About Colleen Simard:

Colleen Simard is a Free Press columnist.

• A diet that mimics traditional ways

  A few weeks ago I found out about the Dukan diet. I decided I was going to give it a test run. Since diabetes, heart disease and obesity run in my family, I figured 2012 would be a good time to kick off a healthy-eating and exercise plan to get rid of a few pesky pounds.

  View Full Column | 02/4/2012 1:00 AM | 0

• Louis Louis, woh oh, he gotta go, to Wanipigow

  A distant relative emailed me a while back, telling me a bit of family history. It seems one of our ancestors -- Louis Simard -- was quite the adventurer in his time.

  View Full Column | 01/28/2012 3:23 AM | 0

• Aaaand, they're off

  When I was a kid, my uncle Kenny would take me to the track to watch the horse races. It was a long bus ride out to Assiniboia Downs from the North End, but people-watching and looking out the window was a good distraction. Bus rides were a big thing for me back then.

  View Full Column | 01/21/2012 1:00 AM | 0

• A diet that Cree ancestors would recognize

  Many people are trying to drop a few holiday pounds and yours truly is no exception. I've lost the "baby weight" I gained but it would be great to lose another 10 pounds. So diet city it is. I did some Googling to see what diets have been popular lately and came across an article about the Dukan diet. A French doctor, Pierre Dukan, created the diet and his book about it has become a bestseller.

  View Full Column | 01/14/2012 1:00 AM | 0

• Exile ain't what it used to be

  You could call it tough love on the rez. The most recent of a batch of murders on the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta sparked residents to find solutions to the violence, gang activity and crime in their community.

  View Full Column | 01/7/2012 1:00 AM | 0

• It's never too late to pursue your dreams

  The coming of a new year always brings new resolutions. Besides resolving to write a book, I've said one of my big resolutions for 2012 is to go back to school. I'm a big believer in education, even if it's later in life.

  View Full Column | 12/30/2011 7:25 AM | 0

• Pain, anger passed down

  I was falling asleep when I heard some people yelling outside. It sounded distant, so I tried to ignore it. After about a minute the shouting got louder. My street had been quiet for a long time -- so long that I didn't mention it to anyone in case something bad happened in the neighbourhood just to prove me wrong.

  View Full Column | 12/24/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• So many fires, so little water

  Type "First Nation in crisis" into Google and Attawapiskat is just one of the many hits you'll get. Oka, Ipperwash, and Pikangikum might pop up, since there have been plenty of native "crises" to go around over the years. There's also Hobbema, Kashechewan, Davis Inlet, and Wasagamack, to name a few more.

  View Full Column | 12/10/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Hunting for the elusive Bigfoot

  I put Bigfoot -- our miniature pinscher -- outside to do his business just before giving baby Sikwan some supper. When I went back 10 minutes later, he was gone. Someone left the backyard gate open. I called him a couple of times but there was no movement; it wasn't like Bigfoot to stay outside. It was cold out, dark and starting to snow.

  View Full Column | 12/3/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• My million-dollar cousin

  My uncle Kenny phoned me a few weeks ago to tell me my little cousin, Candace, had won a National Aboriginal Achievement award.  

  View Full Column | 11/26/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• See yourself in your own eyes

  How do we see ourselves? Several years ago I was a volunteer photography mentor, teaching a young girl under the care of Child and Family Services the basics of photography. Back then everyone still used real film and had to know about things like F-stops and light meters.

  View Full Column | 11/19/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Don't you make my brown eyes blue

  Don't make my brown eyes blue. A California doctor has invented a laser that turns brown eyes blue. Interesting stuff, all right, but it also sounds a little scary.

  View Full Column | 11/12/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• The call of the rez

  When my sister Dallas broke the news a few weeks ago, I was hoping she was just feeling homesick. She was talking about moving back to the rez. Dallas and her kids moved to the city after her marriage broke up more than a year ago. She was looking for a new start, and Winnipeg was the place.

  View Full Column | 11/5/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Treats or tricks in the hood

  It seems there is still a lot of fear in the North End about taking the little ones out for Halloween. You see, last year around this time it was pretty crazy in our neighbourhood. With three shootings in one evening just before Halloween, and an unidentified shooter on the loose, even I wasn't too keen on going out at night. Two guys were killed and a young girl was seriously wounded.

  View Full Column | 10/29/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• The difference between missed, and missing

  Young women seem to be going missing more often these days, or maybe it's just getting reported more frequently. In any case it deserves everyone's attention. Several girls have been found quickly lately, thanks to the news and social media. We may not have amber alert signs but we've got Facebook pages such as Missing Manitoba Women to spread the word when a woman goes missing.

  View Full Column | 10/22/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Coats, culture, colonizers and cool

  I spotted the coat on a recent thrift-store outing. Even from a distance it caught my eye, peeking out among the layers of suede, fur and leather coats on the rack. It was emerald green, with a thick black border along the bottom and the sleeves.

  View Full Column | 10/8/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Takes a block to raise a village

  There used to be an apartment block at the corner of Bannerman and Charles with a huge elm tree alongside it that was almost as tall. Back in the '80s, we lived on the third floor, and I could see that tree out one of our windows. My auntie Jeannie lived on the second floor and my auntie Rosie lived on the first floor. Her apartment was the best because it had a huge balcony.

  View Full Column | 10/1/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Don't take no for an answer

  My mom decided to spend part of her vacation with us. She stayed for about a week. We didn't see much of her all summer. She's been working hard up at the gold mine in Bissett. It was good to reconnect, drink lots of coffee, go visiting other relatives, and spend time with the grandkids.

  View Full Column | 09/24/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Main Street from the sidewalk

  The baby, tucked in her baby carrier, and I had already made it to Selkirk and Main when I realized I'd lost my bus ticket. Then the bus I was going to catch went by and I had no money on me. I could walk to a bank machine, and then go into a store and buy a pack of gum to get some change for a bus ride. Or I could walk.

  View Full Column | 09/17/2011 3:18 AM | 0

• Remember the good

  Last week I got a lot of emails about April Hornbrook. Many people wanted to share what they remembered about the 24-year-old woman who was slain a few weeks ago. I also spoke to her moshom (grandpa) who lives down the street from me.

  View Full Column | 09/10/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• The sad indignity of it all

  The gravel trail that leads to where April Hornbrook died is only about 30 metres long. The 24-year-old woman's body was found there last Saturday morning. She was killed, but so far no one knows who did it or why. If you come into the path from the sidewalk on the Main Street underpass, you'll walk past a bunch of thistle bushes, as tall as a man.

  View Full Column | 09/3/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• City should bring back the bear clan

  I watched a police officer park his car a few streets in front of me. I knew what he was up to right away: He was setting up a speed trap. Just as I was walking past the police car, I crossed paths with a woman pushing a stroller and with two little boys in tow. "Hi, cop!" said one little boy to the officer as he got out of his car.

  View Full Column | 08/27/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• The heart of the story

  Everything was golden last weekend in the town of Bissett, about 150 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. It was busy celebrating 100 years of gold mining. I went to check out the festivities, since it's my hometown. There were tons of children's activities, tours, music and people coming to visit from all over the country. Many hadn't been back in decades so there was lots of catching up to do. Some people say small towns are like little families and Bissett is no exception.

  View Full Column | 08/20/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• Growing with your garden

  Alas, summer is winding down, and so is my great gardening challenge. This spring, I vowed to plant my first garden, even though I've never grown anything in my life. I signed up for a plot with a community gardening group and got started in early June.

  View Full Column | 08/13/2011 1:00 AM | 0

• An inside look at the 'Millennium Scoop'

  In a recently released report on Ontario's aboriginal child-welfare system called Children First, John Beaucage coined a new phrase -- the "Millennium Scoop." It refers to the epidemic rates of aboriginal kids currently in CFS care nationwide, while also paying homage to the past. The '60s scoop -- which occurred from the 1960s to the mid-'80s -- was an era when thousands of aboriginal children were taken into care, some placed in foster care and others adopted outright to non-aboriginal families. The effects were devastating. Many of these kids grew up without an identity and often in less than ideal conditions.

  View Full Column | 08/6/2011 1:00 AM | 0

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