Nipisihkopahk Acmowin- December 2013

ACIMOWIN NIPISIHKOPAHK NIPISIHKOPAHK NIPISIHKOPAHK NIPISIHKOPAHK

PAWATCHAKINASIS-PISIMDECEMBER 2013

10 Ways to Have a Stress Free ChristmasPage 2

PAGE 1 NIPISIHKOPAHK ACIMOWIN

CONTENTSP . 2 10 Ways to Have a Stress Free ChristmasP . 2 Community NoticeP . 3 Emergency Contact NumbersP . 5 Maskwacis Community LibraryP . 6 New to the Maskwacis CPVS unit- Cst. Heath BearP . 6 “Twas weeks before Christmas”P . 8 RCMP Wetaskiwin Investigates Armed RobberyP . 9 Restorative JusticeP . 10 Restorative Justice CalendarP . 11 The Dynamics of Grief and LossP . 13 Kinohtenehiyawan ciP . 14 SCN ElectionsP . 15 Birthday GreetingsP . 15 Community Announcements

Photo of the monthOn November 15 Kaedin Larocque, son of Cayla Larocque and Kyle Wolfe, was the Enmax Energy kid and joined the

Edmonton Oilers during warm up and stood on the ice with the starting line up during the national anthem.

Submit your photo for next months

newsletter to Jenn Nepoose:

[email protected](780) 585-3793

ext. 281

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12 PAGE 2

1. Get out a piece of paper and leave it on your coun-ter so as you think of things to get or to do write them down. This helps us to sleep better and keeps the mind free of the clutter so we can function more efficiently at this busy time of year.

2. There is so much to do at the last minute so do everything else early, such as your baking, shopping, putting your tree up so you can enjoy it longer, get your cards out early. Do one thing everyday instead of waiting until the last minute to do everything.

3. Decide to cut down on spending. Put all the family names in a basket and have everyone draw a name for gift giving. This works well in larger families.

4. One year I gave everyone in my family a fun in-expensive watch. Everyone got watches. One year I gave out wallets and purses and last year my family got something western.

5. Get a coloring book and a brand new box of cray-ons and start coloring. A great stress buster!!

6. Ask your kids what is their favorite part of Christ-mas besides receiving gifts. Listen to what they share. You may be surprised that it is the little things we do that matter most.7. Do not pass on your sadness or unresolved issues

10 Ways to Have a Stress Free Christmasto your children. Christmas can be a sad time because we all have had losses and deaths at this time of year. Sometimes those memories pop up and get in the way of us being able to provide a healthy, joyful time for our children.

8. Give away your time in the form of coupons. Sam-ples: This coupon entitles you to 3 hours of free child-care, or a new hair do if you are great with hair, or 2 hours of mechanical work, a home cooked dinner for 2. Gift wrap your coupon and put it under the tree for that special person. Elders love these gifts, the gift of time.

9. Play favorite Christmas music from your childhood. Have it on to pass down to our children the tradition-al Christmas music.

10. Decide that the moment you start feeling stressed, step back and remember to stay in balance. The key is to enjoy all aspects of Christmas, not just filling your cart at the store. Homemade gifts are often appreci-ated more.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2014.

Written by Laurie H Davis www.lauriehdavis.comThe Laurie Davis Show broadcasts live every Thurs-day at 10:00 am on Hawk Radio 89.1 FM

COMMUNITY NOTICEResidents are urged not to pour liquefied fat, oil or grease down the kitchen sink or the toilet. Cooking oil and grease are wastes that the sewer system cannot handle. Dumping fats, oil and grease can clog sewer lines, causing sewage back-ups and flooding. Sewage back-ups can damage personal and public property. Here’s how you can help.

DO NOT dump cooking oil, poultry fat and grease into the kitchen sink or the toilet bowl.

DO NOT use hot water and soap to wash grease down

the drain, because it will cool and harden in your pipes or in the sewer down the line.

DO place cooled cooking oil, poultry and meat fats in sealed non-recyclable con-tainers and discard with your regular garbage.

DO use paper towels to wipe residual grease or oil off of dishes, pots and pans prior to washing them.


On the weekend of November 22-24, 2013 Jaycee Applegarth, Tyson Saskatchewan, Dean Rain, Leon lightning, & Ira Montour competed in “The Battle of the Bands” pool tournament. They went on to win the championship and Team Samson is very proud to have repre-sent the Samson Cree nation. They would like to give thanks to Par-can for their sponsorship.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

All Samson Cree Nations Ser-vices and Program and Chief

and Council would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year.Wishing you the joy of family,

the gift of friends, and the best of everything in 2014.

During the Christmas Holidays, it would be greatly ap-preciated if service calls were limited to the following emergencies:Sewer Back upsNo PowerNo WaterFrozen PipesBroken Water LinesFlooded BasementWe encourage you to hold off all other service calls until SCN Programs and Services are open for business again on Monday, December 6 2014.

Following are the individuals authorized to approve an emergency call:

Maintenance Shop Supervisor Rob Buffalo Cell: (780) 312-0385 Home: (780) 585-3854Maintenance Shop Assistant Supervisor Brent Potts (780) 361-7932Housing Manager Dale Rain (780) 362-2749Community Services Director Shannon Buffalo (780) 360-4224

Emergency Contact #”s


Did you know...About 36.5 billion gallons of tap water

is produced each day for domestic use

in the United States. It takes about 50

glasses of water to grow enough or-

anges to produce one glass of orange

juice. And, industry uses about 160 bil-

lion gallons of water per day.

EMAIL: [email protected] RATES & MORE INFORMATION

Annual General Meeting

When: December 13, 2013.Time: 10am to 12:00pm.At the Maskwacis Cultural College. You need a membership to vote. Memberships $5 at the door or pick one up at the college. Ph: 780-585-3925.Everyone Welcome.


All families or caregivers with chil-dren in the age group 1 to 6 years, as well as children’s service agen-cies and program coordinators are invited to Family Literacy Day.

This event will be hosted at Mask-wacis Cultural college on January 24, 2014. The agenda is as follows:

10 am: Maskwacis Family Literacy Programs Resource Sharing

11 am: Guest presenter

12 pm: Lunch Break (Please bring bag lunch to share)

12:30-2 pm: Hands on resource cre-ation includes making a Library in a Box or Story Box or Dolls or Pup-pets

Includes visits to the COW Bus for families with 1-6 year old children

Book a table to display your pro-gram and resource, register at Maskwacis Cultural College 780 585 3925.

Maskwacis Community Library Hundreds of book have been donated to the Mask-wacis Community Library, which was created by Manisha Khetarpal. The ‘Library in a Box’ program has been providing books to various services and individuals in the community. The program allows you to sign out a box of books containing books and activity materials for children and families in the age group of 1 to 21 years. These boxes of books can be arranged in requested themes of your choice. The library is located in the Maskwacis Cultural Col-lege. With the holiday season upon us and school is

wrapping up before they break for Christmas, this is the perfect time to take advantage of what is offered at the Library. Kobo readers are available to sign out with pre loaded books to enjoy. Contact Manisha to sign one out for your family, 780-585-3925.Also, with the amount of books donated the Library is looking for bookshelves to house them. If you or anyone you know is willing to donate a bookshelf to the Maskwacis Community Library, your donation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support.


Once again the "Festive Season" is upon our commu-nities. It is a time for celebration, giving and social time, especially with Family. Maskwacis RCMP wish to remind everyone as the season is upon us, to re-member to take care of each other. Share Joy in your homes and think of your children, and the reason we celebrate. As we celebrate, remember if you choose to indulge in the use of alcohol, act responsibly, plan ahead and do not Drink and Drive. As friends and

Cst. Bear getting a “pie in the face” for a fund-raising event for the Nipisihkopahk Secondary School.

Constable Heath Bear is new to the Maskwa-cis CPVS unit. Cst. Bear has 8 years policing service, all of which were in First Nation Com-munities. He has been in the Maskwacis ter-ritory for the past 4 years responding to calls for service. He will be delivering various pre-sentations to all the schools in the 4 nations area as well as attending various community functions.If an agency would like a presentation or would like police to attend they can send a request to the Community Response Unit via fax at 780 585-4612. We ask that you give us ample notice in order to properly plan.

family, watch out for each other to keep each oth-er safe and help prevent tragedy in our cold winter weather. Keep this Festive Season one that we remember for Family Celebration!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2014 Constable Perry CARDINALMaskwacis RCMP

"Twas weeks before Christmas"

New to the Maskwa-cis CPVS unitCst. Heath Bear



News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

File Number: 20131537949

Wetaskiwin, Alberta December 3rd, 2013

RCMP Wetaskiwin Investigates Armed Robbery

On December 2nd, 2013 at 8:23PM, Wetaskiwin RCMP responded to a complaint of an armed robbery at the Gentleman’s Liquor Store located at the 4800 block of 50th Avenue, in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. Four persons, all wearing balaclava’s, allegedly entered the store demanding money whileone suspect produced a weapon. The store employee engaged in a brief struggle with one of the suspects, before the 4 suspects fled the scene with a quality of liquor. The victim was not hurt during the incident and no cash was stolen.

Approximately one hour before this incident, Hobbema RCMP responded to an armed robbery believed to be related. At 7:17PM, a business in Hobbema was entered by 4 persons wearing balaclava’s demanding money. One of the suspects produced a weapon, but the 4 suspects were chased off without obtaining any cash. The suspects fled the scene in what was described as an early 1990's Ford pickup truck that had rear forward opening doors, a sticker in the back window with “truck” in the title, a green sticker on the lower passenger side of the body, scraping type damage on the passenger side, and it had cargo in the box covered by a blanket.

Investigators ask that anyone with information regarding this crime or the identity of the suspect(s) contact Wetaskiwin RCMP Detachment at 780.312.7200.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.8477 or report it online at www.tipsubmit.com. If your information leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.00.

– 30 –

Prepared by:Cst. Dustin MOLINEUXWetaskiwin Detachment

3616 (2000-08) (WPT)




THE DYNAMICS OF GRIEF AND LOSSAlso Known As

HONORING MY PASTImagine, a quiet peaceful setting in Buck Lake AB, transportation provided

Imagine, no more than 4 clients at a time in a traditional culturally responsive circle

Imagine, a simple system being processed,that moves us from sorrow to happiness, joy and inner peace, regardless of what has happened in the past

Imagine, a real healing from which I can move forward now and take back my power that the Cre-ator provided at birth

Imagine, being looked after, meals, lodgings, snacks, love and no judging in a safe place to heal and connect with my authentic real self

Imagine, going back home with a tool kit to cope with life’s challenges in a new, empowering posi-tive way to support my family and community

Imagine, a leading edge experience that breaks cycles and leaves me knowing I am unique and spe-cial, and have all I need to make it through whatever life delivers to me

Imagine, only 48 hours to get the job done once and for all

For more info contact Laurie Davis1 855 488 [email protected]


It has been over 20 years, the Samson Cree Nation membership has been asking to address the recog-nized increase of vehicle incidents and death related fatalities along highway 611 East. The Samson Cree Nation has been accessing this route since they can remember. Before the construction of highway 611 East, old walking trails crisscrossed through the area. Currently there is no other route that provides an area for walkers except the narrow shoulder area of the highway. In November 2012, the nation took the initiative to begin working from the 2004 Land Use Plan that rec-ommended trail use. The current relationship with Alberta Transportation and the nations need to ad-dress the concerns of Highway 611 East would again take place with another agreement, to add, trail us-age along this particular highway. Cost sharing con-tribution from Alberta Transportation came in the form of $150,000.00 to assist with planning and their hiring of a trail construction advisor to the project. The advisor would come out 2 times a week to view the project and provide direction. The cost of Alberta Transportation also includes guardrail that will be in-stalled in Spring 2014.The Samson Cree Nation equally shared with its con-tribution through accessing industry dollars in the amount of $ 104,0082.41 and also hired a foreman to be present on site at all times to oversee the con-struction of the project. The remaining funds from the nation will match Alberta Transportation and will cover any future costs such as the purchase of drainage materials and the clean up of the trail once spring arrives.Samson Cree Nation also took a lead with finding additional dollars to prepare for the base construc-tion of the trail. Samson Cree Nation accessed a grant through the Alberta Lottery Fund in the amount of $ 150,000.00 to offset costs to pay for fuel and mainte-nance for the usage of heavy equipment and its driv-ers utilized from the nation. The nation has been very fortunate throughout all these years to accumulate its own accessible natural resources, manpower and again equipment that made this specific project pos-sible.A pipe ceremony for prayers, that all goes well, was

conducted before any construction could begin. The trail utilized the services of their own Samson Energy Services Incorporated, Public Works, and Community Initiatives program to assist with the construction. Through their assistance the nation was able to stay within the estimated budget foretold in the initial proposal. Services included, an in kind ,labor contri-bution from the Pesakastew Correctional Center.We are very proud that we were able to keep own very own dollars circulating within the nation with-out having to outsource. The nation is currently wait-ing for an additional grant from Aboriginal affairs that will then cover some cost towards paving of the trail. The foundation phase of asphalt must be a ten-dered out process. The nation is not equipped at this time with the resources to lay this type of material.During the winter months the trail can be utilized through the use of a snow blower. Through the funds, a snow blower was purchased for the nation and re-mains at the Public Works Department. Although the heavy snow- fall has made it difficult to complete the trail with its last base of material, the gravel will be placed during the upcoming spring months. Again the possibility of asphalt will then follow once fund-ing in place for 2014. Nine months of planning before the construction of a 10 km stretch of work in 2 months is a long distance, which has been an extremely successful reach in the short amount of time. The purpose of the project is defined by the Mission and Vision statement of the Samson Cree Nation: a sovereign nation that is dedi-cated to improving quality of life for all our people by maximizing our human resources and respecting our Cree language and traditions of our peoples to becoming a healthy, educated, knowledgeable, and industrious community. The trail need will address Safety and Wellness of our community. As Samson Cree Nation we have very much to be proud of as we lead in many ways for other nations to follow. Thank you for the 93% of the 777 people who whom fully completed the questionnaire which circulated in the couple of weeks it was circulated. We would also like to thank the R.C.M.P, Maskwacis Ambulance . Fire Hall, and Health Center for also supporting the need through their participation.

SCN walking trail coming together


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FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AT SAMSON HUMAN RESOURCES BY DECEMBER 13

Samson Cree Nation Elections

Elections for Samson Cree Nation Chief and Council will be in February 2014.

February 4/14: Chief nominations February 11/14: Election of Chief

February 18/14: Council nominations February 25/14: election of Council

The Nipisihkopahk Acimowin will be selling space in the February 2014 newsletter for candidates running in the 2014 Samson Cree Nation elec-tions.

Also, the Communications depart-ment will be available to record 2 min. video clips for candidates. These vid-eos will be posted on the Samson Cree Nation YouTube channel.

Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Nipisihkopahk Secondary School travel club for their trip to California in April 2014.

For more information and to purchase space in the newsletter and/or record a video clip please contact: Jenn Nepoose:780-585-3793 ext. [email protected]


Birthday GreetingsDecember 10: Happy Birthday Kyle Wolfe from the team.December 11: Happy Birthday Cody Louis from the Louis family.December 11: Happy Birthday Robbie Potts from the Buffalo and Potts families.December 12: Happy Birthday Aarol Crier from Trina, Taye, Essen, Tom, Jenn and Brooke.December 14: Happy Birthday Jacobi Buffalo from the Buffalo and Potts families.December 15: Happy Birthday Andrea Dion from your family and friends. December 16: Happy Birthday Helena Alexis from the Buffalo and Potts families.December 17: Happy Birthday Carrie Soosay from the Sista Loves and family.December 24: Happy Birthday Marla Potts from the Buffalo and Potts families and Jenn.December 25: Happy Birthday Tash Saddleback from the Saddleback and Nepoose families.December 26: Happy Birthday Colette Crier from the Buffalo and Potts families.December 26: Happy Birthday Boxer Nepoose from the Nepoose family.December 27: Happy Birthday Sharon Swampy from the HSNT family.

December 6: Samson Christmas PartyDecember 10: Maskwacis Minor Hockey Christmas PartyDecember 11: Maskwacis Minor Hockey Christmas PartyDecember 12: Charity Hockey game between Pesakestew Correction and Hobbema RCMP at the Four Nations Arena, 1:00pmDecember 13: Charity Checkstop, 12:00pm - 5:00pmDecember 13: NSS Annual Toy Bingo at the Howard Buffalo Memorial Center from 4:30pm - 9:00pm.December 14: Christmas Dinner at the HBMC from 11:00am - 3:00pm, hosted by the Churches.December 17: Christmas Distribution of $150.00/band member at the HBMCDecember 18: Community Christmas Dinner at the HBMC from 11:00am - 3:00pm hosted by the Food BankDecember 19: Elders Christmas Dinner at the HBMC from 11:00am - 2 :00pmDecember 20: Delivery of Christmas HampersDecember 20: SCN Christmas holidays begin until January 6, 2014December 22: Secret Santa at the HBMCDecember 22: Christmas Dinner at the HBMC from 11:00am - 3:00pm hosted by Secret Santa.December 25: Merry Christmas!!!January 8: Distribution of $100.00/band member at the HBMC

Community Announcements

ACIMOWINSamson Cree Nation’s NewsletterJenn Nepoose- Communications Coordinator(P) 780-585-3793 ext. 281(F) [email protected] Cree Nation Like us on follow us on

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Documents

Nipisihkopahk Acmowin- December 2013