‘This is worse than residential school’
By Sanuda Ranawake Local Journalism Initiative Reporter ST JOHN’S, N.L.- Miriam Saunders knows the pain of losing a child, she has lost two.Her daughter, Loretta Saunders, was murdered 10 years ago, on or around Feb. 13, 2014. Loretta’s murder, along with other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, eventually led to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In the past 10 years, Miriam says, she has lost more than just a daughter. “I’m a stay-at-home grandma/mom. I had to quit my job. I was told I needed to quit my job by my son Michael’s doctor, for me to take care of him,” says Miriam. She says her son, Michael Saunders, struggles with mental illness and is now in adult protection in St. John’s....
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How Apache Stronghold’s fight to protect Oak Flat in central Arizona has played out over the years
Oak Flat, near where a copper mine is proposed, is dotted with rugged boulders and desert vegetation. Bri Cossavella/Cronkite News By Anita Snow THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX (AP)-Oak Flat, a piece of national forest land in central Arizona, is at the heart of a yearslong struggle between Native American groups and mining interests that both consider it important for their future. Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of international mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, wants to develop the large deposit of copper ore deep under Oak Flat into a massive mine. The nonprofit Apache Stronghold considers the land sacred and says it should be preserved for religious ceremonies. In a significant blow to Apache Stronghold, a divided federal court panel voted 6-5 on Friday to uphold a lower...
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Study suggests Nunavimmiut more likely to die from lung cancer
By Cedric Gallant Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A new study suggests people who live in Nunavik are more likely to die from lung cancer. The study, published Feb. 20 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, compared lung cancer registry data involving patients in Montreal and Nunavik who were diagnosed between 2005 and 2017. The results were divided between the two main types of lung cancers: small cell and non-small cell. Approximately 80 to 85 per cent of cancers are of the non-small cell variety, according to the American Cancer Society. The study found Nunavik residents had a median survival time of 321 days versus 720 days for Montreal residents for non-small cell lung cancer. For small-cell cancer diagnoses, Nunavik residents had a median survival time of 190 days, versus 270 days for...
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Metis Hunters’ Killer Offered Temporary Unsupervised Leave From Prison Sentence
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Reporter One of two men convicted of killing Metis hunters Jacob Sansom and Maurice Cardinal in Glendon, Alta., has been granted temporary unsupervised leave from prison for up to 72 hours a month, despite vocal objections from the victims’ family. Otipemisiwak Metis Government president Andrea Sandmaier said in a statement that this decision demonstrates “complete disregard for the gravity of the loss suffered by their loved ones and our community.” The Parole Board of Canada granted Roger Bilodeau unescorted temporary absences for the purposes of “personal development and family contact” on Feb. 21. According to reporting from APTN News, Bilodeau had already been permitted escorted absences from prison. Jacob Sansom’s mother Ruby Smith characterized the board’s ruling as “an injustice, a kick to the...
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Blue Quills University Receives $2 Million Grant For Indigenous Teacher Training
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A Treaty 6-based Indigenous university has received a $2-million grant from the Rideau Hall Foundation as part of an effort to train 10,000 new First Nations, Metis and Inuit teachers across Canada. University nuxe?hot’?ne thaa?ehots’? nistameyimakanak Blue Quills will use its funding to facilitate a five-year project to establish three distinct teacher education streams, immersion, elementary and secondary programming, while offering teacher training to Indigenous candidates who don’t have a bachelor’s in education. “Rooted in Land, language, Ceremony, and relationship, the project is guided by the laws of love, honesty, sharing and strength,” a news release from the Rideau Hall Foundation states. Located near St. Paul, about 200 km northeast of Edmonton, Blue Quills University was established in 1970 on the site of...
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Indigenous women in Greenland sue Denmark over involuntary contraception in the 1960s and 70s
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)- A group of Indigenous women in Greenland has sued Denmark for forcing them to be fitted with intrauterine contraceptive devices in the 1960s and 70s, and demanded total compensation of nearly 43 million kroner ($6.3 million), Danish media reported Monday. The group of 143 Inuit women say Danish health authorities violated their human rights when they fitted them with the devices, commonly known as coils. Some of the women, including many who were teenagers at the time, were not aware of what happened or did not consent to the intervention. The purpose was allegedly to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancy. The population on the Arctic island was rapidly increasing at the time because of better living conditions and better health care. The small T-shaped...
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Have a Heart Day, think of the children
By Julia Archelene Magsombol Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Valentine’s Day is not only about the love for your partner but also for everyone around you, especially the children who need it – that’s what Have a Heart Day does. Have a Heart Day 9 (February 14) was organized by Canada’s First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. It happens annually, and activists, organizers, and community members around Canada march to parliament to raise their voices against the discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples of Canada, especially the children. It was established in 1998. The organization’s goal is to bring awareness to the discrimination faced by Indigenous children. Based on statistics from the Government of Canada, a higher proportion of Indigenous Peoples self-reported experiencing childhood physical and sexual maltreatment before the age...
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Transportation equity: First Nation communities urgently need solutions now
By Tiffany Dionne Prete In the vast expanse of Canada’s diverse landscapes, a critical issue persists, impacting the lives of Indigenous Peoples: the lack of safe and accessible transportation. This challenge is not merely about mobility. Intertwined with this narrative is alarming rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and all other sexual orientations and genders (MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ or MMMIWG2S+). The Reclaiming Power and Place (RPP) report released in 2019 by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls shone a spotlight onto the pervasive violence and vulnerabilities disproportionately affecting Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals. Among its 231 Calls for Justice was the call to immediately tackle limited mobility in rural and remote areas. A new...
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Prince Rupert’s child poverty rate highest among B.C. urban areas
By Seth Forward Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Prince Rupert has the highest rate of urban child poverty in the province according to First Call, a B.C. youth advocacy group. First Call’s annual report worryingly indicated that 620 Prince Rupert children and 22.7 per cent of the youth population live in poverty in 2021, compared to the B.C. average of 14.3 per cent. The non-profit says it analyzes income tax filings from across the country in combination with data from Statistics Canada’s Census Family Low Income Measure to determine whether a family falls into the poverty threshold, which is set at 50 per cent or less of the median income across the country. For 2021, the poverty threshold was $34,503 for a lone parent with one child and $42,257 for a...
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More documents needed from Kapuskasing to pay out 2023 evacuation costs: Feds
By Marissa Lentz Local Journalism Initiative KAPUSKASING – While Kapuskasing is considering taking legal action against the federal government, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) says it’s waiting for the proper documents from the town. Kapuskasing says it’s currently owed $7.1 million from ISC for hosting First Nations evacuees in 2023. However, ISC told TimminsToday it hasn’t received all the necessary documents yet from the town to finalize the claim. On Feb. 22, town council agreed to look into legal action to make sure it’s reimbursed for the expenses and interest on overdue payments. The municipality will also not be a host community until its 2023 bill is paid and there are changes to the reimbursement process. The municipality submitted its 2023 evacuation expenses to ISC on Oct. 13, 2023. They are...
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Training program aims for safe, sustainable drinking water for Interlake First Nations
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative Reporter An organization fighting for the rights of Indigenous communities to have safe drinking water has announced they are bringing an education and training program to Manitoba. This week, Water First Education & Training Inc. (Water First) announced they have formed a partnership with the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council (IRTC) that will see members from several First Nations communities given the opportunity to enrol in the Drinking Water Internship Program. Water First works as a not-for-profit, with the goal of bringing sustainable access to safe and clean water to all Indigenous communities in Canada, and one of the ways they do that is by offering First Nations people opportunities to build careers in the fields of watersheds, water treatment and distribution, and water science...
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Orchard expansion in Canada’s wine country stirs fears a key wildlife corridor will be harmed
By Aaron Hemens, Indiginews THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP)- Just below the fog line hanging over the central Okanagan Valley, rows of saplings for a cherry orchard expansion span the eastern stretch above Highway 33 on the outskirts of Kelowna in Canada’s wine country. New cherry varieties and climate change in British Columbia’s interior have enabled the fruit to grow at higher than usual elevations. Soon, this grassland terrain surrounded by mountains of ponderosa pine will be full of rows of cherry trees along a sloping hill above this city of about 145,000. On a recent morning, Dixon Terbasket of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band arrived at the gate of a 10-foot (3 meter) high fence built last year. He gestured at a private property sign hanging from...
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Growth in Indigenous languages and Global Sports Academy according to Sask Rivers reports
By Michael Oleksyn Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Indigenous language programming and the Global Sports Academy at Carlton Comprehensive both have shown significant growth in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, according to an update provided at the board’s Feb. 12 meeting. Director of education Neil Finch substituted for superintendent Jennifer Hingley on the Indigenous language report and superintendent Jeff Court, former principal of Carlton, provided the Global Sports Academy report to the board. Global Sports has grown to include 70 student athletes in three programs, High School Hockey, Grade 7 and 8 Hockey and high School Multi-Sport. Last year the same program had 49 enrolled according to the report. Finch said that the program continues to grow at a substantial rate. “Global Sports has been a very successful program for our...
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A way with words: Political leaders past and present pay tribute to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Mulroney is presented with a feather by Indigenous elder Alex Skead before the start of the second day of the first ministers’ conference on Indigenous constitutional matters, in Ottawa on March 27, 1987. (Greg Teckles/The Canadian Press) OTTAWA- Former prime minister Brian Mulroney was remembered by politicians of all political stripes Thursday as a “giant” and a “visionary,” as the country absorbed the news of his death at the age of 84. “Mr. Mulroney was one of the greatest prime ministers in Canadian history,” said former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who served in Mulroney’s cabinet. Mulroney died peacefully while surrounded by his family, his daughter Caroline, an Ontario cabinet minister, said on social media. Her spokesman later said he had been hospitalized in Palm Beach, Fla., after a recent...
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Ottawa repurposing $10.5B to hike spending on health care, housing over three years
By Mia Rabson THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- The federal government will repurpose $10.5 billion over the next three years from the budgets of 69 departments, agencies and Crown corporations, Treasury Board President Anita Anand said Thursday. The top-line numbers laying out which departments found savings and how much they’re slashing are contained in the government’s main spending estimates, which were tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday morning. But there is nothing that shows exactly where those funds are being redirected. Anand only provided generalities when pushed to explain why the reports don’t show specifically where the funds are moving. “So what we want to do is take the savings that we are seeing across ministries and put them towards the priorities that you are seeing in our main...
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Climate change, cost and competition for water drive settlement over tribal rights to Colorado River
By Felicia Fonseca And Suman Naishadham THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)- A Native American tribe with one of the largest outstanding claims to water in the Colorado River basin is closing in on a settlement with more than a dozen parties, putting it on a path to piping water to tens of thousands of tribal members in Arizona who still live without it. Negotiating terms outlined late Wednesday include water rights not only for the Navajo Nation but the neighboring Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes in the northeastern corner of the state. The water would come from a mix of sources: the Colorado River that serves seven western states, the Little Colorado River, and aquifers and washes on tribal lands. The agreement is decades in the making...
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Liberals table bill paving way for future pharmacare program a day before deadline
By Laura Osman THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Health Minister Mark Holland tabled a long-awaited bill Thursday meant to pave the way for national pharmacare and preserve a deal that secures NDP support for the government in the House of Commons. The bill also includes a program to cover birth control and diabetes drugs and supplies for anyone with a health card, which must now be negotiated with individual provinces and territories. The government has not said how much it will cost to cover the initial list of drugs. The initial program was a condition of a bargain struck with the New Democrats, who touted the legislation Thursday as the fulfilment of a long-held dream. Pharmacare is a central pillar of the political pact between the two parties, which has the NDP...
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What would happen without a Leap Day? More than you might think
By Leanne Italie THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK (AP)-Leap year. It’s a delight for the calendar and math nerds among us. So how did it all begin and why? Have a look at some of the numbers, history and lore behind the (not quite) every-four-year phenomenon that adds a 29th day to February. BY THE NUMBERS The math is mind-boggling in a layperson sort of way and down to fractions of days and minutes. There’s even a leap second occasionally, but there’s no hullabaloo when that happens. The thing to know is that leap year exists, in large part, to keep the months in sync with annual events, including equinoxes and solstices, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. It’s a correction to counter the...
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Now streaming on Netflix: Inuvialuit costume designs
By Aastha Sethi Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Released last week, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the eight-episode series is a live-action adaptation of an animated show that aired from 2005 to 2008. The plot includes four nations, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, Fire Nation and Air Nomads, that represent the elements. The Water Tribe takes inspiration from Arctic cultures. The show’s lead costume designer, Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh, commissioned nine Indigenous designers from northern Canada and Alaska. Three Inuvialuit designers- Christina King, Donna Wolki and Agnes Firth, worked on parkas and mitts that form part of broader costumes designed by Khaki-Sadigh for episodes one, seven and eight. Watch for the end result in outfits worn by the Southern and Northern Water Tribes in those episodes. Other Indigenous designers that contributed to the project are...
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MCK in `holding pattern’ in wake of iGaming hearing
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is in a “holding pattern,” as it waits for the judge’s decision in an Ontario Superior Court hearing where the MCK challenged Ontario’s new online gaming regulatory framework, the chief who sat in on the hearings said. “There’s no timeline on a decision,” MCK portfolio lead on justice and legislation Tonya Perron said. “Honestly, I don’t know how long it could take. This is Ontario Superior Court and it’s not a simple case.” The MCK is challenging the validity of Ontario’s online regulatory framework, which requires gaming operators to register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and enter into Operators Agreements with iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of AGCO, in order to operate their websites in...
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