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Deer Lake's "Focus On Health Day" began in the David Meekis Memorial School's Computer Lab. The Kuh-ke-nah Smart Program staff started off the workshop with opening remarks from Les Meekis. Ricardo made a presentation to the Deer Lake health team and interested community members about what the new technology can do to help implement the goals and expectations for local health services in Deer Lake. Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff were on hand to both provide assistance and gather community input. A spray diagram created on a flip chart paper detailed what community members felt was good health with ideas on how to get there (programs). Health staff in Deer Lake had a lot of ideas for programs and services they felt were necessary for community members. At four in the afternoon, we went online for a video conference with the KO First Nation Health Director and the Telehealth Program staff. Everyone was able to see how these new communication technologies will be able to affect their lives. Next week, be sure that you check out the Deer Lake SMART Planning Workshop Website. There you'll be able to find a detailed account of all our activities. For today, check out the pictures.

Thunder Voice News - an aboriginal newspaper is in your area! Our goal in delivering to Northwestern Ontario First Nation Communities is to share positive news about First Nation & Metis peoples. Thunder Voice is published monthly in Winnipeg, Manitoba and delivered to Northwestern Ontario through Bearskin Airlines. Do you have an interesting story? The Editor, Phillip Paul-Martin is interested in hearing about positive community events and stories from your areas. To contact the Editor, call 1 (204) 774-5630 Interested in setting up an ad to send our readership? Our Sales Representatives, For business ads, can be reached by phoning; Alex Reid: 1 (204) 774-6665 Lucien Spence: 1 (204) 774-5628 Crystal Kakekagumick: 1(204) 774-5547 E-MAIL: thundervoice@mb.sympatico.ca

If you are interested in becoming a K to 6 qualified teacher, why not consider the Sioux Lookout District Native Teacher Education Program? Successful completion of this two-year on-the-job program will guarantee you a good job, acceptance into the Ontario College of Teachers, and a chance to become an important role model for the children in your community.

Admission requirements

• Grade 12 OR
• Academic preparation equivalent to Grade 12 For example, completion of a post-secondary program such as the Native Classroom Assistant Program, Native Language Instructor's Program, Tutor Escort Program, or the Social Counsellor Program Applicants who achieve scores of 12.9 or higher in Math and Language on the Canadian Adult Achievement Test (CAAT) are also encouraged to apply.
• Experience working with children in your community (full-time or volunteer)
• Native language skills (Oji-Cree, Ojibway, or Cree)

For anyone interested in the NTEP who does not have the above qualifications, you have time to upgrade your skills before the next admission of new students. You can get ready now by completing high school, taking Wahsa courses in Math and English to prepare for the CAAT, or by completing a post-secondary program.

Don't delay! A teaching career waits for you in your community.

Do you have questions about the Native Teacher Education Program? Call Brian (NTEP Coordinator) toll free at 1-877-636-0667, extension 25 or call the Wahsa Distance Education Centre toll free at 1-800-667-3703.

We opened the conference with an opening prayer and asked the Creator to bless our time together and to give us the wisdom to learn from each other this week. Oscar Meekis, the E-Centre Manager, began with Introductions of all the attendees for the community meeting on Monday night. Les Meekis, Community Manager for the SMART Project, did a summary of the week's events. Les talked about our primary purpose in hosting this conference, which is to inventory existing programs and discuss with community members how the SMART Project will enhance these services. We also want to discuss how the SMART Project will enable new programs to begin in our communities. Dan Pellerin, Network Manager, joined us from Sioux Lookout via video conferencing for the evening session. He talked with us about the recent developments involving broadband Internet access for homes, and how our connections will be improved. Brian Beaton discussed some of the history of K-Net. There are many reasons that K-Net was successful in becoming the Demonstration project for the SMART program. The KO communities have been preparing for these types of developments already. Beginning with the original BBS system that was put in place, our eyes were already on what could be accomplished, and we had built the foundation for what would become the SMART project. Broadband access for the KO communities was already being planned for with projects such as TeleHealth and the K-Net Internet High School. We were able to look at the direction we want for the future of our community using these communication technologies. The workshop helped us to better understand the technology that is out there and how we might use it to better ourselves. Before the community meeting, people had a vague idea of what the SMART Project was. Now, they are thinking about how the SMART Project will affect their daily lives. The workshop helped explain what the SMART Project can do, and how we will take our place in this new world of information technology. See the pictures

The e-Center staff completed the week's overview of the workshop. The workshop facilitators asked questions such as: What worked well? Who was there? What did we learn? How was the workshop helpful? What can we do to change and improve on the next workshop? Ricardo and Helen were there with Les Meekis to do a summary of the week's events. The e-center staff was asked to monitor the diffferent uses of the technology that is in use today in Keewaywin. The spray diagrams were discussed and the overall week's events were summarized. The Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff located in their offices in Balmertown and Sioux Lookout joined us via video conferencing for the morning session. Before the workshop it seems the community were not clear about what the smart program was all about. Now, after the workshop, people know there is a smart program and what it is suppose to do in our community. The workshop helped explain what the smart program can do and how it is will assist as we enter into the new information technology world. The demonstrations, slide shows, presentations, group sharing and the community feast gave us a new meaning of togetherness and sharing. We were able to look at the direction we want for the future of our community using these communication technologies. The workshop helped us to better understand the technology that is out there and how we might use it to better ourselves.

The Staff of the Keewaywin Administration, other Band staff members, Niska Lake Economic development Corp., Social Services and the public works employees all took part in day four of the Keewaywin workshop. Les Meekis and Raymond Mason opened up with the opening remarks and introduction of everyone in the workshop. Councillor Silas Kakegamic opened the workshop with the a prayer. The day's agenda was introduced. Ricardo and Helen of Telecom Development group started off the workshop developing charts, spray diagrams and a slide presentation. David Neegan also did a slide presentation on forestry and land use. Helen showed a presentation of how other learning centers are doing in other countries. She showed us slides of Peru and other improvished countries showing how technology has changed their lives. The slides showed what they are doing with ICTs and about it. I was surprised at how similiar their community and our reserve are. For instance the phone. They have a place where they have only one phone and they have to share it and buy time to use the phones. That was almost like Keewaywin when we first started the community. There was only one phone for the whole community. North Spirit had only one phone too, a pay phone which was located outside a building. As you can see we have come a long way and technology has just reached us and is going at an extremely fast rate. Jesse Fiddler meanwhile was doing his presentation on scanning, adobe photoshop features and demonstrations with the grades 7 & 8 class. They discussed different ways to use these programs. There were a lot of Keewaywin staff from different areas of employment who participated in the workshop. Everyone was very impressed with the presentations and demonstrations at the workshop. After all the slide presentation were done, Silas Kakegamic said a prayer to close the workshop for the day.

Thunder Bay - "When you graduate from school it will lead you to finding good jobs, and having a good life", said John George Kakekamic, A board Elder for N. N. E. C. During a visit at the Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School on Wednesday, November 21. Elder John George Kakekamic, who has been working for N. N. E. C. for about 10 years, encouraged the students to stay in school. He also spoke about alcohol. He said, "I don't want you guys (students) to use alcohol. Alcohol builds lots of problems and it can ruin your education." "I want you to be happy; happy to be in school. A lot of times students don't graduate, that is one of the greatest thing you can get when you graduate. It will lead you to finding many good jobs, and having a good life. That is my hope, that you would graduate." said Kakegamic. Mr. Kakegamic who has the knowledge, travels to N. N. E. C. locations like Winnipeg, Ear falls, and Pelican Falls First Nation's High School in Sioux Lookout. He talks to students about how life was in his days and that now a days it has changed. Kakekamic said, "Sometimes I weep, because the students don't make it because of the problems they face. Whenever you go through trouble talk to someone, someone you trust. Don't keep it to your self. In the past students that were in trouble just got sent home. Today, it is different. Your parents and your grandparents expect you to stay in school and to finish your school." Kakekamic ended his speech with, "Now a days students everywhere use computers to learn, to get more Information." The school elder Johnny Tait, from Sachigo Lake, also talked to the students about staying in school, He said, "We're here because we care about the students, We want them to know that we're here to help." Tait, Who has been working with the N. N. E. C. since the school opened last year also said, "I don't want students to drink, because drinking ruins your education." Elder Stephen Kakepetum, of Sandy Lake came to check out the students, to see how they were doing. He spoke a few words then closed off with a prayer and blessed the food that the students had after the gathering.

The Keewaywin school closed for the day so the staff could attend the workshop and contribute to the planning for the use of ICTs for education and training in the community. Lorriane Kakegamic, the Education Director said the opening prayer. Education and training was the topic for the day, with the local Kuh-ke-nah staff and K-net on hand to help with the workshop. The same format that was used for the health department was again used today. Everyone present were asked about their expectations for the community. Questions such as what is good education, how to get there (programs), and how can we measure and document how much technology is being used, were discussed. Everyone offered their input and a lot of information was collected for a spray diagram displaying everyone's suggestions. This information was then used to organize and group common themes together. There were a lot of questions and answers throughout the workshop. The session gave everyone the opportunity to ask questions such as the modems, when will the cable system be hooked up and explanations of why the old computers are so slow in getting information off the web. While the workshop was in progress Jesse Fiddler went to the KiHS room to get his video equipment set up. The high school students were on hand to help with the set up of equipment and actually doing the taping. The students were interviewed on how technology has changed their lives and what they think the future holds for the technology that is being used today in their community. Jesse, Blue and I are making out templates for creating a new web site for the information collected which we will be posting at a later date. It will be a web page for all the communities displaying the findings from the community surveys and the workshops that the Kuh-ke-nah project has been doing and will be doing. See the photos at Photo Gallery

Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Kuh-ke-nah Smart program hosted a community feast for Keewaywin. Our councillor Freddie Kakegamic said the prayer for the feast. The whole community gathered together at the Keewaywin School Gym to participate and join us for the feast. We sat the elders of the community at the head of the table. There was a lot of food served, thanks to the volunteer services of the church, businesses and community, who pooled all their efforts to make the feast a success. I was on hand to take photographs. The feast was fun and there was much laughter throughout the feast. Everyone chipped in to help clean up the gym after the feast. There was a lot of food left over and a lot of people were happy to take home a huge doggie bag. The kids were having fun with the demonstration of the camera which was set up. They were having a ball looking at themselves on the television screen. The community of Keewaywin would like to thank the Northern Chiefs Kuh-Ke-Nah Smart Program for throwing this feast together. See the pictures at Photo Gallery

Keewaytinook Okimakanak / Northern Chiefs Council is looking for a Nurse Supervisor for the Home and Community Care program. This is a 40-hour workweek position offering an annual salary of $50,000 - $62,000 dependent on experience, commencing January 21, 2002. The Home Care Nurse Supervisor will report to the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Director of Health Services. The ideal Candidate will possess: - A Registered Nurse Diploma, preferably a Bachelors Degree in Nursing. - Good standing with the College of Nurses of Ontario. - Experience delivering nursing care in the home or community setting. - Excellent verbal and written communication skills. - Minimum 2 years supervisory skills preferred. - Skills and experience in adult education training. - Community consultation skills. - Ability to prepare and submit reports. - Basic computer skills. - Experience nursing in remote First Nation communities would be desirable. - Able to speak Oji-Cree, but not necessary. Deadline for Applications: January 8, 2002 @ 4:00 .p.m. Please Forward Inquires or Resumes to: Orpah McKenzie, Director of Health Services, or Linda Kay Peters, Health Programs Assistant Keewaytinook Okimakanak Box 340 Balmertown, ON P0V 1C0 Email: orpahmckenzie@knet.ca or lindakaypeters@knet.ca