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Keewaywin sure had a busy day and night on October 31st - Halloween. The Band staff were required to dress up in costumes or were to be fined if found without any costumes. The Northern Store also had their staff dressed up. It was fun going to the store and being served by people in costumes. The school and the church members also had activities planned for the night, for those who could no go out to trick or treat. They also had a buffet style spread of refreshments for the public. The e-center was also very busy - trick or treaters coming and going. The community technician was setting up for the night event for the adults. A movie night - a very scarry movie was shown for halloween, The Excorcist. Everyone sure enjoyed themselves this night. For photos click http://photos.knet.ca/Halloween

On October 31 the students and staff of Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School came out dressed up for the special Halloween Day. A couple of students came to school dressed up like "Hippies". One student from Sandy Lake came walking down the hallway dressed as a dead princess. The afternoon started off with a Hacky sak Tournament with Principle Kevin Sherlock. Then, many activites happened during the day. Students and staff were all called to the gym for some activites such as a Shoe Search, Dance, and all kinds of stuff. Everyone was excited. One teacher came to school dressed up as a lady. The students got such a laugh when they saw him. He went through everyclass, bothering every student. The day ended with pizza, pop, candy, and chips. Everyone Had a Great time...

The doctor and nurse came to Keewaywin on the 17th of October to give flu shots to the community. The school students and staff were the first people to get their flu shot, and anyone who happened to walk in were also given a flu shot. This is to prevent from the community from having an all out flu epidemic. See pictures on the knet photo gallery. click on http://photos.knet.ca/Kww2 to view pictures.

Fort Severn hosted a community Halloween Event! The event included a Costume and Coloring contest. Awards were also given oout to the floor hockey champions, the Bad News Bears. Prices included T-shirts, Free Friday night passes. etc. After the awards, the school had a Halloween party. The winners of the coloring contest were: k-4 Kristen Bluecoat k-5 Samaria Miles Gr 1 Mirna Matthews G2 Jacelyn Stoney G-3,4 Herman Miles G- 5,6 Rabecca Gray G-7,8 Isabelle Miles Costume Contest: k-5 Skyler Matthews 1st place, Serena Matthews 2nd place Gr 1 Dallas Crowe 1st place, Brenton Matthews 2nd place Gr 2 Isaiah Koosachin 1st place, T.J 2nd place Gr 3,4 Brittney Kakekaspan 1st place, Caitlin Gray 1st place (it was a tie) Jonah Miles 2nd place Gr 5,6 Angelina Skunk 1st place, Jonah Miles 2nd place Gr 8 Bernadette Miles Click pictures to the event.

On the Afternoon of Friday, October 26. The home of Edward Stoney burned down, nobody was home at the time of the fire, so no one was hurt. He lost everything in the fire. There were five of them living in the home, His wife and 3 kids. 2 of the kids are not school aged yet. Here's a link to some pictures of the tragedy.

The Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) classrooms in each of the participating First Nations (Cat Lake, Fort Severn, Frenchman's Head, Keewaywin, Kejick Bay, North Spirit Lake, Poplar Hill and Slate Falls) are hosting an Open House for parents and community members during the week of October 22. Everyone is invited to visit the KiHS web site and take a virtual tour of this unique virtual High School at http://kihs.knet.ca. The Open House website can be found at http://kihs.knet.ca/openhouse.html. An on-line guestbook is available for everyone to send messages of encouragement to the students and staff of KiHS. We look forward to hearing from everyone.

“Don’t ever block a white man from bringing his machinery up north”, were the words spoken to Geordi Kakepetum by the late Chief Tom Fiddler. Geordi shared these words with over 30 representatives at the KO First Nations Governance Act Information session. This 3 day session is being hosted by Keewaytinook Okimakanak with representatives from each of the KO First Nations. On October 23, 2001, Band Councillors, Elders and Youth representatives from each of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations gathered in Cochenour Hall for an information session on the First Nations Governance Act Initiative. Ross Mamakeesic along with Peter Campbell read over the letters from Robert Nault and translated it into Oji Cree. More information about INAC's efforts can be found on-line at http://www.fng-gpn.gc.ca/index_e.asp The participants also reviewed the history of the Indian Act and the history of “governance”, which means how a community is run and the rules that apply in its day-to-day operation. We also touched on a few topics from Traditional Land Use to the Corbiere decision and various issues. Continue to watch for updates on this 3 day gathering being held at the Cocheneur Hall from October 23 to 25, 2001. Pictures from this session can be seen at http://photos.knet.ca/KOgovernance. DAY 2: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 The day began with our elder and Band Councillor, Fred Meekis from Deer Lake opening the meeting with a prayer. The grouped discussed about the difference between the different governance initiatives being undertaken within the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. These initiatives include the First Nations Governance Act Initiative and NAN Governance and Education Jurisdiction Program, Some of the participants shared their comments and questions about the Indian Act. Clarifications about what the proposed changes to the act included. After lunch, the elders and the youth were encouraged and supported to share their comments about this process, as it would affect them and their communities. Some of the elders in attendance added their questions and concerns about the difference between the Indian Act and the First Nations Governance Initiative. Ross Mamakeesic, the session coordinator interviewed some elders. They shared their experience including the fact that elections were not customary. Participants were divided into small groups with facilitators and recorders. Members of the groups moved about to see what other groups were outlining concerning the issue of governance as it affects the First Nations and what was best for the people. Sometimes groups met each other.....played games....and transferred information. One of the central concerns shared by many people is the loss of language and traditions of our people. Goyce Kakegamic Deputy Grand Chief of NAN also made a few comments of the First Nations Governance Act and the Indian Act. He also made a clear statement about that the Governance Act is an amendment to the Indian Act. He clarified (on behalf of NAN) are they not against change, they want change. They also recognize change is required and going to happen. The chiefs want partnership and direct input into designing this change which involves any amendments to the Indian Act. Day 3: Thursday, October 25, 2001 The day began with Chief Albert James of McDowell Lake opening the day with a morning prayer. Ross Mamakeesic made some opening remarks providing everyone with a summary about the morning sessions that are being held at the Cochenour Hall. Elders, Chiefs, Band Councillors, Band members, youth, and even an infant showed up. There were 68 people who showed up during the day. Geordi Kakepetum thanked the people for taking the time to listen and for showing their concern and interest in this important matter and for the upcoming events. He also asked one of the Elders present, Aglaba James from McDowell Lake to share a few words with the people. INAC officials provided a slide presentations on the Communities First: First Nations Governance Initiative. They answered any questions that were asked, made clarifications and also wrote down a few concerns from the people of Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations. There was a discussion concerning the election of the community leadership, with some people making suggestions on the leadership selection process. Some of these discussions included: * The two main issues focused in this process included the legal standing and capacity and accountability to the First Nation members. The most difficult issue seems to be the legal standing and capacity because there are some mixed messages. * The proposed changes are leaning more to a corporate or municipal status for the First Nation organizations. The concern seems to be an administrative advantage for Department Indian and Northern Affairs Canada by reducing its responsibilities to the First Nations. James Cutfeet responded that they are not here to defend the issues that are being presented.....we are here to gather your views ... referring to the Governance Act. Overall, this was a very informative event. On October 31st, 2001, the initial phase of the community consultation process will be over. INAC officials will gather the information that they collected together. They will then complete a validation phase with the First Nations who participated in this process. When this process is complete they will draft a bill to present to the House of Commons. After the bill has been drafted, the parliament will review it (along with the dialogue with the First Nations). Then the plan is to see the passage of the new legislation that would also include the development of any regulations or First Nation laws that may be needed to implement the new legislation. It is estimated that this process will take 2 to 3 years to complete. For more information on this Governance Act look up the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Ottawa at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca Notes taken by Cory J. Meekis, Deer Lake First Nation

KIHS Classroom is finally online after 6 weeks in a BIG way. The students are excited and so is the teacher, Julia Rowe. She's nearly hitting the wall from jumping up and down with excitement. We have managed to print out hard copies of the students' assignments each week so they could keep up with their school work. They have saved all their work on disks and are sending them out to their teachers. Thanks to John @ Northern Chiefs, Al @ Windigo and Chris from Ottawa (and everyone else) for helping Slate Falls to make this connection possible. Thanks a bunch

On Friday October 19th Slate Falls connected to the K-Net Satellite Network with their newly installed community satellite Dish. The project, a partnership between the community of Slate Falls, Windigo Tribal Council, K-Net, Telesat Canada, Communications Research Council and Fednor brings two-way data, video and voice access to Slate Falls First Nation. The connectivity consists of a permanent data connection and an on demand video conferencing connection. With the data is the deployment of four IP telephones to augment the one Bell phone. The IP telephones will allow for local calling in Sioux Lookout and Dryden and for calls to the community. See the pictures Among the first locations in Slate Falls to benefit are the School, the KIHS high school program, NAPS, the Band Office and Wahsa. For more information on this please contact Al Morrison at Windigo Tribal Council .

In a late morning of October 16/01, notification was made of complications at the Ontario Hydro Power Plant located Northeast of the community (Severn river). We are sorry about not being able to provide the actual name of the falls. On further notice, one of the two power turbines was not functioning as it was supposed to. A crew from Hydro with a diver were salvaging lots of debris from one of the turbine intakes. As they did the same on the outtake, the diver located the problem of finding a cone that broke off from the malfunctioning turbine meters down the flow. The plant is now operational with only one turbine until the second one is repaired. click here for pictures http://photos.knet.ca/Deer-Lake-Hydro-Dam