Apache Christ icon controversy sparks debate over Indigenous Catholic faith practices
Associated Press 27/07/2024 MESCALERO, New Mexico (AP) — Anne Marie Brillante never imagined she would have to choose between being Apache and being Catholic. To her, and many others in the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico who are members of St. Joseph Apache Mission, their Indigenous culture had always been intertwined with faith. Both are sacred. “Hearing we had to choose, that was a shock,” said a tearful Brillante, a member of the mission’s parish council. The focus of this tense, unresolved episode is the 8-foot Apache Christ painting. For this close-knit community, it is a revered icon created by Franciscan friar Robert Lentz in 1989. It depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, and has hung behind the church’s altar for 35 years under a crucifix as a...
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Utah officials deny clemency for man set to be executed for 1998 killing of his girlfriend’s mother
The Associated Press 27/07/2024 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah officials denied clemency Friday to a man who is set to be executed for the stabbing death of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998. The decision regarding the fate of Taberon Dave Honie, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 8, was announced in a one-paragraph notice from Scott Stephenson, chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. “After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find sufficient cause to commute Mr. Honie’s death sentence,” Stephenson wrote. During a two-day commutation hearing this week, Honie asked the parole board to commute his sentence to life in prison, saying he would never have killed 49-year-old Claudia Benn after a day...
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A tanker plane crash has killed a firefighting pilot in Oregon as Western wildfires spread
The Associated Press 26/07/2024 Communities in the U.S. West and Canada were under siege from raging wildfires on Friday, as a fast-moving blaze sparked by lightning sent people fleeing on fire-ringed roads in rural Idaho and a human-caused inferno forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in northern California. In eastern Oregon, a pilot was found dead in a small air tanker plane that crashed while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states. More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers) were burning in the U.S. on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some were caused by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures record heat and bone-dry conditions. Late Friday, a...
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Fire burns historic Stoney Medicine Lodge to the ground
By Jessica Lee Journalism Initiative 26/07/2024 A fire has destroyed the historic Stoney Medicine Lodge, leaving a cultural landmark in ashes. Nakoda Fire, Bighorn Emergency Services and the Cochrane Fire Department were called to respond to the blaze, reported around 8:20 p.m. Thursday night (July 25) and worked well into the night trying to put it out. “The loss of the structure – it’s a blow to the community,” said Nakoda Emergency Services director Reg Fountain. “But thanks to the support of our neighbouring jurisdictions’ fire departments, we were able to contain the fire solely to that structure.” Fire crews still on site Friday (July 26) putting out hot spots at the destroyed Stoney Medicine Lodge near Mînî Thnî on Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation. The Stoney Medicine Lodge is located...
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Shields advocates for clean water on First Nation lands
By Cal Braid Local Journalism Initiative 26/07/2024 Bow River MP Martin Shields spoke in the House of Commons on recently, and brought some urgency to an issue that continues to be bumped down the federal government’s to-do list: a Clean Water Act for First Nations peoples. He gave a brief history of migration, settlement, and the pursuit of freshwater sources, before zeroing in on the issue of clean drinking water, or a lack thereof for certain Indigenous people. “Modern advances in sanitation, industrialization, and sanitation-based practices have led to an explosion of the use of water, and with it, a growth in populations. As populations grew, people moved into rural and remote areas, where they always experienced difficulty finding water. However, Indigenous people in this part of the world knew...
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Supreme Court rules Crown ‘dishonourably breached’ Robinson treaties
By K.Darbyson Local Journalism Initiative The highest court in the country has delivered a unanimous ruling on the Robinson Huron and Robinson Superior treaties, determining that the Crown “dishonourably breached” a key part of these 1850 agreements. In a decision delivered Friday morning, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that the Crown failed to “diligently fulfill” the augmentation clause of the original treaties, which entitled members of the Huron and Superior First Nations to annuities that were supposed to increase over time. Because these annuities haven’t increased since 1875, Justice Mahmud Jamal, who penned Friday’s decision, wrote that the Crown is “obliged” to determine an amount of “honourable compensation” to the Superior plaintiffs. “If the Crown and the Superior plaintiffs cannot arrive at a negotiated settlement, the Crown will be...
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Victim of alleged Manitoulin Island abduction found safe, 2 arrested: OPP
The Canadian Press 28/07/2024 Police in northern Ontario say the victim of a reported abduction on Manitoulin Island has been found, and a third suspect has been identified. Ontario Provincial Police issued a release on Saturday morning saying 27-year-old William Paibomsai-Lesage was approached by two men on Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Thursday morning. They allege he was assaulted and forced into a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Police said two suspects had been arrested and face kidnapping charges, but the OPP and Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service were on the lookout for a third. A Saturday evening update from the OPP says Paibomsai-Lesage was found safe. They say they’ve identified the third suspect but gave few other details, including whether that person has been arrested or if they expect any charges to...
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Museums closed Native American exhibits 6 months ago. Tribes are still waiting to get items back
Associated Press 29/07/2024 NEW YORK (AP) — Tucked within the expansive Native American halls of the American Museum of Natural History is a diminutive wooden doll that holds a sacred place among the tribes whose territories once included Manhattan. For more than six months now, the ceremonial Ohtas, or Doll Being, has been hidden from view after the museum and others nationally took dramatic steps to board up or paper over exhibits in response to new federal rules requiring institutions to return sacred or culturally significant items to tribes — or at least to obtain consent to display or study them. The doll, also called Nahneetis, is just one of some 1,800 items museum officials say they’re reviewing as they work to comply with the requirements while also eyeing a...
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Sarah Lewis representing Curve Lake First Nation at inaugural Miss Indigenous Canada
By Natalie Hamilton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Sarah Lewis, Peterborough’s inaugural poet laureate, is in the running for the Miss Indigenous Canada title. Lewis, a spoken-word artist from Curve Lake First Nation near Peterborough, is one of 26 contestants vying for the crown, which will be awarded on Saturday (July 27) as part of an event currently underway at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hamilton, which is Six Nations of the Grand River territory. Unlike other pageants, Miss Indigenous Canada is not a beauty contest. “Miss Indigenous Canada is a three-day event geared towards young Indigenous leaders of tomorrow,” states the Miss Indigenous Canada website. “Above all, we value self-development, community service, cultural involvement, empowerment, and authentic representation. The program was created in an effort to provide an outlet for...
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A tanker plane is missing in Oregon as Western wildfires spread
The Associated Press 26/07/2024 14:30 A single-pilot tanker plane disappeared in eastern Oregon while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states, and the search has come up empty so far, authorities said Friday. The plane contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management went missing Thursday while fighting the Falls Fire, near the town of Seneca on the edge of the Malheur National Forest. The blaze has grown to 219 square miles (567 square kilometers) and is 55% contained, the government website InciWeb shows. Thomas Kyle-Milward, spokesperson for Northwest Incident Management Team 8, said authorities received a report of a missing aircraft around 6:53 p.m. Thursday. The pilot was the only person on board. Climate change is increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region...
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As caterpillars eat N.B. maple leaves, syrup producers consider insecticide solution
Canadian Press 26/07/2024 14:39 New Brunswick’s maple syrup industry is considering using an insecticide to kill off forest tent caterpillars that have chewed through a portion of the province’s northwestern woodlands this summer. The province’s Department of Natural Resources estimates that the fuzzy caterpillars have caused the defoliation of about 120 square kilometres of forests on or near male syrup farms — a tough blow for an industry that has grown steadily over the last decade. Producers are fearful the result will be unhealthy trees — and lower production of syrup in next spring’s runoff, Frédérick Dion, president of the New Brunswick Maple Syrup Association, said in an interview earlier this week. “You walk through the forest and you hear the sounds of millions of those caterpillars eating the leaves...
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Mi’kmaq lay claim to more than half of province in lawsuit
By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 26/07/2024 The Higgs government is facing another lawsuit from First Nations asserting title to New Brunswick’s territory. Eight Mi’kmaq communities filed a notice of action in the Court of Kings Bench in Miramichi on Thursday claiming they have Aboriginal title to the entire eastern portion of the province – but also the northern part of the province all the way to Edmundston and territory even farther west than Saint John. In a media release, the organization representing the communities – Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc. (MTI) – said the provincial government left it little choice but to pursue legal action. Brunswick News requested comment from Attorney General Ted Flemming, but did not speak to him before deadline. “The Government of New Brunswick has just received notice...
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Crown must settle with First Nations for breaching Robinson treaties: Supreme Court
The Canadian Press 26/07/2024 Canada’s top court says the Crown dishonourably breached the Robinson Treaties and must negotiate a settlement with First Nations within six months. The two treaties were signed in 1850, ceding a large swath of land in Ontario to the Crown in return for annual payments to the Anishinaabe of lakes Huron and Superior. The treaties said the payments should increase over time, so long as the Crown did not incur a loss, but they have been frozen at $4 per person since 1875. In a ruling today, the Supreme Court says the Ontario and Canadian governments had a mandatory obligation to raise that amount when economic circumstances warranted. The top court says the Crown now has six months to negotiate a settlement with one of the...
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Banff, Canmore swelter under broken temperature records
By Jessica Lee Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 25/07/2024 A heat wave, comparable in duration to a 2021 heat dome event in western Canada, continues to shatter historic temperature records in the Bow Valley. Banff and Bow Valley Provincial Park broke three temperature records from Friday (July 19) to Sunday (July 21). “It’s been a very warm spell for much of the province,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor. “One of the most interesting things about this event has been the duration of temperatures above what we would consider [heat] warning criteria. We’re seeing some fairly significant durations of warm temperatures – even flirting with the heat dome of 2021.” Bow Valley Provincial Park set a new record July 19, reaching a high of 33.1 degrees Celsius. The...
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US promises $240 million to improve fish hatcheries, protect tribal rights in Pacific Northwest
The Associated Press 25/07/2024 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. government will invest $240 million in salmon and steelhead hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest to boost declining fish populations and support the treaty-protected fishing rights of Native American tribes, officials announced Thursday. The departments of Commerce and the Interior said there will be an initial $54 million for hatchery maintenance and modernization made available to 27 tribes in the region, which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The hatcheries “produce the salmon that tribes need to live,” said Jennifer Quan, the regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are talking about food for the tribes and supporting their culture and their spirituality.” Some of the facilities are on the brink of failure, Quan said, with a backlog of...
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Indigenous corporation plans Kenora apartment project
By Mike Simpson Local Journalism Initiative Reproter 25/07/2024 KENORA – Federal funding is helping Kekekoziibii Development Corporation add dozens of housing units to the city on Lake of the Woods. The corporation, owned by Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, has obtained $8.7 million in federal money to buy 20.3 acres and put up “a 24-unit apartment building for affordable housing for urban Indigenous people who are living and taking training in the city of Kenora,” Kekekoziibii chief executive officer Diane Redsky said Wednesday. The land near 9th Street has water, sewer and hydro service connections, Redsky said. Construction is slated to begin next spring and the corporation aims “to build more apartment buildings on that site for affordable housing, because we know that there is an extreme shortage of housing...
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Can B.C.’s southern resident orcas be taken off the path to extinction?
The Canadian Press The southern resident killer whale known as Tahlequah captured global sympathy in 2018 when she pushed the body of her dead calf for more than two weeks in waters off British Columbia’s south coast. Some scientists and advocates called the scene a display of public grief. But the impact of the loss went beyond Tahlequah. It was a significant blow to the entire population that numbers just 74 individuals. A recent peer-reviewed paper suggests a baseline rate of population loss of roughly one per cent per year — based on modelling and 40 years of observations — putting the whales on a path toward a “period of accelerating decline that presages extinction.” Even that rate of loss is “optimistic,” the research says. The study lends urgency to...
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Government ignores paramedic calls
By Eve Cable, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 25/07/2024 While provincial government representatives were this month gloating about the addition of 351 new paramedic technicians to the province’s health services, Kanehsata’kehró:non Robert Bonspiel has been once again let down by the lack of attention given to Indigenous communities. Despite the influx of emergency personnel elsewhere in the province, Indigenous communities are still largely left to fend for themselves – and no matter how frequently Bonspiel brings their problems to light, the provincial government seems content to ignore the real-world impacts of underfunding services. “It’s prevalent, there’s an issue here, and it’s not taken care of,” said Bonspiel, president of First Nations Paramedics. Bonspiel said he was hopeful when the Viens Commission published 142 calls to action in its final report in...
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Lethbridge homeless shelter receiving expansion
By Justin Sibbet, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 25/07/2024 Living in the scorching heat and the bitter cold and everything in between, homelessness is a challenge faced by over 400 Lethbridge residents, but an expansion to the homeless shelter aims to reduce the issue. The Government of Alberta, in conjunction with the City of Lethbridge and Blood Tribe Department of Health, announced Wednesday a new construction project that will see over 100 new beds added to the city shelter. In addition to making the announcement, ground was also broken, officially beginning the construction process. In February of this year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the province and Blood Tribe Department of Health to have the Blood Tribe remain in control of the shelter and have this project funded...
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Simpcw First Nation, Thompson-Nicola Regional District sign Memorandum of Understanding
By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 25/07/2024 Simpcw First Nation and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week, committing representatives from both communities to meet at least twice a year. Simpcw First Nation drafted and signed a similar MOU with the Village of Valemount in March. In an interview with The Goat, Simpcw First Nation Councillor Tina Donald said these agreements are a valuable tool for strengthening relationships with other governments. “Through MOUs, we commit to meeting on a regular basis. So if we have a project in the future, this is the time and place that we can sit down and talk,” Donald said. “It also gives an avenue to call up someone at TNRD if we have a question. It’s creating...
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