Biigtigong Nishnaabeg community newsletter, presented by Sustainable Development. Issue 001 November 29, 2021
THE BIIGTIGONG CURRENT Up c om i n g t h i s New Y e a r !
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Photo: Wolves on Pic River, October 2021, taken by Cassandra Cress.
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COMING SOON - WESBI TE PORTAL
YOUTH CORNER
ELDER'S STORIES
Update from a member of Youth Council
Online Community Portal in Development
NEW QUARTERLY COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERS Ca s s a n d r a C r e s s , C o n s u l t a t i o n & Go v e r n a n c e O f f i c e r It is my pleasure to share with you the new community newsletter which will go out to Biigtigong Nishnaabeg community members on a quarterly basis. Community members that wish to send in a piece on an important issue or event in the community can contact myself for approval. Also, if you would like a digital copy or paper copy of the newsletter sent to you please send us your email or mailing address. New issues of this newsletter will come out in January, April, July, and October, more information can be found on the last page of this Newsletter. Miigwetch!
COUNCIL MEMBERS
(In the order as they appear in the photograph, left to right)
Chief, Duncan Michano Jr.
Donald Michano
COUNCIL'S CORNER S u bm i t t e d b y Ca s s a n d r a C r e s s , C o n s u l t a t i o n & Go v e r n a n c e O f f i c e r We are excited to start this new term with our elected Chief and Council members! In future Newsletters, Councilors will have the opportunity to write out there own update for the Council's Corner. Once they have settled into their roles, Council can use this newsletter to share updates on current projects, their experiences in Council, and future plans. Our next newsletter will update the community on each councilor's portfolio.
Donovan Crosson
Joe Moses
Louis Nabigon
Simone Desmoulin
Erin Shaw
CHIEF'S DESK S u bm i t t e d b y Ch i e f , Du n c a n Mi c h a n o J r .
Leah Michano
Booshoo everyone, This newsletter will be published periodically to keep you all informed about some of the initiatives being carried out by Council and Administration. Miigwetch for all your support during the election. As you all know by now we have a new council comprised of some veteran council members and some new members. In the next 4 years we have a lot of exciting projects in the works. The new school is at the top of this list as well as the new upgraded water system. So keep in touch. Check the website for updates as well as each department's Facebook page. The Departments hold periodical engagement sessions with the community so keep checking in. The links are posted on the website. As this newsletter progresses we will keep you informed. Miigwetch. Enjoy the holidays and stay safe. Love you all. Take care. - Duncan Malcolm Michano
Sharon Ostberg
Garland Moses
(Not Photographed)
Randal Courchene
Bonnie Goodchild
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COMING SOON - WEBSI TE PORTAL S u bm i t t e d b y S u s t a i n a b l e De v e l o pme n t
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg is currently developing a new online member portal; a web-based platform to provide community members with a single access point to information pertaining to the community.
This web portal will be used to provide members with information on upcoming events & programming, important dates, updates on community projects, and more.
This web portal can improve the collaboration, transferring information and improve the way employees, managers, and community members interact with each other.
Please be patient as we set this portal up.
We will be going back to register all community members who have submitted their information online already. A call out will be made once the Portal is open for all community members to join. A Reminder will also go out in the next community Newsletter in January 2022. Contact Cassandra Cress, at Cassandra.cress@picriver.com for more information.
Member Portal - Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (picriver.com)
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ELDER'S STORIES Ta k e n f r om a n i n t e r v i ew w i t h t h e l a t e C o l l e t t e Go o d c h i l d
Before our Elder Collette Goodchild passed away, she sat down with Florinda Christianson to tell some stories from her childhood and what it was like growing up in the community at that time. One of the things she spoke about was what it was like being a youth in the community during the winter.
(The following are Collette's words taken from a recording owned by Sustainable Development)
"...So I remember my dad would cut wood, and warm the church up in the winter. The priest was not always there, just four or five days every six weeks, so they didn't have to stick around to keep the fire going. I remember one particular winter there was a lot of snow, Later on, as I remember, my dad was taking one of my brothers, Junior, as he was sick. There were no snowplows or anything on the roads, and he was going to see the doctor in town, or it would be called the townsite, or Heron Bay South. My mom I guess, wrapped my brother up in a toboggan, all wrapped up, and I could see my dad putting on his snowshoes. He was having to take him to the doctors because the doctor couldn't come down because of that particular weather. It was around March, and during that time I remember we were all excited as kids having to see a big tractor, coming down to plow the roads to the church, and down the gravel road from Heron Bay. We can see all of the workers coming in. I couldn't imagine, we were so excited because we knew soon it would be spring and we'd be able to go down the mouth..."
"...during those days when you come home, even at lunchtime, you could smell the cooking at home. Especially in the wintertime. In the wintertime, my mom would have her macaroni soup, or maybe some little bannocks to eat. I remember my mom making just before my dad would go out into the bush, she would make bannocks for my dad but they were made with sugar and had raisins on it. So that was his lunch. Every once in awhile my dad would give me one, one of those little bannocks. We usually get, the parents, many, many years ago would come to our bedroom and give us a cup of tea. It was so nice to have that big cup of hot tea be given..."
Collette Goodchild "North Wind Woman" January 11, 1946 - January 10, 2020
Elders in the community that wish to be interviewed or to submit a story can contact Florinda Christianson, at (807) 229-8900 ext.223 or florinda@picriver.com
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ENDING 2021 - A LOOK AT THIS YEAR
To have your pictures submitted to the newsletter, please contact Cassandra Cress, at Cassandra.Cress@picriver.com
UPDATE ON FISHERIES PROJECTS, 2021
S u bm i t t e d b y B r i t t a n y Mo s e s , En v i r o nme n t a l C o o r d i n a t o r & K i e r s t i n Kw i s s i wa , F i e l d T e c h n i c i a n
Lake Sturgeon Monitoring Over the course of 10 days in August 2021, A/OFRC was in the community for the Lake Superior Lake Sturgeon project. A/OFRC in collaboration with BN Sustainable Development were looking to determine the current lake-wide status of juvenile and sub-adult lake sturgeon in Lake Superior. AOFRC and BN SD, set approximately 16 nets at various locations along the shoreline of Lake Superior between the Mouth of the Pic River and the Mouth of the White River in an attempt to catch and tag juvenile and sub-adult Lake Sturgeon. Additional parameters were also collected including total length, fork length, girth, and weight for each successful tag. Genetics samples were collected, along with pectoral rays used for aging on fish under 100 cm. We are currently awaiting the summary report for the project, which will be presented to community in the new year. Muskellunge In early 2021, BN SD was successful in obtaining funding to support a Muskellunge fisheries project on the Pic River water system. This project includes locating Muskellunge and tagging them to allow us to track their movement during open water season with the hope of identifying spawning habitat. Once more is known about the location and habitat of the species, BN can determine if further protection measures are needed to protect the future of the Pic River population and their spawning habitat. Continuing throughout the 2021-2022 season, TEK story collection will continue to complement the on the ground technical data that is collected.
In addition to continuing to tag Muskellunge, the 2022 field season will also involve Muskellunge habitat mapping on the Pic River and the Little Black River using a high-tech drone. We will also be deploying acoustic telemetry receivers in the Pic, Black and Little Black rivers, along with the Pic River Mouth and Hattie Cove to physically track Muskellunge movement. A community consultation event will be scheduled for January/February 2022 to discuss the project in further details.
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YOUTH CORNER S u bm i t t e d b y Ky r h a Mo s e s -McWa t c h , Y o u t h C o u n c i l
Boozhoo! My name is Kyrha Moses-Mcwatch and I’ve been apart of Youth Council since 2019. Unfortunately, some of the major projects and events I have been involved in with the youth council have been postponed due to the pandemic. This isn’t how we planned for things to turn out, but we’re excited to start planning events for the youth in and out of the community! It’s important for youth to be involved with youth council so their voices can be heard, and it helps youth council plan events and projects for the youth to attend. Youth are the future of our community, and it doesn’t matter if you on or off reserve you can still have a voice. We’re actually looking for a youth who are in the elementary school to sit in on meeting and help the younger youth have a voice. Some skills I have personally gained since being on Youth Council are my social skills. Being apart of youth council and sitting in on our meetings has helped me learn how to use my voice and be social. Socializing with other youth on council has helped a lot, and everyone has their own opinions and ideas so hearing from everyone and making decisions together has also helped with communication skills. There are so many other skills you can learn from being on youth council, and I’m still learning! Youth council just had our first in person meeting since covid and we have started planning events! We’re still working on finalizing everything for our events coming up; within the next couple weeks we’ll have posters coming out to the community! We’re all excited to finally be back to having our meetings and planning events.
COMING UP. . .
Happy Holidays!
STAT CLOSURES / OFFICES CLOSED - December 24th (Closed 1:00-4:30 pm) - December 27th (Closed All Day) - December 28th (Closed All Day) - December 30th (Closed 1:00 - 4:30 pm)
Holiday Cheer Penny Auction (Proceeds go to the Biigtigong Christmas Food Drive & Marathon Food Bank. Food Take out and Bake Sale on the Saturday) December 3rd (4:00 - 7:00pm) & December 4th (10:00am - 3:00pm) @ Biigitgong Nishnaabeg Community Center
PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSIONS
Send in your photos to Cassandra, at cassandra.cress@picriver.com, for a chance to be displayed on the cover of our next community newsletter.
*photos must be taken on Biigtigong Nishnaabeg territory
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Quarter ly Issues: January 30th
Apr i l 30th July 30th October 30th
To submi t a piece for our next newslet ter , please contact Cassandra Cress for approval .
Wr i te-ups and photos must be submi t ted 15 days pr ior to issue release, on the 15th of the month. To have a physical copy of the next communi ty newslet ter mai led to you, send us your mai l ing address cassandra.cress@picr iver .com or (807) 229-8900 Ext 222
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