Everyone need kindness and some more than others

I was in Calgary during Easter. While I was there I decided to go out and visit the hip neighbourhood of Kensington Village. I enjoyed my evening going to the local Pub having a good meal and good conversation which some interesting characters. When I left at 11PM it was cool -7C (19F). As I walked to the Rail station for the LRT I passed two slow moving men. I noticed on passing that one had a Native Pride hat. As I went by they asked if I had any money to get them to their reserve of the Siksika Nation. I flipped them a dollar and kept walking, but by about half a block away I had the opportunity to think about the two men. One was very old at least over 65 walking labouredly with a cane the other was middle age and looked very poor. It was clearly that they were homeless and it was impossible for them to make it back to the reserve that night and no one would pick them up for hitchhiking.

The Unknown Fisheries of First Nations in Eastern Quebec - Les Peches des Premieres Nations dans L'est du Quebec

In a discussion in French with Dr Paul Charest from Laval University about his new book The Fisheries of First Nations in Eastern Quebec we discuss the finding of this little known industry. A group of researchers was involved in writing and exploring this industry which is growing in importance for First Nations.  

For over a decade, commercial fishing has played a fundamental role in the economic and social development and the affirmation of the autonomy of Indigenous Nations established on the banks of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Historically, Indigenous peoples practice fishing in both freshwater marine environment, but the importance of this activity in the economy and the daily lives of Nations and Aboriginal communities in Quebec has remained largely unknown until now.

By better understanding the situation of the Innu Nation, the Mi'kmaq nation and the Maliseet coastal people currently in Quebec, their pressing development needs and efforts to achieve, among others by commercial fishing, this book aimed to contribute to helping First Nations make their rights known in a world of globalization. It is the recognition of the autonomy of Indigenous peoples of Quebec and Canada through the fishing activity are the issues that underlie the contributions of the authors of this book.
Paul Charest is a retired associate professor of the Department of Anthropology at Laval University where he taught from 1969 to 2004. He has conducted research and ethnographic documentaries on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence since 1965. His recent work focuses on the use and management of wildlife resources, sustainable community development, miscegenation European settlement of Inuit and Innu. He is the author or coauthor of more than 200 texts. He was awarded the Weaver-Tremblay prize of the Canadian Association for Applied Anthropology in 1995. 




The book was written by a collective of authors
Mathieu Bergeron
Brieg Capitaine
Paul Charest, editor
Julie Courtois-Girard
Camil Girard, editor
Arianne Loranger-Saindon
Marie Massuard
Emmanuel Michaux
Jean-François Richard
Thierry Rodon,  editor


This is an interview only in french.
To learn More (interview podcast)

http://archive.org/download/LesPechesDesPremieresNationsDansLestDuQuebec/PaulCharestMixdown.mp3

Professor Kim MacKay-McNabb Aboirginal Health, HIV/AIDS: Community-based Researcher using Action-based Research.

Kim McKay-McNabb, Assistant Professor, Department of Science. Kim has been a faculty member since 2006. She is originally from Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan. She was born in Regina and has lived here most of her life. She is the mother of five children, one of who attended the First Nations University of Canada; Kim hopes that the others will consider attending First Nations University when they are old enough. Kim is an alumnus from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College where she received her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and her Masters of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology. She is currently completing the requirements for her Doctorate, in Clinical Psychology at the University of Regina. She will be one of the few First Nations Registered Psychologists in Canada once she completes her degree. Kim also coordinates the National First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program (NFNECP). This program is administered at the First Nations University of Canada in partnership with First Nations Inuit Health Branch, Research and Monitoring Section and the Assembly of First Nations. The objective of the NFNECP is to help the First Nations of Canada assess the extent of their exposure to environmental contaminants and the potential for associated risk to their health and well being (see www.nfnecp.ca for more information). Her research interests are Environmental Health, Aboriginal Health, Aboriginal communities and HIV/AIDS. She is a community-based researcher who believes in action-based research.

To Learn More:
Part I
https://archive.org/download/KimMcnabb/20130418-341.mp3

Part II

Elder Winston Wuttunee: Control of Government and the Environment

Here is a video of myself with Elder Winston Wuttunee (Cree). Winston Wuttunee is the 2013 Indspire (National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation) award winner in Culture, Heritage & Spirituality. He talks about how a well qualified Indigenous person should be placed in charge of the environment departments in all governments. He feels that the life on earth needs to be respected and too often governments put ministers who have no knowledge of the environment or fisheries in charge. They then go about making decisions with little knowledge of the true importance of the world around them. Winston believes that Indigenous peoples have a profound connection with the land and it is this connection which would make them better defenders of "all of creation." Winston ends with the words that we are all in this together.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eDlWImohho&feature=youtu.be