to serve the needs of the Northwest," said Kakegamic. "However, this is only the first step. There is much work ahead and we must be ready to roll up our sleeves and get on with the job at hand."

A new medical school for the whole of Northern Ontario, the Northern Ontario Medical School is a joint venture of Laurentian and Lakehead Universities. With main campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay, NOMS will have multiple teaching and research sites distributed across Northern Ontario, in large and small communities.  NOMS will contribute to improving the health care of people in Northern Ontario.

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For more information contact:

Michael OReilly
NOMS-West Communications Officer
(807) 229-7746
michael.oreilly@normed.ca
www.normed.ca

Mick Lowe
NOMS-East Communications Officer
(705) 969-7213
mick.lowe@normed.ca
www.normed.ca