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The Poplar Hill Science & Technology Day Camp was a success. It took place from July 15 to July18, 2002. On Monday, Curtis Lawson the project coordinator came in and we got started by having the participants do a on-line hunt for animals. On Tuesday, we went across the lake on a nature walk to collect plants. Two local elders joined the group to explain about the plants and how they used them long ago. On Wednesday, the youth watched videos about animals and their habitats. During the afternoon the MNDM regional geologist came in to provide information about the Canadian shield and different rock formations. He also showed a video and displayed the various rocks in his collection. On Thursday, the biologist from MNR was in to explain about all the different eco-systems. During the afternoon the youth visited the telehealth office. We closed the day off with some games. Check out the pictures at Pictures - Day 1 and Pictures - Day 2

The First Annual General Meeting of Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute will be held Tuesday, August 13, 2002 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. As a member of the corporation, each First Nation is eligible to send one representative to the meeting. For further information, please contact Stephen Chase or Ruth Baxter at 1-866-63-OSHKI.

Wednesday’s (July 17) Keewaytinook Okimakanak board meeting was attended by Chief Royal Meekis (Deer Lake), Councillor Silas Kakegamic (Keewaywin), Chief Eli James (McDowell Lake), Chief Isaac Linklater (North Spirit Lake) and Chief Patrick Owen (Poplar Hill). Chief George Kakekaspan is in Sioux Lookout attending the Special Education planning meeting. Items discussed included: * information arising from previous minutes (Orpah McKenzie provided a brief update on the telehealth application to Health Canada and the Nursing Situation in KO First Nations) * finance update (this is Penny Carpenter’s last week before her maternity leave) * all-weather road strategy development (guests Margaret Thompson and John Erickson) * forest management strategy (David Neegan) * K-Net’s application to Industry Canada to be the Ontario Regional Management Organization to support First Nation schools (Brian Beaton) * a brief update on the Keewaytinook Internet High School (Brian Beaton). Throughout the meeting, the community leaders were dealing with issues relating to the forest fire situation across the region.

Heavy smoke has created the need for evacuation in our community. Even those of us without breathing problems have noticed symptoms such as sore throats. The heat of the day helps to keep the smoke from completely obscuring our vision, but the coolness of night brings the choking smoke. The elderly, babies, prenatals and others with health and breathing problems will be the first to be evacuated. As of 4:00pm, it appears that the evacuees will be sent to Thunder Bay. It is not known whether or not other residents will need to be evacuated. We are waiting for the planes to arrive for the over one hundred residents, who due to medical reasons must leave. For more information you can call the Deer Lake band office at 807-775-2141.

Yesterday heavy smoke from nearby forest fires descended on our community. The smell of burning wood was everywhere. You could see the smoke hanging in the air as it descended down. The elderly, babies, prenatals and others with health and breathing problems were the first to be evacuated. During the afternoon MNR made a couple of trips to the fire sites to investigate how the fire was developing. The Chief and Council waited for word of the evacuation procedures that were required to take place. At the same time they put the whole community on evacuation alert. It was during the evening when the fax came in for the go ahead to start with the community evacuation. There were only forty seats available on the first plane and there are 80 names on the list. Our Crisis team went on full alert and helped with picking out the people who should go first. The Chief and Council were there to help out with the evacuation proceedings too. The other half of the group on the list have to wait until today to get evacuated. The people left last night around midnight and were taken to the town of Sioux Lookout. Facilities have been set up in the Sioux Lookout Arena. For more information you can call the Keewaywin band office at 807-771-1210. Click here for photos

The SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DAY CAMP IN Fort Severn got under way Monday July 8, 2002 and ended on July 12, 2002 On the first day, Madeleine worked with the youth on an on-line hunt for the participants. Everyone was given a list of plants, animals and topics that they would have to find on-line and print. The second day the youth had a field trip with Curtis Lawson. They went on a plant collection trip with the elder Elijah Stoney who explained the stories behind the plants and what uses they have. On the third day the youth watched a video on local animals. A movie was shown of animals of the north identifying all the wildlife that can be found in the north. Lucy Stoney one of the elders explained the stories behind the animals and what they are used for. The afternoon was spend with the MNDM regional geologist explaining the Canadian shield and rock formations. The Geologist showed the young various rocks from the Canadian Shield. The fourth day was spend with a Biologist from the MNR helping local youth understand the eco-systems. Our elder, Elijah Stoney explained the relationship between all beings and plants. See Photos Day 1: http://photos.knet.ca/album49 Day 2: http://photos.knet.ca/album50 Day 3: http://photos.knet.ca/album51 Day 4: http://photos.knet.ca/album52

Sandy Lake connected to the K-Net network July 11, 2002. Thanks to Kennedy Fiddler, his team and the K-Net staff for making this happen. Thanks to all the other people involved in getting the project off the ground.
Dan Pellerin, K-Net

Poplar Hill will host the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Science and Technology Camp next week (July 15-19, 2002).There will guest speakers from the MNR, 2 local elders and 3 staff members from the northern chiefs council. The camp will be 5 days in length and a maximum of 20 participicates from ages 8-18 are invited to join in this camp. A variety of activities are planned for the week. There will be plant, fish and animal identification sessions. Speakers from the MNR will talk about understanding the ecosystems and how they work including land and rock formations. Elements found in our areas and various rocks will be shown from the canadian shield. They will also explain management strategies for fish and animal habitats. The elders will help with the plant and animal identification and much more... Oh yes, there will be a feast on the 4th day. Everyone is welcomed to join us for this learning opportunity.

Les Meekis was on hand to give a presentation to the Smart team and summer student staff members at the local e-center about the household and business/organization surveys that were completed last year. Plans are now underway to conduct similar surveys this summer across the community. We wanted to make sure that the explanations are clear and accurate and to discuss what needs to be changed or added into the survey tools. We need clear terminology in order to explain things in oji-cree, for example what a computer is or what a hub and modems are and what they do. When doing surveys we have to be able to discuss the survey and explain it to the elders who are living in the community. We went through the whole survey and discussed what was needed to be added and found that the survey needed to be changed a bit. When the survey first sarted there were no internet connections to the houses. Now that we have internet connections some of the wording will have to be changed to include the houses which are now connected into the community network. We were joined via teleconferencing by the Fort Severn e-centre staff to discuss the surveys and to exchange ideas and information on what changes needed to be made. We also discussed when making the surveys to include all the programs and businesses and organizations. See the photos from this meeting.

Poplar Hill had their treaty day games on July 4-7 2002. It was a great success with everyone having a lot of fun. Games included boys and girls races, a ballon toss, an egg toss, a 3 legged race, tug-a-war events, a target shoot, a money hunt, arm wrestling, jigging, a royal rumble, canoe races, bingo and much, much more. Thanks to the organizers and Chief and Council for this year's treaty games. Check out the pictures.