After generations of displacement, ‘Vancouver Island’ lands returned to Lyackson, Cowichan FirstNations
Surrounded by sun-dappled trees and the gentle rushing sound of Skutz Falls, a historic agreement to return 312 hectares of land to Lyackson First Nation and Cowichan Tribes was signed last week as part of an Incremental Treaty Agreement. The land parcel is a culturally significant piece in the Cowichan River Valley that the provincial government purchased from Mosaic Forest Management for $8.55 million. “These unceded lands, which feature prominently in our oral history, and hold great meaning for our families, are being returned to Quw’utsun,” said Cowichan Tribes Chief Cindy Daniels (Sulsulxumaat). Pre-colonization, the Leey’qsun Mustimuhw (people of Lyackson First Nation) had a winter village at the mouth of the Quw’utsun Sta’lo’ (Cowichan River), but until now, the only lands the nation had as reserves were at T’a’at’ka7 ,...
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Nunavut fails poverty report card
The Amautiit: Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association (NIWA) has released a damning first annual poverty report card, highlighting “the harsh realities faced by Nunavut’s most vulnerable populations”. NIWA is calling for urgent action needed to address theses systemic problems that perpetuate poverty and inequality in the territory’s communities. NIWA is an organization that advocates for the rights and well-being of Inuit women and families in Nunavut. The findings of this year’s poverty report card make it clear that there is a need for a change in the methods of combating poverty and its future implications. The three major findings from the report are as follows: Child Poverty Rates: Nunavut continues to have “alarmingly high” child poverty rates, with a “significant percentage of our children living in conditions of economic hardship”....
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”Illegal, destructive, dangerous’: UVic president cites complaints about encampment
The Canadian Press 16/05/2024 The president of the University of Victoria says a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on its campus is drawing an increasing number of complaints about harassment and intimidation, but also illegal and “dangerous” activities. Kevin Hall outlined the university’s concerns in a statement on Wednesday, saying they included what he described as rising acts of vandalism, spreading misinformation and the unauthorized use of buildings at after-hours times. Police in Saanich say they arrested a man on Tuesday after he was allegedly threatening people inside an academic centre for Indigenous students. Hall says the man was believed to have set up a tent on campus earlier in the week and he was “showing signs of substance use” that required medical response from campus security and emergency first respondents. Hall’s...
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Ex-wife of Winnipeg serial killer recounts volatile marriage, sexual assaults
By The Canadian Press Staff 16/05/2024 The ex-wife of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki recounted her violent marriage with the man during the second week of his murder trial. The woman told court she met Skibicki at Siloam Mission, a Winnipeg homeless shelter, while she was struggling with drug addiction in February 2018. Skibicki was with two other men, she said, and the group invited her back to Skibicki’s home. “He said he really likes this one … referring to me,” the 44-year-old testified Thursday. Skibicki, 37, faces four counts of first-degree murder for the 2022 slayings of four Indigenous women. He has admitted to killing Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. His lawyers...
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‘Canada’s Got Talent’ winner looking to push musical career after taking $1M prize
The Canadian Press Newly crowned “Canada’s Got Talent” champion Rebecca Strong says she is confident the win will bring her more opportunities to expand her career. One day after the Indigenous singer from Prince Albert, Sask., took home the competition’s first $1-million prize, Strong said she expected the victory will help push her ambitions to the next level. “This means a lot of musical growth and a lot of opportunities I’ve been waiting for like recording new music, and travelling and playing more cities, hopefully outside of Canada too,” Strong said Wednesday in a video call. Strong claimed “CGT”‘s first million-dollar season in a two-hour finale broadcast live on Citytv from Niagara Falls., Ont. In her final bid for Canada’s vote, Strong belted out Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” on...
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Indigenous identity summit commits to advocating against NunatuKavut, Ontario Métis
Indigenous leaders tell Canada and provinces to stop “accommodating Indigenous identity theft” The Canadian Press WINNIPEG, MAN-A two-day summit on Indigenous identity fraud wrapped up Wednesday with a message to Canada: we’re joining forces, and we want action to curb the epidemic. The summit, hosted by the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Chiefs of Ontario, was lauded by First Nations, Inuit and Red River Métis leaders as a historic occasion. The leaders passed two resolutions that specifically target the Métis Nation of Ontario and the NunatuKavut Community Council — organizations they collectively say are co-opting Indigenous identities for personal gain. They unanimously adopted a declaration condemning any person or group that “falsely claims” Indigenous identity for their own gain. The declaration says doing so furthers the marginalization of First...
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Staffer testifies serial killer said he went to homeless shelter to find a victim
By The Canadian Press A staffer at a Winnipeg homeless shelter has testified admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki once said he had come in to search for a victim. Ronald Norman told court Wednesday that he had a couple of interactions with Skibicki while working at the Indigenous-led 24-hour warming space, N’Dinawemak – Our Relatives’ Place. One of those conversations started with Skibicki approaching Normand. “He came up to me and told me that he didn’t need to be there, that he had his own place,” Norman told Chief Justice Glenn Joyal. “(Skibicki said) he was just there to stalk his victims. “I hear things in the shelter, everyday (people) going through psychosis and stuff … but that stuck out to me.” Skibicki is on trial in Court of King’s...
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Self-identification created a mess and it needs to stop, says Palmater
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative 15/05/2024 After decades of hiding their identities, Indigenous leaders say communities are now experiencing a “new identity crisis” as more and more Canadians falsely and fraudulently claim Indigenous ancestry for personal gain. “Today it’s a different crisis. We are struggling with people who are trying to be us,” Scott McLeod, the Chief of the Ontario-based Nipissing First Nation said this week while speaking at the two-day Indigenous Identify Fraud Summit in Winnipeg. McLeod says when growing up on his reserve, he saw countless examples of community members and Elders hiding their heritage out of fear of what could happen to them if they publicly shared their culture, language or ceremonies. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s we had identity issues because we were trying...
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Study says aquaculture likely driving wild salmon extinction in Newfoundland
By The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 A new study shows an Atlantic salmon population in southern Newfoundland is disappearing, and it says nearby aquaculture operations are likely to blame. The report published last month in the journal Reviews in Fisheries Science and Aquaculture concludes that though climate change and predation also have negative impacts, the effects of aquaculture operations near the Conne River are the most significant probable factor pushing the local wild salmon population toward extinction. “These impacts will likely increase as populations decline toward local extirpation,” the study said. The authors — eight researchers from the federal Fisheries Department — say that as Newfoundland and Labrador plans to expand its aquaculture industry, more studies are needed to determine how climate change, sea lice and disease will impact threatened or...
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Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things ‘full circle’
By The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 Chief Robert Michell says relief isn’t the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia. Michell is the chief of Stellat’en First Nation some 160 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., and a survivor of the Lejac Indian Residential School where a geophysical survey is underway to find children missing since the facility closed in 1976. “It’s not necessarily a relief,” Michell said. “I think it’s come full circle because you watch the news every day, you watch what’s happening in other parts of British Columbia in relation to the residential schools … you knew at some point Lejac was going to be on the map...
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Indigenous consultant accuses NHL’s Blackhawks of fraud, sexual harassment
The Associated Press 15/05/2024 CHICAGO (AP) — A consultant the Chicago Blackhawks hired to improve relationships with American Indian tribes has filed a lawsuit accusing the team, its charity foundation and its CEO of fraud, breach of contract and sexual harassment. Nina Sanders filed the civil action late Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. She alleges in the lawsuit that the Blackhawks were facing intense public pressure to change their name and logo in 2020. The team’s CEO, Dan Wirtz, hired her that year to serve as a tribal liaison. Wirtz promised that he would create positions for American Indians, buy land to give to the Sac and Fox Nation and change the team’s logo if she decided to accept the job, according to the lawsuit. She took the job...
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B.C. First Nation to reactivate judicial review of DFO’s salmon farm virus policy
By The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 A British Columbia First Nation says it has lost faith in federal plans to remove open net-pens from the province’s ocean salmon farms and is reluctantly relaunching legal action it had on hold that challenges Fisheries Department aquaculture policy. The court route is a last resort, but the Namgis First Nation on northern Vancouver Island must take on the Fisheries Department to protect wild salmon off B.C.’s coast, Chief Victor Isaac said Wednesday. The First Nation has served notice to the fisheries minister that it will reactivate a 2019 judicial review application over Fisheries Department policy against testing for a salmon virus before restocking open-net pens for farmed salmon, he said. “We believe the only way to protect our rights and the wild salmon is...
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Forecast turns favourable in fight against wildfire threatening northern B.C. town
By The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 A low-pressure system moving into northern British Columbia is expected to dampen wildfire activity that has forced several thousand people to leave their homes in and around Fort Nelson, the BC Wildfire Service says. Fire officials said Wednesday that cooler temperatures in the low teens along with higher humidity should reduce the likelihood of intense fire activity. There’s also potential for light rain, which would further lower the risk of the fire spreading closer to the town of about 4,700 residents who were put under an evacuation order on Friday. They include Diane Ens whose home is on one of the first streets evacuated before the whole town was told to get out. She initially moved her household — three daughters, three cats, and a...
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Winnipeg trial to hear from former partner of admitted serial killer
By The Canadian Press 16/05/2024 The ex-wife of an admitted serial killer is expected to testify today in a Winnipeg courtroom. The woman obtained a protection order against Jeremy Skibicki in 2019, after he allegedly stalked and sexually assaulted her. Skibicki is on trial facing four counts of first-degree murder for the slayings of four Indigenous women. His lawyers have said he carried out the killings in 2022 but is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Crown prosecutors say the killings were racially motivated and Skibicki preyed on the women at homeless shelters. A shelter worker has testified Skibicki once said he went there to find a victim. Skibicki is accused of killing Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman....
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Innu Nation grand chief slams NunatuKavut Community Council at identity summit
The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 Innu Nation Grand Chief Simon Pokue spoke to other Indigenous leaders at a meeting in Winnipeg today about what he calls Indigenous identity fraud by the NunatuKavut Community Council. The council, which represents some 6,000 people in south and central Labrador, claims to be Inuit. At a summit on Indigenous identity, Pokue says his community knows its territory and culture, but has to be wary of sharing publicly due to organizations like the council. He says such organizations co-opt those stories for their benefit without actually being Indigenous. The Innu Nation has previously asked the Federal Court to quash a 2019 agreement between the federal government and the council — a memo that sets guidelines for self-determination talks. Council president Todd Russell has described similar allegations...
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Wildfire service warns winds may fan ‘aggressive’ blazes in B.C.’s north
The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 Gusty winds could fan “aggressive fire behaviour” in the north, where out-of-control blazes have forced several thousand people to flee their homes, B.C. Wildfire Service said. An update from the service said winds could pick up Wednesday in the Fort Nelson area where an 84-square-kilometre blaze threatens the town that has mostly been abandoned by residents. The community of about 4,700 has been evacuated since Friday along with the neighbouring First Nation, while the Doig River First Nation and Peace River Regional District also issued evacuation orders due to a separate fire north of Fort St. John. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality said a public information meeting for evacuees from the Fort Nelson area is set to take place in Fort St. John Wednesday. Mayor of...
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B.C. First Nation to reactivate judicial review of DFO’s salmon farm virus policy
The Canadian Press 15/05/2024 A British Columbia First Nation says it is reluctantly preparing to take legal action to challenge Fisheries Department salmon farm policy as it loses faith in federal plans to remove the open net-pen fish farms by next year. Namgis First Nation Chief Victor Isaac says going to court is a last resort, but the northern Vancouver Island nation must fight to protect the wild salmon off B.C.’s coast. He says the First Nation has served notice to the fisheries minister that it will reactivate a 2019 judicial review application over Fisheries Department policy against testing for a salmon virus before restocking open-net pens for farmed salmon. Isaac says the court application was put on hold in 2021 following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s directive for the Fisheries...
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NDP leadership debate shows new visions for future of the party
As the internal Alberta NDP leadership vote approaches, the party is hosting a series of official debates throughout the province to introduce the leadership seekers. The second official debate, hosted in Calgary on May 11, welcomed candidates Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Kathleen Ganley, Sarah Hoffman, Naheed Nenshi and Gil McGowan in a format that had each deliver an introductory statement, answer a pre-screened audience question, debate one-on-one with the others, and deliver closing remarks. Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse is Cree and Mohawk from Michel First Nation, and has been an MLA since the 2023 election. She was previously executive director for the Yellowhead Indigenous Education Foundation, and is a producer and broadcaster of Acimowin, an award-winning Indigenous radio program. “We need long-term strategic planning that is...
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Winnipeg trial hears neighbour saw admitted serial killer getting rid of garbage
By The Canadian Press Hours before the partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a Winnipeg garbage bin, a man who lived in the same apartment building as her killer saw the man disposing of trash in the middle of the night. Allan Mackay told the trial of Jeremy Skibicki that he confronted his neighbour in 2022 after hearing the man running up and down the stairs of their building while wearing boots. When Mackay opened his apartment door, he saw Skibicki. “He came downstairs carrying a couple of baskets in his arms,” Mackay testified Wednesday. “(Skibicki) said, ‘I’m getting rid of garbage.’” Mackay said he spoke with Skibicki for less than five minutes and told him to take out any garbage later in the morning when it wouldn’t...
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It’s all hands on deck and status quo for annual Bread and Cheese celebration
Six Nations Bread and Cheese celebrations continue to return to pre-pandemic measures. This year there will be no delivery, unless otherwise arranged with a department, program or service. Volunteers will however allow people to pick up extra bread and cheese for family members who cannot make it to the event. “We’ve kind of gone back to the status quo. There won’t be any deliveries – that’s not being accommodated this year,” Shirley Johnson, Six Nations Elected Council administrative office manager said. “Let those community members know they will have to make their way, or find family members to get it on behalf, unless something was previously coordinated with client services.” For the second year since the COVID-19 pandemic caused modification to time-honoured and much loved tradition to keep the community...
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