Media.Knet.Ca

A gospel meeting is planned in Cat Lake from July12-15/07.

EVERYONE WELCOME!

For further information please call Elsie Gray at 1-807-347-2461. Thank you

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninnuwug is busy preparing for their upcoming Homecoming 2007 celebration. Check out all the planned events at http://kihomecoming.myknet.org.  

Click here to watch the invitation to everyone (5 min online video) from Deputy Chief Jack Mckay and Head Councillor Cecelia Begg about the upcoming Homecoming 2007 from the gathering site (video was shot and posted by Luke Sainnawap - KI's online guru).

Advancing the green agenda via videoconferencing

A public multi-site videoconference meeting

When :

Thursday, July 12th
11am Central, Noon EST, & 1pm Atlantic

About

Many First Nations across Canada have the capacity to use videoconferencingfor meetings. The effective use of videoconferencing to create “green meetings”can save time and money, and lead to a healthier environment. These real costs are then available for use and investment in your own community.

This meeting is open to anyone interested in using videoconferencing for green meetings. We will discuss how we can promote and support videoconference meetings in First Nation communities and what will be necessary to support more green meetings.

For more information about this event

Contact Lyle Johnson at 1-877-737-KNET (5638) ext 1387.

Online Resource to Learn More About Videoconferencing and the Green Agenda

David Suzuki Foundation. (2006). Go Carbon Neutral.

An explanation of how you can live without adding carbon to the atmosphere. Videoconferencing is a way to decrease an organizations or your own carbon emissions.

Young, S. (2006) Climate change and ICT. OVUM Report.

The article states that "if 20% of business travel in the EU 25 was replaced by video conferencing, this would save 22.3 million tonnes of CO2."

Reay, D. S. (2003). "Virtual solution to carbon cost of conferences." Nature 424(6946): 251.

This article talks about using a technology called ACCESSGRID that is used to hold video conferences among various people in different places. The technology is similiar to the technology used in our multi-site video conference. The article describes how video conferencing cuts down on air travel and therefore a meeting's environmental footprint.

Videoconferencing saves money, time and carbon.

The Carbon Planet blog describes how they used videoconferencing to cut down on their emissions. They estimated that they saved 3 tonnes of CO2 by conducting a meeting using videoconferencing rather than traveling.

The VideoCom research project started in September 2006. We are investigating video communications on broadband networks in First Nations communities. For more information about this meeting and the VideoCom project visit http://videocom.knet.ca

From the Toronto Star ...

When words are part of the healing
Comment by Anna Morgan - Jul 08, 2007

Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says he takes no issue with the $10.5 million compensation given to Maher Arar, the Canadian wrongfully deported and tortured in Syria. It is the apology Arar received that frustrates him.

So far, the Canadian government has refused to apologize to the First Nations peoples for their treatment during the residential school era. Not that the aboriginal leadership doesn't want the financial compensation they deserve, but you have to wonder what makes the leader of an economically beleaguered community focus on words instead of money.

Many may question whether this seemingly noble position is genuine. I have no doubt that it is.

A year and a half ago, I had the privilege of touring Israel with 16 leaders of the Assembly of First Nations in a visit organized by the Canadian Jewish Congress. The trip was arranged to build bridges between two communities that don't know each other well.

On a grey afternoon in January 2006, the group of us walked slowly through Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. The visit to the world-famous site, with its pictorial history of the destruction of European Jewry, its tree-lined commemoration of "righteous Gentiles" who assisted their Jewish neighbours, its monuments to the death camps where millions perished because of their ethnic identity and faith, was to be the centrepiece of the trip.

I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, and visited Auschwitz during the 2005 commemoration of the camp's liberation, but the serene atmosphere at Yad Vashem provides one of the world's most moving experiences. The memorial grounds are a meditative island in the heart of the Jewish state's bustling capital, and it was impossible for the First Nations leadership, like all thoughtful visitors, not to feel the weight of Holocaust history. This time, however, there was a new dimension to the place.

Yad Vashem wasn't crowded that day and our group had some of the more intense spots to ourselves. I expected the children's memorial, and its unforgettable hall of mirrors where the names of more than a million child Holocaust victims are endlessly read aloud in candle-filled darkness, to have a powerful impact. But as we exited the dark hall, something else happened. We experienced an outpouring of stories about children lost right here in Canada. We then formed a circle and heard traditional aboriginal prayers that gave me an intimate glimpse at the tragic legacy of Canada's residential schools.

As one of the elders explained, there is no point comparing tragedies, and the plights of European Jewish children and indigenous Canadian children each stand on their own without any need to rank them in their severity. But there is something about the way the Jewish world has commemorated the Holocaust and honoured the memory of its victims that has allowed the survivors and their offspring to move on. In fact, it is for this reason that Holocaust denial is seen today as one of the most anti-Semitic of acts.

But for Canada's First Nations, the acknowledgment and commemoration of their own historic tragedy has not yet really begun.

It is not any experience I've had in Canada, but rather the experience I had at Yad Vashem, that has made me understand what national chief Phil Fontaine is talking about. Financial compensation for wrongs done to a person or community is, of course, helpful and necessary. But words and symbols go a long way. An apology on behalf of the nation for the residential schools travesty is really the least we can do.

See the Winnipeg Free Press story that follows the NAN press release ...

NAN responds to Rowe sentencing

     THUNDER BAY, ON, July 6 /CNW/ - Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, together with members of the Ralph Rowe Survivor Network, feels a sense of relief that former Boy Scout master Ralph Rowe has been designated a sexual offender, but says it's just the beginning of a healing process not only for direct victims, but whole communities affected by Rowe's abuse.

     "It's my hope the sentencing and sexual offender designation of Ralph Rowe will contribute to the healing process not only for the direct victims, but for all NAN members affected by his abuse," said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, who represents 49 First Nation communities across Ontario. "It's time now to focus on healing and rebuilding our communities to ensure any victim of any type of abuse is comfortable to come forward and confident they'll be supported in doing so to avoid further long-standing impacts like those caused by Ralph Rowe."

     Fiddler's comments come after today's court decision following a week of testimonies from survivors in a Kenora court May 2007. The testimonies were from survivors of physical and sexual abuse which took place throughout NAN territory between 1971 and 1986.

     Rowe, who currently lives in Surrey, BC, worked in at least 18 NAN First Nation communities between 1971 and 1986. He served four and a half years of a six year sentence in 1994 for indecent and sexual assaults involving boys aged 6 to 16.

     He pleaded not guilty to all counts.

     The Ralph Rowe Survivor Network, together with NAN, is calling on the Church to enter a dialogue to continue to participate in supporting survivors, their families, and whole communities.

     "It's so important that the devastating effects of Ralph Rowe be acknowledged not only on behalf of the direct victims of his abuse, but the lasting effects on spouses and children and the social implications evident across NAN territory," said Fiddler, adding high rates of suicide and jail time are connected to Rowe's years of abuse.

-30-

/For further information: Jenna Young, NAN Director of Communications, (807) 625-4952 or (807) 628-3953 (mobile)/

++++++++++

From Winnipeg Free Press ...

Former minister gets 3 years for abusing First Nations boys
By Shelley Bujold - July 7, 2007

KENORA, Ont. (CP) -- After a day long hearing in Superior Court in this northwestern Ontario city, a former Anglican minister was found guilty Friday of sexually abusing boys and sentenced to three years in prison.

Ralph Rowe, 67, of Surrey B.C., was sentenced on counts of sexual abuse and sexual indecency involving three boys from northern Ontario First Nations during the 1970s and 1980s.

Justice Erwin Stach found Rowe guilty of charges involving three of five alleged victims.

Stach found Rowe guilty of forced anal rape and attempted anal rape on two of the victims on multiple occasions over several years.

The incidents took place in the remote First Nation communities of Weagamow Lake, Wunnumin Lake, Bearskin Lake and Big Trout Lake where Rowe served as an Anglican minister, a Boy Scout master and a pilot.

In the third case, Rowe was found guilty of indecent assault.

"He is likely one of the most prolific pedophiles this country has ever seen," Crown attorney Peter Keen said in calling for a prison sentence for Rowe. "Every community he's spent time in, he made offences."

Rowe was brutal to many of his victims over a long period of time, Keen noted.

Defence lawyer Robert Sinding sought a conditional sentence of two years to be spent under strict house arrest in B.C.

Stach delivered his sentence over several hours, thoroughly going over the facts before an emotional group of Rowe's victims.

Stach sentenced Rowe to three years for rape on one victim and three years concurrently for similar acts with the same victim.

In the case of the second victim, where Rowe attempted rape, he was sentenced to two one year sentences, concurrent with the sentence for the first victim.

The assault conviction for the third victim fell within a plea agreement Rowe made in 1994.

At that time, Rowe was granted a plea bargain which enabled him not to serve additional time for similar incidents where the assault included sexual fondling. During this trial, Rowe pleaded guilty to 20 other counts which also fell under the plea bargain.

Rowe will likely have to serve two-thirds of his sentence, though Stach did not place a minimum time before he is eligible for parole.

"Sexual abuse is an act of violence, on children (very) psychological. Sexual abuse has haunted them into adulthood," said Stach.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said Rowe's sentencing is just the beginning of a healing process for his victims and the communities affected by his abuse.

"It's my hope the sentencing and sexual offender designation of Ralph Rowe will contribute to the healing process not only for the direct victims, but for all NAN members affected by his abuse," Fiddler said.

"It's time now to focus on healing and rebuilding our communities to ensure any victim of any type of abuse is comfortable to come forward and confident they'll be supported in doing so," he said.

The Ralph Rowe Survivor Network, together with NAN, called on the Anglican church Friday to enter a dialogue to continue to participate in supporting survivors, their families, and whole communities.

Rowe's abuse has had "devastating" social implications across NAN territory, Fiddler said, linking high suicide and crime rates to Rowe's years of abuse.

From the Anglican Church Journal ...

Commission will probe school deaths - Church applauds expanded mandate
Marites N. Sison - staff writer - Jul 3, 2007

The Anglican Church of Canada has welcomed the call by Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice for a yet-to-be formed Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe the deaths and disappearances of former students of Indian residential schools.

“We had anticipated that this would become a mandate of the (commission). We’ve heard the concerns about former students, about how many died and how families were not informed about it,” said Ellie Johnson, who represented the Anglican church in the revised Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. (The commission will be established once the opt-out period for the multi-billion dollar settlement ends this August. The opt-out period states that if 5,000 of an estimated 80,000 former students opt out of the agreement it could be declared null and void.)

Meanwhile, General Synod members were informed that it is not just former residential schools students but their family members also who need to decide whether to opt out of the revised agreement.

“If they don’t take any action this will determine their future to litigate,” said Ms. Johnson. “They must consider carefully whether to stay...and lose the right to sue government, or take action to opt out and retian the right to future litigation.”

Ms. Johnson said that an investigation is important because “it’s about recapturing family and community histories and being honest and open about the extent and illnesses in the schools; tuberculosis was widespread then.”

Mr. Prentice issued the statement following a report published in April that about half of aboriginal children who attended the early years of residential schools died of tuberculosis. The report cited documents that showed that the federal government ignored warnings in 1907 “that overcrowding, poor sanitation and a lack of medical care were creating a toxic breeding ground for the rapid spread of the disease.”

The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared Residential School Children, a group of former students, have urged the government to acknowledge the deaths and disappearances of one-time students.

Ms. Johnson said the archives department of General Synod, the Anglican Church of Canada’s governing body, is developing a process for responding to requests regarding burial records of former residential schools students. “The burial records are not in the General Synod archives, they would be held by diocesan archives. We’re assuming that when a child died (while in a residential school), that local clergy would be involved,” said Ms. Johnson. “If they weren’t involved, the death record would have been filed by someone else. But dioceses require parishes to submit records to the archives.”

Nancy Hurn, General Synod archivist, said she and diocesan archivists are working out how burial records might be made accessible. Some diocesan archives are on deposit at public archives.

Meanwhile, in late April the House of Commons apologized unanimously to former students of native schools but Mr. Prentice said the federal government would wait until the commission ends its five-year mandate before issuing its own apology.

Mr. Prentice stressed the importance of awaiting the outcome of the commission investigation saying all the facts and stories about the legacy of Indian residential schools are not yet complete. “I would be very surprised if (the commission’s) recommendations at that time did not deal, as the South African Commission did, with the context and concept of an apology,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Residential School Survivors Society has published an open letter to Queen Elizabeth II, expressing its “deep disappointment and regret” for the refusal of the federal government to issue an apology to former students. Nonetheless, the group said, “as we wish to progress the well-being of our families and communities we have relinquished the need for an apology.”

Some related links from the Anglican Journal web site:

• All Death Records? Find any death record in 1Min! using the database of government. Visit http://www.government-records.com
• Genealogy - search over 350 million names to discover your Canadian roots at http://www.ancestry.ca

Sandy Lake First Nation Board & Committee Elections 2007

A general election for the 2007-2009 term will be held for the following Board and Committees:

• Sandy Lake Board of Education
• Sandy Lake Health Authority
• Sandy Lake Housing Authority
• Sandy Lake Community Development Corporation Services Inc.

---------------------------------------------------------------

NOMINATION MEETINGS
Thursday, September 6, 2007
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

One nomination meeting for each of the five geographical areas of the community as designated:

1. Old Sawmill/Ghost Point - Corporation Board Room
2. River - High School Gymnasium
3. Centre - Elementary School Gymnasium
4. Airport/Big Rock - Band Office Council Room
5. R.C. - TNN Hall

ADVANCE POLLING

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Robert Fiddler Administration Building (Band Office)

ELECTION DAY

Thursday, September, 2007
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Robert Fiddler Administration Building (Band Office)

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Board and Committee Election Working Group have been appointed as the Electoral Officers for the 2007 Board and Committee Election: Martin Beardy; Lisa Meekis; Lorraine Kakegamic; Willow Fiddler; Ennis Fiddler.

The Electoral Officers are responsible for ensuring the Board and Committee Election Policy is implemented during the election process. Copies of the Board and Committee Election Policy are available at the Band Office. Please contact any member of the Working Group if you have any questions regarding the Board and Committee Election Policy.

From CBC News ...

Western premiers to tackle aboriginal 'third solitude' - Must close gaps between aboriginal Canadians and rest of country, leaders say
July 5, 2007

Leaders attending the western premiers conference in Iqaluit on Thursday and Friday say they plan to focus on ways to improve the lives of Canada's aboriginal people.

Canada, which has long focused on the "two solitudes" between its English and French populations, must now address a "third solitude" between aboriginal Canadians and the rest of the country, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said.

"There are enormous gaps in health care and education and economic opportunity and in social opportunities for aboriginal Canadians, whether they're Inuit, First Nations or Métis people," Campbell said as the premiers gathered on Wednesday.

The conference, which runs through Friday, has brought premiers from western provinces and the three northern territories together — for the first time, in Nunavut — to talk over a variety of issues before all premiers meet in Moncton, N.B., in August for the Council of the Federation's summer meeting.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said many of the western premiers have stayed committed to the principles behind the Kelowna Accord, an agreement that then-prime minister Paul Martin's Liberal government worked out with aboriginal leaders in 2005.

It would have dedicated $5 billion over five years to improve areas such as education and housing.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper backed away from the Kelowna agreement after being elected in early 2006, instead committing $450 million for aboriginals in that year's budget.

Doer said Canada must still develop a firm commitment to closing the gap in living standards between aboriginal people and other Canadians.

"The issues of treaty land entitlements and resolving outstanding treaty issues are important to all of us," Doer said.

"We've all been very committed in the past to the objectives, especially in the Kelowna Accord, and how do we move forward on that issue."

Doer said premiers attending this week's gathering want to develop concrete ideas on the issue, then bring them to their meeting with the other premiers next month.