Media.Knet.Ca

Shibogama Technical Services is pleased to announce we were the recipients of the Building Communities Award 2004 at the 14th Annual Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Business Awards Banquet held in Timmins, Ontario on December 1, 2004.

KO Chiefs are discussing various major issues affecting their communities in Thunder Bay this week at the Norwester Hotel. On Thursday evening everyone is gathering for the traditional Christmas feast and entertainment.

The Sioux Lookout Aboriginal Area Management Board hosted a gathering of First Nation representatives from across the Sioux Lookout District last week in Thunder Bay. Twenty-six First Nations met to learn how to operate the new Governance Database that will collect information about their membership across the Sioux Lookout region.

The First Nations served by SLAAMB will gather and update the database information from their own communities. The information will be submitted on-line into the main server SLAAMB office in Sioux Lookout. Information to be collected includes population statistics such as the number of children, youth, adults, and elders, specific age categories, aboriginal languages spoken, employment rates, and eligible voter data.

The Governance Database represents a new way for First Nations to collect information and generate reports for the wide-spanning region. Each community receives a database, operation manual and training DVD for use in their communities.

"The Chiefs of the Sioux Lookout Area have recognized the need for factual data collection for planning purposes in the North. The Governance Database will be a practical tool in the communities to maintain information about their membership, and at the same time allow us to generate our own statistics." says Bob Bruyere, SLAAMB Coordinator.

The database was created by Nationbase Software Solutions. To read the entire press release click here.

From the AFN Annual General Assembly that took place on July 20, 21 & 22, 2004, in Charlottetown, PEI, six resolutions moved by the KO Chiefs in attendance were recently adopted. These AFN Resolutions include:

• No. 65/2004 - FIRST NATION TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res65.htm
• No. 66/2004 - SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION PROGRAMS with Support for KIHS - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res66.htm
• No. 58/2004 - SUPPORT FOR E-HEALTH SERVICES IN FIRST NATIONS - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res58.htm
• No. 57/2004 - SUPPORT FOR FIRST NATION POLICING - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res57.htm
• No. 62/2004 -SUPPORT FOR FORT SEVERN FIRST NATION - HEALTH - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res62.htm
• No. 63/2004 - SUPPORT FOR KEEWAYTINOOK OKIMAKANAK WATER PLANT OPERATOR CERTIFICATION TRAINING PROGRAM - http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2004/res63.htm

In a memo to the Chiefs, National Chief Phil Fontaine explained the procedures for adopting and beginning to act on these resolutions:

Due to lack of quorum at the July 2004 Annual General Assembly in Charlottetown, PEI, 61 of 63 draft resolutions were not dealt with.  The Chair referred them all to the Executive Committee to address before the next Confederacy/Assembly.  Over the past few months, AFN Legal Counsel, members of the Resolutions Committee and technical staff, have reviewed the draft resolutions and recommended measures to implement each of the draft resolutions.  A detailed report was presented to the AFN Executive on October 3, 2004 including 56 draft resolutions and the recommended action for implementation, the referral of four draft resolutions back to the next Confederacy/Assembly and one draft resolution was withdrawn by the mover/seconder.

The decision of the AFN Executive was to adopt the resolutions and proceed with implementation activity.  A status report will be prepared for presentation at the December 2004 Special Chiefs Assembly.

These 56 draft resolutions and the 2 resolutions that were dealt with at the July 2004 AGA, have now been prepared in final format as follows: (individual resolutions are now available on the AFN website at http://afn.ca)

The team at Wawatay News is busy reporting daily news updates on-line from First Nation communities across Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Treaty 3 and Aboriginal urban centres. Readers are invited to visit and read about breaking news reports at http://wawatay.on.ca

The newspaper archives are also available for everyone to search and reference. Alvin Fiddler recently took the leadership role for producing, supporting and maintaining Wawatay's on-line presence with his new job as Wawatay's Web Site and Systems Manager.

This past week, Canada Connects worked with Critical Telcom, an innovative company in Ottawa to present "Driving Broadband to the Edge". The presentation by Nick Cadwgan, Head of Product Management for Critical Telecom addressed many of the issues involved in taking Fibre-To-The-Premise (FTTP) including staging these developments with various broadband delivery strategies including fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC). The need for this infrastructure becomes more and more evident as second generation Broadband applications become more available for the consumers.

The presentation was archived using the K-Net Breeze server and can be viewed at http://breeze.knet.ca/p13736530/ (if this is the first time you have used Breeze then you will need to click on yes to download the required plug-ins to be able to view the presentation). Critical Telecom has technologies available now that can extend DSL reach for thousands of Canadians that are still waiting for broadband services. Nick Cadwgan explains in detail all the issues now being faced by Canadian Telcos in getting DSL services into Canadian homes.

Two other excellent recorded sessions that we highly recommend that you watch when you have a chance are:

• CATA Vancouver Business Outlook Seminars
  http://breeze.knet.ca/p38534277/ - An excellent presentation organized by the Canadian Advanced Technology Association contains presentations from leading organizations explaining their views on where the Canadian economy will be going in 2005.
• Fibre To The Home - Why this Technology is what we need TODAY!
  http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lnk/avwebdswin2153/wsn2.wmv/play.asx - While Canada struggles trying to make DSL available to all Canadians, Asian countries are already jumping to Fibre To The Home .... This technology is available today ... in Canada for costs supportable by what Canadians are already paying for Cable TV, Telephone Services and Internet Access. This 30 minute video explains all of the issues and opportunities.
  

A two day planning and development workshop (December 1 and 2) has resulted in the production of an on-line template that will become a place for Aboriginal artists in video, painting, writing, music and photography to share their work and meet together. The five member team meeting in Balmertown included Jesse Fiddler, Cal Kenny, Tina Kakepetum-Schultz, George Ferreira and Fernando Oliveira. Click here to check out the pictures of the team at work.

This on-line Aboriginal gathering place is intended to support Aboriginal artists in their efforts to promote their work and being established. It will include tutorials and resources for Aboriginal artists to use these on-line tools to further develop their skills. The environment will support peer-to-peer sharing and collaboration in production and support efforts.

Fundraising to complete the development work and support the ongoing operation of this on-line environment will now be undertaken. It is hoped that this initial investment by Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program in creating this template will help raise the funding required to continue the development of the Kuhkenah Aboriginal artists virtual gathering space.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak celebrated the Grand Opening of the new Centre of Excellence in Balmertown on Tuesday, November 30th. This building is located on 253 Dexter Road and is home to the administration offices for KO Telehealth and Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS). The building is a beautiful renovated structure made possible by contributions from Industry Canada through the Smart Communities project. A big thank you is extended to Industry Canada and FedNor for making this possible. Check out pictures at http://photos.knet.ca/albun68

During the celebration there was a feast at the main KO office at 12:00 noon, which was followed by an open house at the new building from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Many communities from the north were connected via video conferencing to share in the celebrations. We are sure that the medical and educational health of the communities with benefit greatly from this venture.

Several guests were able to participate in this celebration. Geordi Kakepetum, KO’s executive director welcomed everyone and gave opportunity for remarks from special guests. Mayor Dunc Wilson congratulated the organization for their lead in using ICTs in health and education. Former Grand Chief for Ontario, Tom Bressette brought greetings from the AFN. Jerry Fontaine, special advisor for the National Grand Chief, also brought congratulations and greeting from the Grand Chief and staff at the AFN. Raymond Mason, chief of Keewaywin brought remarks on behalf of the community and the Chiefs of the organization.

A welcomes was sent out to all from Kevin Houghton, KO Telehealth Program Manager, as well as Darrin Potter, KiHS Principal. Ribbon and cake cutting followed as guests mingled and enjoyed tours of the building.

The staff of KO, KO Telehealth www.telehealth.knet.ca and KiHS (www.kihs.knet.ca) wish to thanks everyone who participated in this event. Please come by and visit our centre if you are ever in Balmertown.

An e-learning planning workshop was hosted by the Keewaytinook Internet High School in Balmertown, ON on November 29 and 20. Click here to see the agenda that documents the activities for this two day event. Participants from La Ronge in northern Saskatchewan (the Masinahikana School), the Bella Bella school in British Columbia and from the KO Research Institute in Thunder Bay joined the gathering in Balmertown via video conference during scheduled times in the agenda. The workshop was sponsored by Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program.

This initial workshop is intended to lead to more on-line activities and the development of e-learning resources that First Nation schools and learners can utilize and benefit from. Thanks to Fernando Oliveira (the on-line Grade 8 Supplementary Course instructor and coordinator - http://g8.firstnationschools.ca) and Darrin Potter (principal of the Keewaytinook Internet High School - http://kihs.knet.ca) for putting this initial meeting together.

The video conferenced portions of the workshop are now available at http://webcast.knet.ca/schoolnet and select the E-Learning Workshop sessions.

Brian Walmark, Coordinator of the KO Research Institute and the K-Net Coordinator met with Kevin Pasluk, IT Director of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM). Discussions and strategies to find ways to work together to support First Nations across Northern Ontario and first year students in NOSM in their four week placements were shared.

The opportunity exists for First Nations with broadband connections in place to provide a positive learning experience for NOSM students during their first year of studies at the new school. The first round of placements will take place in the spring of 2006. Working with KO and Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program, NOSM is committed to working with communities to ensure these learning experiences are successful for everyone involved.