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On the Afternoon of Friday, October 26. The home of Edward Stoney burned down, nobody was home at the time of the fire, so no one was hurt. He lost everything in the fire. There were five of them living in the home, His wife and 3 kids. 2 of the kids are not school aged yet. Here's a link to some pictures of the tragedy.

The Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) classrooms in each of the participating First Nations (Cat Lake, Fort Severn, Frenchman's Head, Keewaywin, Kejick Bay, North Spirit Lake, Poplar Hill and Slate Falls) are hosting an Open House for parents and community members during the week of October 22. Everyone is invited to visit the KiHS web site and take a virtual tour of this unique virtual High School at http://kihs.knet.ca. The Open House website can be found at http://kihs.knet.ca/openhouse.html. An on-line guestbook is available for everyone to send messages of encouragement to the students and staff of KiHS. We look forward to hearing from everyone.

“Don’t ever block a white man from bringing his machinery up north”, were the words spoken to Geordi Kakepetum by the late Chief Tom Fiddler. Geordi shared these words with over 30 representatives at the KO First Nations Governance Act Information session. This 3 day session is being hosted by Keewaytinook Okimakanak with representatives from each of the KO First Nations. On October 23, 2001, Band Councillors, Elders and Youth representatives from each of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations gathered in Cochenour Hall for an information session on the First Nations Governance Act Initiative. Ross Mamakeesic along with Peter Campbell read over the letters from Robert Nault and translated it into Oji Cree. More information about INAC's efforts can be found on-line at http://www.fng-gpn.gc.ca/index_e.asp The participants also reviewed the history of the Indian Act and the history of “governance”, which means how a community is run and the rules that apply in its day-to-day operation. We also touched on a few topics from Traditional Land Use to the Corbiere decision and various issues. Continue to watch for updates on this 3 day gathering being held at the Cocheneur Hall from October 23 to 25, 2001. Pictures from this session can be seen at http://photos.knet.ca/KOgovernance. DAY 2: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 The day began with our elder and Band Councillor, Fred Meekis from Deer Lake opening the meeting with a prayer. The grouped discussed about the difference between the different governance initiatives being undertaken within the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. These initiatives include the First Nations Governance Act Initiative and NAN Governance and Education Jurisdiction Program, Some of the participants shared their comments and questions about the Indian Act. Clarifications about what the proposed changes to the act included. After lunch, the elders and the youth were encouraged and supported to share their comments about this process, as it would affect them and their communities. Some of the elders in attendance added their questions and concerns about the difference between the Indian Act and the First Nations Governance Initiative. Ross Mamakeesic, the session coordinator interviewed some elders. They shared their experience including the fact that elections were not customary. Participants were divided into small groups with facilitators and recorders. Members of the groups moved about to see what other groups were outlining concerning the issue of governance as it affects the First Nations and what was best for the people. Sometimes groups met each other.....played games....and transferred information. One of the central concerns shared by many people is the loss of language and traditions of our people. Goyce Kakegamic Deputy Grand Chief of NAN also made a few comments of the First Nations Governance Act and the Indian Act. He also made a clear statement about that the Governance Act is an amendment to the Indian Act. He clarified (on behalf of NAN) are they not against change, they want change. They also recognize change is required and going to happen. The chiefs want partnership and direct input into designing this change which involves any amendments to the Indian Act. Day 3: Thursday, October 25, 2001 The day began with Chief Albert James of McDowell Lake opening the day with a morning prayer. Ross Mamakeesic made some opening remarks providing everyone with a summary about the morning sessions that are being held at the Cochenour Hall. Elders, Chiefs, Band Councillors, Band members, youth, and even an infant showed up. There were 68 people who showed up during the day. Geordi Kakepetum thanked the people for taking the time to listen and for showing their concern and interest in this important matter and for the upcoming events. He also asked one of the Elders present, Aglaba James from McDowell Lake to share a few words with the people. INAC officials provided a slide presentations on the Communities First: First Nations Governance Initiative. They answered any questions that were asked, made clarifications and also wrote down a few concerns from the people of Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations. There was a discussion concerning the election of the community leadership, with some people making suggestions on the leadership selection process. Some of these discussions included: * The two main issues focused in this process included the legal standing and capacity and accountability to the First Nation members. The most difficult issue seems to be the legal standing and capacity because there are some mixed messages. * The proposed changes are leaning more to a corporate or municipal status for the First Nation organizations. The concern seems to be an administrative advantage for Department Indian and Northern Affairs Canada by reducing its responsibilities to the First Nations. James Cutfeet responded that they are not here to defend the issues that are being presented.....we are here to gather your views ... referring to the Governance Act. Overall, this was a very informative event. On October 31st, 2001, the initial phase of the community consultation process will be over. INAC officials will gather the information that they collected together. They will then complete a validation phase with the First Nations who participated in this process. When this process is complete they will draft a bill to present to the House of Commons. After the bill has been drafted, the parliament will review it (along with the dialogue with the First Nations). Then the plan is to see the passage of the new legislation that would also include the development of any regulations or First Nation laws that may be needed to implement the new legislation. It is estimated that this process will take 2 to 3 years to complete. For more information on this Governance Act look up the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Ottawa at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca Notes taken by Cory J. Meekis, Deer Lake First Nation

KIHS Classroom is finally online after 6 weeks in a BIG way. The students are excited and so is the teacher, Julia Rowe. She's nearly hitting the wall from jumping up and down with excitement. We have managed to print out hard copies of the students' assignments each week so they could keep up with their school work. They have saved all their work on disks and are sending them out to their teachers. Thanks to John @ Northern Chiefs, Al @ Windigo and Chris from Ottawa (and everyone else) for helping Slate Falls to make this connection possible. Thanks a bunch

On Friday October 19th Slate Falls connected to the K-Net Satellite Network with their newly installed community satellite Dish. The project, a partnership between the community of Slate Falls, Windigo Tribal Council, K-Net, Telesat Canada, Communications Research Council and Fednor brings two-way data, video and voice access to Slate Falls First Nation. The connectivity consists of a permanent data connection and an on demand video conferencing connection. With the data is the deployment of four IP telephones to augment the one Bell phone. The IP telephones will allow for local calling in Sioux Lookout and Dryden and for calls to the community. See the pictures Among the first locations in Slate Falls to benefit are the School, the KIHS high school program, NAPS, the Band Office and Wahsa. For more information on this please contact Al Morrison at Windigo Tribal Council .

In a late morning of October 16/01, notification was made of complications at the Ontario Hydro Power Plant located Northeast of the community (Severn river). We are sorry about not being able to provide the actual name of the falls. On further notice, one of the two power turbines was not functioning as it was supposed to. A crew from Hydro with a diver were salvaging lots of debris from one of the turbine intakes. As they did the same on the outtake, the diver located the problem of finding a cone that broke off from the malfunctioning turbine meters down the flow. The plant is now operational with only one turbine until the second one is repaired. click here for pictures http://photos.knet.ca/Deer-Lake-Hydro-Dam

We had a partridge hunting contest this weekend in Keewaywin. Which was set up by David Fiddler and volunteers. We had two winners and a consolation winner. In the men's division Anthony Thompson won, the youths division Anthony Kakegamic and the consolation prize for the youth went to Timothy Kakegamic. There were no enteries for the women's division. Door prizes were awarded and fifty fifty draws. The judges for the contest were Lawrence Mason, Karen Kp, and Nancy Kp.. The judging and the gathering were done at the clinic. People who were there had a great time. Congratulations to the great partridge hunters.

The “KO” fitness team took first place on the 21 Day Challenge. The challenge organized by the Red Lake Community Centre had 13 teams consisting of 5 members per team. Each member was awarded two points for every 10 minutes of fitness activity over 21 days. The KO team of David Neegan (captain), Penny Carpenter, Orpah McKenzie, Lars Dixon and Cheryl Bechard edged runner-up team “Trimming the Pork” by 12.6 points. The key factor in KO’s victory over “Trimming the Pork” is Orpah’s fire wood expedition on Nungessor Road which allowed KO to over take top spot during the final week. Each KO team member received a water bottle holder, one month free membership to the Red Lake Community Centre, pencil and a zipper tag. Watch for the team pictures in the Red Lake District News. Congratulations to all that participated. The results are as follows: KO 382 Trimming the Pork 369.6 The Panthers 323.4 Jabajenapen 296.4 Deb’s Devils 291.2 RLMPS Teachers 291.2 Rob’s Rowdy’s 260.6 Wack - M 239 Sidder Boys 232.8 Pantheon 179.2 Heart Games 162.8 Golden Girls 161.6 The Fall Follies 0

October 6 2001 is going to be remembered by many people for more reasons than it being Jesse and Angie's wedding day. Jesse and Angie invited family and friends to come together in Sioux Lookout to celebrate their wedding. Along with the beautiful fall, harvest theme for the wedding, the natural elements added a whole new meaning to beauty by providing this area with its first snowfall. Everyone had a great time enjoying the outdoor event. Pictures from the day are now available in the on-line photo gallery. SEE THE PICTURES

Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff completed three presentations in Thunder Bay during the week of October 1, 2001. The first presentation about the development of the Kuh-ke-nah Smart Demonstration was to the Board of Directors of 807NorthwestNetwork on Oct 2 during their annual planning meeting. On Oct 3, a similar presentation was planned for Contact North's Emerging Technologies Conference. The panel discussion on "Bringing High Speed Networks to Small and Remote Communities" resulted a short presentation describing the work Keewaytinook Okimakanak completed to date and the challenges for all small communities to prepare their business cases to become "smart". The original powerpoint presentation entitled 'From Potential to Practice' is available for everyone to review. As well, the National Broadband Task Force presentation was given on Oct. 4 by myself and Carl Seibel of Industry Canada's FedNor program.