Wesiinyag - Anishinaabemowin Karaoke Song!

Grand Chief Nepinak - Press Conference December 7, 2012

My Brother - Arthur “Butch” Elliott – Ahzdayoniquot

Butch was born at Cape Croker (Neyaashiniigimiing) on March 5, 1950. His mother, Winona Arriaga, moved the family to Detroit in the early 1960’s where he lived until he met his wife, Germaine, in 1973. He was laid to rest at Cape Croker on August 12, 2008.

Butch was a well known activist and defender of First Nation rights in both Canada and the U.S. He was a member of the American Indian Movement, and was in the 71 day battle at Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1973. For this, he was recognized as a veteran by the Native American Vietnam Era Veterans Association. He supported the Bay Mills Indian Community in their assertion of fishing rights during the Fish Wars of 1973 and 1974. He was also involved in the occupation of Anicinabe Park in Kenora in 1974 and the historic Native Peoples Caravan, National March on Parliament Hill. He was part of the Longest Walk of 1977 (California to Washington D.C.).

His activism was a result of his belief in the tradition, culture and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. He was one of a handful of traditional singers, taught by Teofilo Lucero, who brought the big drum back to the Great Lakes region in the early 1970’s. Butch worked closely with the Steering Committee of the Indian Ecumenical Conference after having attended the first meeting in 1971 in Alberta. He often described the Indian Ecumenical Conference as the life-changing event of his life, one that helped him follow a genuine spiritual path. He helped bring the sweat lodge back to the Great Lakes region and he carried a pipe.

Butch was a catalyst for nation-building efforts throughout the Great Lakes region. He served his community as an elected member of Band Council for the Chippewas of Nawash from 1983 to 1988, serving as Co-Chief from 1986 to 1987. After returning to the Sault Ste. Marie area, he coordinated and helped chair the first Grand Assembly of Michigan Tribes in 1989 and again in 1990. He organized and chaired the National Assemblies of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians in 1992, 1994 and 1997.

He believed that as Anishinabe people, that we have rights and responsibilities to our land, our nation, and our families. He believed that First Nations were entitled to resources, promised through treaties, which would fuel our own self-sufficiency. In that regard, he was involved in economic development throughout the Great Lakes with both Tribes in the U.S. and First Nations in Canada. He led and chaired numerous initiatives on economic development, including an international summit held in Detroit in 1994. He was part of the development team who crafted a bid on behalf of the Sault Tribe for the management of CasinoRama in 1995. He travelled to Austria in 1995 and again in 1997 with representatives from Membertou First Nation to promote international partnerships with CasinoAustria. In 1998 he helped lead a Sault Tribe trade delegation to Mexico where he met the presidential family. He also travelled to Vera Cruz where he presented an eagle feather to the Totanocas Tribe.

Butch had many friends along the pow-wow trail. He was an accomplished M.C., and his voice was heard in communities throughout the Great Lakes Region. He never passed the opportunity to share his songs and stories, and for this he was much loved and well respected. He had a tremendous sense of humour and he liked to laugh. Kind and generous, he also loved history, research, and especially stories about Pottawatomi. He was dedicated to the notion that the Pottawatomi in Canada needed to reclaim homeland in the U.S.

He returned to his home community of the Chippewas of Nawash at Neyaashiinigimiing in 2002. He was elected as Head Councillor in 2007. He initiated significant progress in addressing housing needs. He was concerned with policing and justice issues in the community as well, and worked very hard to make improvements.

Butch is survived by his wife, their four children, seven grandchildren, a sister and two brothers. He is an uncle to many - and a mentor, teacher, role model and friend to thousands. He was a good father and husband and greatly loved by his family.

He will be greatly missed for a very long time by very many.
Baa Maa Pii my beloved.

By Germaine Elliott - Wife.

It's Been A Long Time.

It has been awhile since i posted to my blog. There's been allot happen since May,2007,i lost my last aunt ''Florence'' a few cousin's a niece and my brother Arthur ''Butch Elliott''. He was our head councilor,2 nd. in command to the chief. It happened quick and was a big shock to family and friends. Before he ran for councilor he decided that it was time to move home and see if he could make a difference and that he did.

He took on the housing portfolio as well as police. Some changes he wanted to make was to do something about all the older unfinished houses on the rez and to try to fix the problem of a bad housing shortage. The money provided to people to build a house was and has never been enough to complete a house, reason for so many unfinished houses.

We as a housing committee put forth a recommendation to chief and council to forgo giving out any more new housing allocations (3) and use the money we get for 3 houses to put towards repair loans for the many older homes. It's not much but at least it was a start. Another recommendation was to opt into a government run housing program. For years previous councils had shied away from this because they believed that once committed to this program they ''program'' could put anybody they wanted into the houses if any band member defaulted on monthly payments. But it was not the case as we as a people who own this land and we decide who lives here on our territory.So a plan to get enough to build 6 complete homes was planned but still has to agreed upon by chief and council. I don't think they will be against it because they sure as hell hav'nt tried anything to fix the problem. Since i moved back home in 1991 every chief and council since have said at different times we need to do something about all the old unfinished houses and find a way to fix the housing shortage. I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks if council will let us opt into the program. If they vote against it they had better have a plan in place.

Come next July or so is a new election,i think refusing this plan will not look to good for the voting public. If they okay it and we start building finished houses after all these years that will be a good legacy for my brother who fought for this. The same program provides money to put towards finishing and re-pairing older and newer homes that sit unfinished all over our Rez.

We had a pow-wow committee meeting tonight our second and this year will be a Memorial Pow-Wow in honor of my brother. It should be one of the biggest pow-wow's ever held on our Rez.

Give This Blog Another Whirl. "I MISS MY AUNT".

Well its been a bad few months for the family.Lost aunt Florence in Feb. a friend Charlie and a cousin Quinto-Shane in Apr. and my last aunt Noreen in May. I hope that's it for awhile. Aunt Noreen's death was caused by mistakes made by her doctor.He passed her complaints off as arthritise and old age. It was only after seeing another doctor they found an aneurism in her stomach.They found a hernia while they had her open,which they repaired. But the unseen damage was done.The pressure from the two problems on her blood vessels to her intestines caused the intestines to die. They had to take 3/4's of her intestines out and her spleen.Which meant there was'nt enough left to keep her fed without the help of feeding tubes. And we knew she would not want to live like that. She came home and seemed to be getting better. Her sodium level was down to dangerous levels and had to go back into hospital. From that point on everything just went from bad to worse. After emergency surgery to operate on her intestines she ended up on life support. My daughter and i left that Monday to go see her. The nurses held off on the sedative she could tell who was there to visit. My daughter had to go back that day but i was gonna stay near her. Im glad my brother was able to come so she did'nt have to drive back alone. I hated to see her like that because she was like a mother to me. We all knew she would hang on till her son got there he was way out west making deliveries (has his own semi) and it took a few days to get there. He got there at 3:00 am and the family chose to shut the life-support off at 10:00 am. Our trip took 3-4 hours but others had 7-8 hour trip. They had to go back home and make a 10-11 hour trip to the Rez. But everyone that made it to the hospital made it to the Rez for the wake and memorial service.She helped so many different people in her life time but if you screwed up she had no problem giving you the what for. She was a scary but very caring person. I will miss her very much,,,,,no more twice a week calls from me or if i missed she would call. And i would bring a care package of wild meat and fish and other groceries whenever i could. She would always offer me money but i did'nt do it in hopes of getting paid. Although i came home with raison biscuits and pies a few times. That was more than enough payment for me. I still have some biscuits in the freezer. She just loved my home made Head-Cheeze ,made with pork hocks ,no pigs head in my cheeze. She always brought me boxes of stuff when ever she could visit so other family members would share in the wealth. Of course i kept the good stuff.LOL. I hope her daughter and grand-daughter get through this without to much trouble. But i will keep in touch as much as before. After all this is ,my advice to you is always get a second opinion. Only thing about our people is they can hold pain in and any complaints. I think many have died needlessly because of the idea they don't wanna be a bother. So remember get a second opinion it may help keep a loved one around a lot longer. Think were gonna see more family reunions now instead of meeting at funerals. But i don't know,i've heard that for years. I can always hope. I'll see you and the rest of the family in 35-40 years AUNTIE.

''IM BAAAAAAAAAAACK''

Well where to start. Since my last post we've gotten past the snow storms and power outtages. We lost power a coupla times but not for to long. The summer was'nt to bad cept for the heat wave we got,man i almost died from the heat. I finally bought a A/C,then the heat wave ended,oh well......theres next summer. We had probs here with Dept.of Indian Affair's and Northern Delvelopment. Our version of BIA,you know those people that look after our interests. We have some land we lease to non-natives for summer cottages. The original agreement ran out in 1995 so for roughly 10 years we were gettin peanuts for leases. It was time to revamp and make a new agreement. The govt. said they would go along with any changes we chose to make. So when the changes were made they tried everything to leave it as is. [they still don't natives gettin ahead] After face to face meetings and conferance calls and still gettin the run around we decided to put up a gate. After it got into the papers the govt. got back to table PDQ. So now we get twice as much for leases as years before. It shoulda been raised every year after 1995. If the cottagers were to lease the same land off reserve they would be paying a hell of a lot more. When some cottagers were interviewed by the local newspaper they said they did'nt mind paying more. But were still fighting the govt. over some important details. I hav'nt been to any council meetings since last winter so im not up on the latest. I started my Net Making,Repair & Salvage biz this summer. It started off slow as no fisherman were catching much fish.But now with the fall run almost here,things will pick up. At least i don't have to depend on social services for help.I was able to put a few guys to work although it was part time. Which made me feel good. I got plans to pay my bills ahead so i dont have to worry till spring. Good plan dont yah think. I was able to take 3 of my gran -kids up to Massey,Ont.this summer to my nephews place and to Massey Fall fair. I was hoping to have the rest of my g-kids and their parents come up but they had a base-ball tourney the same week-end. Im trying to get my family to go and visit other relatives instead of meeting at funerals. Seems like thats the only time we get together. Well thats for now,till i think of what else to post.

''ALBERTA CLIPPER COMIN''

It's been snowing since last Friday but not enough to accumilate any amount But she has been bitterly cold at night and some days was just like spring. Still with the weird weather. We;ve had snow warnings a few times since but has hit south or north of us. Gotta share the wealth,my nephew in Massey said they got hit pretty good. Had a meeting last night which was cancelled so i got my ride to take me up to the Seniors Complex to take my sister some fresh frozen fish and to see how she doin. She let her phone go she's been fighting with Ma Bell so i cant call her. I really should go visit her mayb take my grand-daughter with me. We got an Alberta Clipper comin and we got a snow fall warning for our area agin. Along with this is an Arctic Air Mass so expect bitterly cold temps. Sposed to be -10 to -14 range till Monday not counting wind chill. I and a friend were goin out to Tim Hortons for coffee after seeing my sis last night and i told her we better just go back home cause we were hitting white outs and the roads were drifting. Better to be safe then sorry,mayb roads were better further or maybe not. Go see my brother i guess befor storm hits,its cloudy but the sun is shining right now. Just hope the weekly power outtage does'nt continue,bad enough they calling for 6''-12'' of snow.

''THINGS ARE LOOKING UP''

Things seem to be coming my way for a change. I called the councillor liason for CORDA to find out about my grant,he said they had conferance call and they ok'd my business plan. Thats a load off my mind ,i've been trying to make my self not think about it. Only one more hoop to jump thru and they'll release the money. But i really want this ,bad,since my days of Tug or Punt fishing is on hold. Knees were givin out and you need half decent knees what with all the rocking and rolling. Im tired of livin on welfare,i'd rather work and workin for myself is even better. Although it came in handy when your not workin,earning a living is always better. So i probably will be able to start for the spring fish run and be ready for the fall run. I already have people in mind that i'll put to work. I got lots that needs to be done before money gets here,at least the waiting and wondering is over...............later.

''GUESS WHAT-DO I HEAR BRRRRRRRRRRRR''

Someone told me yesterday council said this would'nt happen agin. Maybe now they'll have a community meeting. We had thunder n lighting Thurs night snow,sleet, freezing rain a storm front thanx to the state of Oklahoma. The lights started blinking in afternoon so it was only a matter of time. They went out around 10 pm so off to bed ,they come back on a 11 pm so up i get to watch a movie out agin at 1 am. At least the power came on at 5am long enough to warm house before i got up. Good thing i had a screw driver handy to pry my doors open so i could get out. We got 3'' of froze sleet then a layer snow and a 1'' crust of ice. Dang near wrenched my knee breaking thru crust. And i skied down my steps off the deck what i thought was snow was ice covered snow at least i stayed on my feet. My poor dog a bottom watin for me did'nt know what to think. I went to my bros to thaw out before 7 am,had to break that layer before i could get his door open. Got me wondering how many other people were stuck inside,iced in. When our buddy Gus showed up he said it took him awile to get out of his house. Phones stayed on long enough for me to make sure my daughter was ok,she went to her sisters. Phone went out about 9am....damn. Our plowman came and plowed us out and the sound he made brought back memories of my tug fishing days when we used to break ice to get out to open water. Exactly the same sound when plow was breaking thru the ice. When Gus left i went home to just to see if i had power but my nephew stopped and asked if i wanted to go to Tim Hortons..sure. When we were comin home i was trying to look in houses to see if their lights were on some were on a good sign. I went up to seniors complex with my neph they had people their councilors and community members someone made soup sandwiches that was a warming station. I was there the day before ,i saw workers their they were installing a generator at least they'll have heat. So we got a place to go now when power goes out agin. Only thing different from last week it a hell of alot colder. We have a place for people to go now which is good ,good thing i got my brother next door. Storm comin ,i hope it misses us. later............