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On the week of June 17-21 2002, MNR from Red Lake came to Poplar Hill to train 9 community members as S100 forest fire fighters. There were 4 trainers that provided both indoor and outside activities. The weather didn't cooperate until the last day of the training. Check out the photos at http://photos.knet.ca/album46

WEBEQUIE MENS AND LADIES 2ND ANNUAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT 2002
JULY 30 31 AUGUST 1 2, 2002(during the annual summer festival)
MENS CHAMPIONSHIP $3000.00 LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP $2000.00
MENS ENTRY FEE: $600.00 LADIES ENTRY FEE: $500.00 (payable to Webequie Knights)
CONFIRMED TEAMS as of JUNE 26,2002 MENS CATEGORY: WEBEQUIE KNIGHTS WEBEQUIE HAWKS WEBEQUIE THUNDERBIRDS WAPEKEKA NORTH SPIRIT LAKE
LADIES CATEGORY: WEBEQUIE BLAZERS WEBEQUIE FALCONS WAPEKEKA 1 WAPEKEKA 2 BEARSKIN LAKE

IF YOU WANT MORE INFO OR CONFIRM A TEAM CALL JEFF WHITEHEAD @ 807 353 6531

Wapekeka First Nation will be hosting our 10th annual Survivors of Suicide "Healing our Spirit" conference on August 26- Sept 2, 2002. Workshops will include: Suicide prevention, intervention, ideation and post prevention. Sexual, Physical, Emotional and Spousal Abuse and other topics that have plagued and devastated our communities and families will also be discussed. At the end of each day there will be Healing Circles in which the delegates can share with each other, what impact these truamas have had in their personal lives. Any questions or if you are interested in attending, please contact Deputy Chief Donald Brown (807) 537-2315 or myself at (807) 537 2554 Meals and Accomodations will be provided.

Last week, ministry of Natural Resources personnel came to North Spirit Lake to deliver the first level of forest fire fighting training to four local band members. Check out the pictures at http://photos.knet.ca/S100

Keewaytinook Internet High School students were glued to their computers on Wednesday, Junr 19, awaiting the announcement of who had received awards for the 2001-2002 school year. Students in all six partner communities benefitted from the online announcement. See http://kihs.knet.ca/awards.html for all the award winners. Applications are being accepted for the fall for grade 9 and 10 students in the following KiHS Partner Communities: Cat Lake Deer Lake Fort Severn Fort William Frenchman's Head Keewaywin Kejick Bay North Cariboo North Spirit Sachigo Slate Falls Webequie Applications are on line at http://kihs.knet.ca/application.html

David Fransen, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of the Information Highway Applications Branch of Industry Canada, Paul Bush, Vice President, Corporate Development Telesat Canada and Carl Seibel, Telecommunication Projects Officer at FedNor came to visit K-Net Services in Sioux Lookout on Wednesday, June 20. Meetings began as soon as they stepped off the plane in Sioux Lookout. Kevin Burton and JR Isadore from the Atlantic Provinces First Nation Helpdesk were able to meet briefly with David and Paul in the airport before they caught their plane back to Cape Breton. Upon their arrival at the K-Net offices they met several of the other First Nation Helpdesk representatives (Ian and Diane Cameron from the BC/Alberta Helpdesk and Tim Whiteduck from the Quebec Helpdesk). Rachel Roy, Jacques Drouin, Kathleen Schroeder and Will Dubitsky from the First Nations Schoolnet Program also were able to stay to meet with David and Paul. See the story about the Industry Canada First Nation Schoolnet Program meeting that took place in Sioux Lookout from June 16 to 20. A video conference between Fort Severn First Nation Chief George Kakekaspan, his councillors (Moses, Robert and Chip) along with their local Smart team (Madeleine Stoney, Angus Miles and Barney Turtle) and the folks in the Sioux Lookout office to discuss the importance of broadband connectivity in Fort Severn. Moses spoke about his role on the KiHS Advisory Board and the importance of the KiHS program for their young people. Robert Thomas spoke about the telehealth initiative and the work that is happening to make this service an important part of health delivery in Fort Severn. George talked about the economic impact that broadband connectivity has meant in his community. A working lunch with the discussion concentrating on the development of these services in conjunction with the introduction of the various Industry Canada programs, in partnership with other government programs (HRDC’s Stay-In-School initiative, INAC’s EDI and education programs, Schoolnet, CAP, FedNor, Smart, etc). Then it was right off to Matt Air Service to catch our charter to Slate Falls. Pictures of this trip are posted in the K-Net Photo Gallery at http://photos.knet.ca/IC-Telesat. After a great ride north (a map can be seen at http://www.windigo.on.ca/community.html) of Sioux Lookout, we were met at the dock by Chief Lawrence Masakayash and Michael Loon. Everyone rode in Lawrence’s truck up to the Slate Falls KiHS building and a meeting with the teacher and some of the students. The students did up powerpoint presentations containing their thoughts about the first year of KiHS in Slate Falls. Samantha Loon sent her presentation over to be shared with others. From there everyone went over to the Band office to meet with other staff and council members. A video conference with Dan Pellerin and John Moreau in our Sioux Lookout office also provided an opportunity to discuss several of the issues / opportunities that still have to be developed in that community and across the region. The return flight got us into Sioux Lookout before 6 and everyone agreed to meet for supper at 6:30 so Ian and Diane could get off to Winnipeg before it got too late. Even dinner that evening proved to another learning opportunity for everyone with a lot of sharing of ideas and experiences. The group broke up after 9, agreeing to meet again at 7:30 for a breakfast meeting. This meeting proved to be an opportunity to further discuss development strategies and explore various community / regional networking options. This proved to be a challenging, yet lively discussion because everyone (David, Carl, Paul, Dan and Brian) had different priorities and experiences to address. Afterwards, David was able to tell us that the prime minister had announced that morning that the broadband connectivity work would be advanced to begin this year rather than waiting till 2004. Back at the office, discussions centred around the work that was being done under the Smart Communities demonstration initiative. In particular, our education and health initiatives were thoroughly reviewed and understood. As well, questions and brief overviews about our data warehouse work, our portal, the e-Centres and the project sustainability work were presented and discussed. Gibbet Stevens, from the KO Telehealth team, stopped by and was able to provide more information about this project. A copy of the Telehealth Business Case for the Sioux Lookout Zone is being forwarded over to David for his review so he can work with Michael Binder to approach Health Canada’s ADM to discuss this project. Again lunch proved to be a busy time with discussions around the communities and the challenges they are addressing in all sectors. After lunch, a tour of the telehealth services at the Zone Hospital proved to be a great opportunity for Barbara Roche, the Zone’s Telehealth Coordinator, to demonstrate the equipment that is now in place in each of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nation Health Centres. Linking the two units at the Zone together with Rita Wassaykeesic at the Poplar Hill Health Centre also provided an opportunity to discuss some of the health applications and situations being addressed with these tools. Back at the K-Net office, Jesse Fiddler was able to show David the on-line tools and strategies being used to collect data and complete the community engagement aspects of the Smart Communities project. Then around 4, it was off to the airport for David and Paul to catch their return flight to Ottawa. Later that evening, after a supper and more discussions, Carl caught his flight back to Thunder Bay.

Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program held their annual Helpdesk meeting in Sioux Lookout the week of June 16. All the Helpdesks were represented from across Canada at this gathering. Pictures of the two and half day gathering are available at http://photos.knet.ca/FNhelpdesks. JR Isadore and Kevin Burton of the Atlantic Regional Helpdesk arrived on Saturday morning. Taking a tour of their web site and the interactive work that JR and Kevin are putting on-line to support First Nation schools and communities in using and developing the Micmac Aboriginal Language is a rich experience. Check out the Lessons, Vocabulary, Songs, Wli-Nuelewi CD, Talking Books, Prayers and their Talking Dictionary resource material. These on-line resources provide an exciting challenge and model for all First Nation communities to do likewise. Everyone else arrived on Sunday. Tim Whiteduck. from the Quebec Helpdesk along with the four folks from Industry Canada’s FN Schoolnet program in Ottawa (Rachel Roy, Kathleen Schroeder, Will Dubitsky and Jacques Drouin) were met at the Sioux Lookout airport in the afternoon. Tim works with the Kitigan Zibi Education Council in the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community which is located approximately 130 km north of Hull/Ottawa and adjacent to the town of Maniwaki. Their Learning Algonquin website is a great on-line resource / model for sharing their language. Jeff Cappo of the Saskatchewan Helpdesk flew in that evening from Regina. Jeff has his own IT company (TP Technologies) that provides a variety of services for clients both Saskatchewan and in other parts of the country. Corey Vokey drove in from Winnipeg where he works with Taiga Communications as the Manitoba Helpdesk coordinator. Diane and Ian Cameron (NO Limits, Inc) drove 3 hours from their home in Kamloops, BC to the airport, flew to Winnipeg and then drove to Sioux Lookout. The two and half day meeting was held in the Sioux Lookout Area Aboriginal Management Board conference room at the Keewaytinook Okimakanak office building in Sioux Lookout. The first morning was spent sharing information about each of the regions and the work / challenges that everyone is addressing in their function as the regional helpdesk. A video conference connection was established with the Schoolnet folks in Ottawa so they too could hear about the work being done by the helpdesks across the country. Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning had the Industry Canada folks introducing the upcoming changes that will be taking place within their department. The biggest challenge involves developing a strategy to support First Nation schools as the access to the subsidized DirecPC resource is removed by December 2003. As well, discussions focused around the challenges and opportunities to migrate to and fund broadband connectivity solutions that the First Nation schools can utilize wherever possible. On Tuesday afternoon one group took a charter into Slate Falls First Nation to visit with the Chief and Council and learn about the importance of connectivity in this type of environment. A visit to the local Keewaytinook Internet High School classroom provided everyone with a chance to meet some of the students that are benefitting from being able to access their high school courses from their home community. Slate Falls First Nation is a member of Windigo First Nations Council, a partner with Keewaytinook Okimakanak bringing broadband connectivity into their member First Nations. The other group drove out to visit Pelican Falls First Nation High School and met with Lance Redbourne to discuss the KU-Band high speed connectivity trial. Then the group drove to the Frenchman's Head KiHS classroom to meet with Marlene McKay (KiHS Teacher), Andrea Ignace (Teacher Assistant) and Richard Morris (Education Director). Wednesday morning, Carl Seibel from FedNor joined the group and was able to share how their regional economic development program provided funding support to establish broadband connectivity solutions for remote First Nations in Northern Ontario. A video conference session with the Fort Severn First Nation Chief and Council and their Smart team members was able to provide some additional information about the importance of having broadband connectivity in these First Nations. As well, discussions around working with K-Net staff to plan and coordinate a national Aboriginal Smart Communities conference this fall with regional gatherings in each part of the country linking together promises to be an exciting challenge and opportunity to demonstrate broadband applications at their best! Finally, just before this meeting ended David Fransen the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of IHAD and Paul Bush Telesat Vice-President of Corporate Relations arrived and was able to meet most of the meeting participants. Even the brief meeting with Kevin and JR at the airport was valuable for everyone to learn about their important work in the Atlantic Region. The meeting ended much like it began with everyone leaving at different times by different means. The great thing about these communication tools is no one has to say good-bye anymore but rather ... “Until we meet again on-line”. Thanks to everyone for taking the time from their busy schedules to attend this important gathering of like-minded people ... what a team!!

Poplar Hill held a social gathering feast on June 16, 2002. This was a chance where the staff from the northern, the school, the Health centre, and the Band office came together. Everyone met to share ideas, let each know what they are working on and encourage each other. We all want to be able to work together. A lot of the local folks who are not working also came. This was a good experience for everyone especially since was our first feast for this purpose. The local Northern store was a big sponsor for this event. Congratulation and thanks to the people who came up with this idea. The food was great and everyone seemed to appreciate this opportunity to get together again. We are looking forward to having a bigger gathering next year. Check out the photos.

On March 22, 2002, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Chiefs passed a resolution in Timmins, Ontario, declaring September 1, 2002 as a Day of Prayer for spiritual support and healing from the ravages of suicide in the territory. The Nishnawbe Aski Nation Executive and the chiefs are calling on all church and spiritual leaders for their prayers and support to address this issue in our communities. Under the leadership and coordination of Deputy Grand Chief Goyce Kakegamic, a working group has been established consisting of NAN christian leadership, to organize this very important event. Please mark your calendar for September 18, 2002 (alternative date) as Day of Prayer. Periodic public announcements will be made through Wawatay Radio and your local radio station, literature and posters will be developed and forwarded to your band office or local church detailing the recommended activities for that day. All ideas and comments are welcome, please contact NAN at 1-800-465-9952. You may be referred to a local representative in your community.

Link's Store is set to be open on June 21, 2002 (Aboriginal Day). Numerous items such as pop, chips, hotdogs and hamburgers will be sold. Watch for the Grand Opening soon. The store will be open at 12:00 noon to 9:00 pm. We hope to see you there.