Book Review

Jordin TooToo: The Highs and Lows in the Journey of the First Inuit to Play in the NHL
Lorimer Press
Written By Melanie Florence

Community leader died trying to protect his wife

The violent death of well-loved Ojibway community leader Andrew Mixemong this summer in Midland, Ont. has left younger brother Wayne pondering the meaning of it all.

“I think Andrew was showing us to love each other, and especially to honor and love our women who look after Mother Earth’s water, traditionally,” said Wayne Mixemong. “He died protecting a woman – his wife – and defended her from men who may have hurt her.”

An upcoming program to share filmmaking skills amongst Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents got a preview on Aug. 20, with an evening workshop on how to fund cinema projects.

The Vancouver Film In Motion Initiative (VFIMI) hosted three respected directors for its “Master Class”: Hollywood director and writer Guy Shalem, Vancouver documentary-maker Ian MacKenzie, and Pete McCormack.

Thousands of people have already signed up for a free online Aboriginal education course the University of Toronto will be offering this coming winter.

The four-week, non-credit course titled Aboriginal Worldviews and Education, will begin in late February.
The course is offered in partnership with Coursera, an American-based company that started up early this year. Coursera has joined forces with 16 universities to offer various free online courses.

“Wheee… wheee … wheee….” The sound of eagles whistles is heard over the sound of the drum while 63 pairs of eyes are fixed on a poplar tree laden with colourful cloth in the middle of a lodge while the 63 people danced. The Sundancers were participating in an ancient rite.

This four-day ceremony took place in the northern part of Quebec in Chisasibi, the land of black spruce and tamarack. The House family hosted the Sundance, and Lawrence House was the Sundance Chief, the caretaker of the ceremony.

As far as Mary Spencer is concerned, time flies quickly, so the 27-year-old Ojibwe boxer who lives in Windsor, Ont. does not mind having to wait another four years for another shot at Olympic glory.

Spencer had originally hoped to be a retired boxer by now. But things didn’t go quite as planned for her at the recent London Olympics.

Rebels win national title

The Six Nations Rebels are now the two-time defending Canadian Junior B lacrosse champions. The Rebels won their second straight Founders Cup tournament by edging another Ontario-based squad, the Akwesasne Indians, 8-7 in the championship final held Aug. 19. The Rebels played host to the six-team event at their home facility, the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.

The Six Nations squad had won its national title last year in Saskatoon. This time around more than 2,700 witnessed the Rebels’ triumph at home.

It seems there is always one or two Aboriginal music artists that get to make a serious dent in mainstream radio airplay at any one time and these last few years, Ontario’s Crystal Shawanda is the Aboriginal community’s music superstar.

Crystal makes warm and inviting music that fans easily embrace along with their other country superstars. Fame has not changed this approachable queen of country, who presents down-home singing with a lot of class.

Wolf Songs and Fire Chats

There are three traditional hand drums in our home. Two were gifts and one was made by my wife a handful of summers ago. They hang on our walls as reminders that we’re supposed to be prayerful, to be in gratitude and live our lives as though they were a ceremony.

The Urbane Indian

Anybody familiar with Woody Allen’s recent “Midnight In Paris” will understand my nostalgia.  It tells of a man magically traveling back to the 1920s where he would rub elbows with such seminal artists as Hemingway, Picasso, Dali and Fitzgerald who had no idea they were in a defining time.