Secwépemc play seeks to answer the question: ‘What do we do to heal our communities?’
By Macarena Mantilla, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wren Editor’s note: As a member of Discourse Community Publishing, The Wren uses quotation marks around the word “school” because the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found residential “schools” were “an education system in name only for much of its existence.” How is a language reclaimed? And what comes after? These are the main questions at the centre of Laura Michel’s Echoes of the Homesick Heart. What began as a research project funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council through the Community University Research Alliance (CURA), Echoes of the Homesick Heart is a verbatim theatre project, a type of documentary theatre created from words of real people. Based on over 40 in-person interviews across the Secwépemc Nation, the story focuses on...
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Portage la Prairie businesses ‘Paint the Town Orange’ for reconciliation
By Renee Lilley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Portage Graphic Leader For the second consecutive year, storefronts across Portage la Prairie will feature painted orange shirts to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. The “Paint the Town Orange” initiative is a partnership between the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC) and local Saulteaux/Cree artist Annie Beach from Peguis First Nation, along with the Portage & District Chamber of Commerce. “The idea was to unify the community with this orange T-shirt message,” Beach said. “I think art is something people really enjoy and it’s part of the culture here and people seem to be craving it.” Beach, who has been painting murals since 2017, decorated nearly 20 windows last year. This year, she hopes to double that number....
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Robert Redford remembered for his deep legacy in environmental activism and Native American advocacy
Native communities, will remember his greatest legacy as the founder of Sundance Film Festival, where he launched the Sundance Native Lab — elevating and empowering Indigenous filmmakers, storytellers, and cultural sovereignty for generations. He was also an environmental activist, standing with our Native Americans during Standing Rock and speaking out for the protection of sacred lands and water. His voice carried weight, and he used it for justice. By Hillel Italie NEW YORK (AP) — Lorie Lee Sekayumptewa, a former administrator with the Navajo Nation Film Office, remembers seeing Robert Redford at traditional cultural dances at the Hopi village of Hotevilla in New Mexico. It was more than 30 years ago and he was serving as executive producer of the 1991 release “The Dark Wind,” a drama about Navajo life....
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AFN chiefs warn federal budget cuts will hurt First Nations
By Alessia Passafiume First Nations chiefs are warning Ottawa that any cuts to federal funding for their communities will only make it harder for them to move Ottawa’s major projects agenda forward. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says several outstanding issues in First Nations communities still require federal attention and money, including a lack of infrastructure and clean drinking water. She says that while she wants Prime Minister Mark Carney to prioritize those issues in his upcoming fall budget and in Parliament, she fears they will be sidelined in favour of economic interests. Carney has asked his ministers to find savings in their departments and has said the upcoming fall budget will rein in operational spending while investing more in growing the economy. New Brunswick Regional...
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B.C., federal governments support huge LNG facility, opposed by some FirstNations
-CP-The British Columbia and federal governments have announced their support for a massive LNG export facility floating in waters off the province’s northwest, despite opposition from some First Nations and environmentalists. A B.C. environmental assessment certificate for the Ksi Lisims LNG project that is designed to export Canadian gas to Asia was jointly approved on Monday by B.C. Environment Minister Tamara Davidson and B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix. Federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin also issued a news release announcing her decision to greenlight the project to move to the next stage of permits and authorization. The project is being developed in partnership between the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG Limited Partnership and Western LNG, although documents show the project’s assets will be constructed, owned and operated by wholly owned subsidiaries of...
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4.2 magnitude earthquake rattled Haida Gwaii, no tsunami expected
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake has occurred 75 kilometres west of the Village of Daajing Giids on Haida Gwaii. British Columbia emergency officials say in a post online that the quake hit on Monday just after 1:45 p.m. An earthquake of that magnitude is considered light and no tsunami was expected. Officials say the quake was lightly felt in Skidegate, a community of about 700 people on Haida Gwaii. Earthquakes Canada says magnitudes of less than 5.4 rarely cause damage. ...
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Sale of portion of NWT rare earths project to American firm raises ‘serious questions,’ says YKDFN
By Eric Bowling, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News/North A recent sale of nearly half of an Australian firm’s holdings to an American-owned company, including a portion of a major project in the NWT, raises serious questions about First Nations’ rights over resources, says Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Vital Metals Inc., an Australian-owned mining operation, announced on Aug. 24 it was selling 19.5 per cent of its holdings, including the Nechalacho rare earths project in Chief Drygeese territory, to American-owned Strategic Resources LLC for approximately $2.7 million Canadian dollars. A further $3.4 million Canadian is being raised by selling off over 36 million more shares to “accredited U.S. investors” — approximately another 24.5 per cent of the company. In the announcement, Vital Metals says the funds raised will be put...
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Federal transportation investigators to visit site of fatal Manitoba plane crash
By Brittany Hobson Investigators are heading to the site of a plane crash that killed four people in remote northeastern Manitoba over the weekend. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says investigators should arrive in St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation by the end of the week to probe the accident that saw a bush plane crash approximately 40 kilometres south of the community while on its way to Makepeace Lake. Two men aged 53 and 49 and two women who were both 50, all from St. Theresa Point, were pronounced dead at the scene in Saturday’s crash. The pilot, a 20-year-old man, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The Transportation Safety Board says it is in its field phase of the investigation, which means the agency will be gathering information on...
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The Path Forward: Wiikwemkoong and Beyond reclaim life and spirit
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor TORONTO—Healing is not a destination. It is a river that bends and churns through the landscapes of our lives, carving canyons in memory, flooding and receding with trauma and clarity alike. Rarely linear, healing requires courage, presence, and the willingness to confront the fire within. For Lindsay Trudeau and Roland Pheasant of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, that river was wild and treacherous. Addiction had claimed years of their lives, wrapping its claws around them and refusing to release them. Yet, through love, commitment and community, they found their way back—not alone, but together. At the First Nations Community Wellness Conference, hosted by the Chiefs of Ontario and held in the grand halls of the Fairmont Royal York, Ms. Trudeau and...
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Evacuations of Indigenous communities during wildfires must prioritize keeping families together
By Lily Yumagulova Across Canada, massive fires and hazardous smoke have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate from northern and remote communities to shelters and hotels in large cities. For many, their homes, businesses, trap lines and the ecosystems that nourish them are at risk of burning down, or already have. With more than 7.6 million hectares burned across Canada in 2025 already, this is more than double the 10-year average of 3.6 million hectares. In August 2025, the Canadian Red Cross announced that the 2025 wildfires response operation was the largest in the organization’s recent history. Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of climate change and disasters like wildfires and floods. First Nations in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba are those most often evacuated, with...
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Two LU professors inducted into Royal Society of Canada
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — A pair of professors at Lakehead University have been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada. The historic liberal arts and academia organization will induct Christopher Mushquash and Sarah Olutola at a ceremony in November, according to a media release issued by Lakehead. Mushquash will be inducted as a fellow, while Olutola will be inducted into its College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. Mushquash, a member of Pawgwasheeng, or Pays Plat First Nation, is being recognized for “his remarkable contributions to shaping policy and practice that improve systems of care across the country,” the university’s media release said. “His work integrates traditional knowledge with scientific approaches to ensure care for Indigenous peoples is culturally and contextually appropriate.” “It...
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Chiefs of Ontario developing new First Nations business directory
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com TIMMINS — First Nations-owned businesses are being invited to register for what officials are calling the first Indigenous-led and certified commercial directory in Ontario. The Chiefs of Ontario and the province announced on Thursday that the organization that represents 133 First Nations in Ontario is building a First Nations business directory that officials say will showcase Indigenous-owned businesses, give them better access to public procurement and contracting opportunities and help cut down on what Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict called “the growing issue of First Nation identity fraud in business,” according to a media release. “We’ve seen lots of controversy in the last little while around businesses taking opportunities … or contracts that are designed for First Nation businesses when, at the...
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Woodstock Art Gallery raising $30K to buy Indigenous artist’s work
By Brian Williams, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, London Free Press Woodstock Art Gallery is seeking help expanding its permanent collection by launching a fundraiser to acquire the art of an award-winning Canadian artist. The gallery wants to raise $30,000 to add Indigenous artist Shelley Niro’s Borders series – which is on display in the art gallery’s lobby until Jan. 24, 2026 – to its permanent collection, director and curator Alex Hartstone said. “It’s four works and they portray outstretched hands and there’s a lot of symbolic imagery, and they reference wampum belts, which are traditional Indigenous artifacts that record traditions, histories, laws and those sorts of things,” Hartstone said of Borders. “It’s kind of an exploration of relationships and agreements and that can be between individuals or nations or organizations,...
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Pangnirtung grandmother doubtful that Inuktitut lessons will be effective
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The biggest concern Luii Qaapik has for her six grandchildren’s education in Pangnirtung is ensuring they are taught in Inuktitut. She thinks Nunavut’s strategy of teaching Inuktitut and English in the same schools will only cause problems in both languages. “You don’t teach Inuktitut in an English-language school. If you want to teach Inuktitut, you have to get an Inuktitut-licensed school like English schools and French schools have a licence,” Qaapik said. Nunavummiut students in kindergarten and Grade 1 will receive a made-in-Nunavut curriculum for the first time this year, according to the Department of Education. Inuktitut and English will be taught together up to Grade 2 next year, with another grade level of the Nunavut curriculum being rolled out...
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Indigenous communities can be ‘Canada’s competitive edge,’ new federal council appointee says
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com BINGWI NEYAASHI ANISHINAABEK — The only Indigenous leader from Ontario on a new council expected to provide input to large-scale national development projects says it’s an opportunity to make a difference. JP Gladu, who is from Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek or Sandpoint First Nation, is one of 11 Indigenous leaders recently named by Prime Minister Mark Carney to the Indigenous Advisory Council of the federal Major Projects Office. The projects office initiative, according to a media release from the Prime Minister’s Office, will “serve as a single point of contact that gets major, transformative projects built, faster.” It was created after the passage of the legislation formerly known as Bill C-5, which aims to fast-track development deemed to be in the “national interest.”...
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Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns
By David Baxter After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living. The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent. “When I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits. Costs, crime, chaos were all out of control,” Poilievre said. “Whereas today… we have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control.” “I understand the leader of the opposition was busy,” Carney said...
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B.C. approves massive Nisg̱a’a-led LNG project on the north coast
By Shannon Waters, Matt Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal The B.C. government has just approved the Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, which will produce up to 12 million tonnes of LNG annually by 2028. Ksi Lisims LNG — pronounced s’lisims, meaning “from the Nass River” in the Nisg̱a’a language — is a joint venture involving the Nisga’a Lisims Government, Canadian natural gas consortium Rockies LNG and Western LNG, a U.S.-based LNG project developer. Located at the north end of Pearse Island, close to the Alaska border, the facility will be the second largest LNG producer in B.C., nearly matching the 14-million-tonne production capacity of the first phase of the LNG Canada export terminal, which began shipping LNG to Asia this year. In their reasons for...
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Yellowknife to host annual Take Back the Night march on Thursday
By Aastha Sethi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio A gathering focused on ending sexual violence will take place at Yellowknife’s Somba K’e Park on September 18. Take Back the Night is a global movement that works to end sexual violence, including sexual assault, harassment, trafficking, and relationship violence, while offering support to survivors in their healing journey. Yellowknives Dene First Nation drummers and a prayer by Elder Darlene Powder will kick off Thursday’s event at 6 p.m. The gathering is co-hosted by the Yellowknife Women’s Society, Native Women’s Association of the N.W.T., Status of Women Council of the N.W.T., Home Base YK, N.W.T. Seniors’ Society and YWCA N.W.T.. Speeches will be followed by a short march through the city’s downtown. The night will conclude at Javaroma Gourmet Coffee and...
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Big year ahead for Kanesatake education centre
By Eve Cable, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Eastern Door From new channels to connect with parents to a visit from a sports superstar, the first few days back at school in Kanesatake have been off to an excellent start. “It’s been very, very busy, but it’s honestly been so amazing, everyone was very welcoming to everything that was happening, and we’ve all learnt a lot together,” said Watsenniiostha Nelson, director of education at the Kanesatake Education Center (KEC). The return to school began with teacher development days, where Nelson said a big focus was talking with Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers about the priorities for the school year, with a particular focus on making sure non-Indigenous support staff understand the contexts in which they’re teaching. Staff participated in a facilitated KAIROS...
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Petitions call for BZA chief’s removal
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ROCKY BAY — Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA) members “just want to move forward” but can’t do that until their chief steps aside, Mercedes Hardy told Newswatch on Friday. That, she said, is why she and other members started a petition for the removal of Chief Gladys Thompson. The paper petition and a complementary online petition will be presented Sunday at a BZA band meeting in Rocky Bay, Hardy said. One band councillor has told Newswatch he expects there will be “another motion to toss (Thompson) out” at Sunday’s meeting. Hardy said the petition is a last resort, but the chief has left dissatisfied BZA members with no alternative. The band office and medical centre in Rocky Bay have been closed...
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