Media.Knet.Ca

This morning news of the passing of Elder Douglas Meekis is reaching everyone in the north. Family and friends were able to gather at the Menoyawin Hospital in Sioux Lookout to be with him.

I recall one memorial feast for Douglas' wife that I was able to attend while visiting Deer Lake. It is was a special event for me that I will always remember. I knew from this event how much Douglas' family and friends loved and cared for this very special person. Click here to view pictures of this feast.

A picture of Douglas Meekis greeting the Honourable Robert Nault can be seen by clicking here.

The headline in Sunday's Thunder Bay's Chronicle Journal reads "$6.5-million boost" ... click here to read the story

Geordi Kakepetum, Executive Director of Keewaytinook Okimakanak, brought members of his management team together in Dryden to discuss strategic plans and directions for the organization. Presentations are being prepared for the next KO Chiefs' meeting to obtain the chiefs' input and direction for developing the organization and its community support services.

WIISOKOTAADIWIN

1st Annual Health Conference

"Together in Nurturing Community
Well-Being"

February 10, 11, 12, 2004

Click here for the PDF file with poster and program

Special Focus:
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
(FASD)

Conference organized by:
FAS/E & Child Nutrition Program,

WASSAY· GEZHIG NA· NAHN· DAH· WE· IGAMIG
Kenora Area Health Access Centre

Conference funded by:
Government of Ontario and Health Canada

The following appeal has gone out to all First Nations and their organizations to lend their support to the Kakegamic family of North Spirit Lake and Fort Hope. Check out the news coverage of the murder trial in Kenora by going to the links at the bottom of this story.

CALL FOR SUPPORT

For the Kakegamic family of North Spirit Lake/Fort Hope

in Kenora for the criminal trial in the tragic death of Max Kakegamic in Oct. 2000.

Margaret and Isaac Kakegamic, Max’s parents, and his widow Karen have come to Kenora from North Spirit and Fort Hope at the request of the Victim/Witness office of the Ministry of the Attorney General for the duration of the trial by jury, which began Jan.13 and is expected to run until early March. So far the Victim/Witness Assistant Cheryl Horne has been the main support to the family, and others from Kenora have been stopping in once in awhile. The Kakegamics sit quietly every day at the back of the courtroom watching and listening. There is a noticeable absence of other First Nations people in the courtroom. They appreciate those who have dropped by or visited them, as this continues to be a challenging time in their lives.

Even though Mr. & Mrs. Kakegamic both attended residential schools here years ago (Cecilia Jeffery and St. Mary’s respectively), they don’t really know anyone in Kenora and are not familiar with resources we have to offer. They do not have a vehicle and get around by taxi. As well the Kakegamics have children with them - ages 2, 4, 11 – and two other family members to help with the kids. While the Kakegamics spend Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 at the courthouse, the children and their caregivers stay in the hotel room, with a lot of time and energy on their hands.

HOW WE CAN HELP . . .

Attend court

(Main Floor, Courtroom #1, Kenora Courthouse, Water St.)

Our visible presence in the courtroom throughout the trial will give strength to the family and express our concern as a community in justice for Aboriginal people. The usual daily court schedule is Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with lunch from 1 to 2:15, but can vary.

Share resources

• the family would probably enjoy being part of activities, community events, outings
• they could use some extra support to help out with child care, laundry/clothing, books, toys, games for the children

CONTACT:

Mary Alice Smith, Community Justice Project Coordinator or Lucy Percy, Secretary-Receptionist at Nechee Friendship Centre 468-5440; email:

fullcircle@kmts.ca

Maybeline Hunter/Darrell Mandamin, criminal courtworkers 468-9657 (courthouse)

For More Information about this trial:

The Kenora Daily Miner and News is providing extensive coverage (daily, front page and editorials),  www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com 

 

January 19 - Police note taking becomes focus of cross-examination

 

January 16 - Shoes and testimony of investigating officer early focus

 

January 15 - Crown introduces Kakegamic to jury

 

January 14 - Jury of six men, six women selected to hear case

 

January 13 - Jury selection completed for manslaughter trial

Twenty-eight on-line games are now available at http://games.knet.ca for those people who want to relax and enjoy an innocent game of trying to better the scores of their friends and fellow Knetters (or is it Knerds, as some people refer to themselves). Jesse always threatened to create this site for everyone and it took one restless night to pull it all together.

After one day, it looks like this on-line arcade might get some people off the chat lines and into the games room. On its first day of operation it looks like this particular set of games were played 2860 times!

Have fun everyone ... BUT be sure to get your work done, eh ...

Write to Jesse Fiddler or sign the guestbook on the Games site with your suggestions if you find any other Public Domain games that you think people would enjoy.

The January 15 issue of Wawatay News contains three 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:

• KO Chiefs speak about ICTs in their communities: Chiefs John McKay (Keewaywin First Nation), Jimmy Rae (North Spirit Lake First Nation) and Roy Gray (Fort Severn First Nation) take a moment from their busy schedules to reflect upon the impact and changes that ICTs and broadband connectivity have brought to their communities. As well, each leader shares their wishes and hopes for further developments that these communication tools can bring to the people and communities they serve. Read the story ...
• Great "Waboose" hunt leads to healthier relationships: Karen Kakepetum, the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children Program Coordinator in Keewaywin First Nation organized a rabbit snaring session with several mothers in her community. Click here to view the pictures that can be found on the Keewaywin First Nation web site. The session /workshop is creating some healthy spin offs for several families in the community. Read the story ...
• K-Net Showcase - contains photos from the Personal Homepage photo galleries at http://myknet.org. This week's issue is profiling the homepages of Angie Morris, Carol Terry, Blue Mason, Jeremy Sawanas and Angus Miles.

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.

PIKANGIKUM YOUTH CHALLENGE 2004

THE COMMUNITY OF PIKANGIKUM IS VERY PLEASEDTO ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF IT'S TOURNAMENT HI LITE OF THE YEAR..........

$10,000 CONFIRMED FOR CHAMPIONSHIP

FEBRUARY 25 , 26, 27, AND 28TH

BROOMBALL ALSO A POSSIBILITY IF ENOUGH TEAMS ARE INTERESTED

First Nation students from one end of the province to the other will be starting an eight week on-line Math supplementary course starting Monday, January 19.

Eighteen First Nation schools have registered their grade 8 classes for the on-line math supplementary course material (click here to view the map and list of First Nations signing up for this support service). Fernando Oliveira is the course / program coordinator (click here to find out more about Fernando who use to work in Fort Severn and Poplar Hill as a KiHS teacher).

Click here to see a PDF document providing an overview of this innovative on-line project detailing:

• the program background information,
• school and student requirements,
• program schedule (2003/2004 School Year),
• how the program works,
• personalizing the program,
• student participation,
• lesson marking strategy,
• teacher preparation tasks.

This initiative is being facilitated by Keewaytinook Okimakanak as part of Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet Regional Management Organization initiative. This program is offering a number of innovative support services for First Nation schools across Ontario including school and community web site development training workshops, video conferencing pilot projects, hardware and software acquisition support, broadband and high speed connectivity solutions and toll-free helpdesk support.

Click here to learn more about Industry Canada's SchoolNet services and program and about the 7,000 on-line learning resources available to support schools, students and teachers in using these communication tools.

Click here to visit the First Nations SchoolNet web site.

Click here to visit the Grassroots program that provides classrooms with funding for developing on-line activities and resources.

Personal homepages on myKnet.org are the centre of attention for many K-Net users from across Northern Ontario. Yesterday, January 16, 2004, marked a significant milestone with this collection of personal homepages receiving over one million hits in a SINGLE DAY!!

The actual number of hits yesterday made by nearly 12,000 visitors was 1,040,926! Click here to view these traffic statistics on-line.

These personal homepages are primarily an on-line gathering place for First Nation youth from across Northern Ontario. Some of the material contained on these pages are a wonderful presentation of some of the great things happening in people's lives across the region. Other material is disturbing and controversial. In both cases, it is another means for sharing and supporting each other.