‘I won’t be the last’: Tréchelle Bunn elected as first female chief of Dakota nation
By Brittany Hobson Tréchelle Bunn has had a whirlwind month. She wrapped up her two-year tenure as one of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization youth chiefs, finished her second year of law school at the University of Manitoba and received an Indspire award for her work in Indigenous communities at a ceremony in Vancouver. Then an election held the day Bunn returned to Manitoba from B.C. put the young woman in the history books. On April 10, Bunn was voted in as chief of Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation, marking the first time the community located near the Saskatchewan boundary has elected a female leader. At age 25, Bunn is also the youngest person elected as chief in her community and is believed to be one of the youngest sitting chiefs in...
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Pope Francis apologized for residential schools on historic Canadian visit
By Brittany Hobson On a warm July day in 2022, thousands of dignitaries, Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors travelled from across Canada to powwow grounds in central Alberta. For some, the journey took days. For others, decades. They had all come to hear Pope Francis apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools. Francis died Monday at the Vatican. He was 88. It was on the stage at Maskwacis, Alta., where Francis made history. He said he was sorry and ashamed for abuses committed by some members of the Catholic Church as well as for the cultural destruction and forced assimilation that culminated in the schools. “I’m sorry,” Francis said in Spanish. “I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples.”...
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Poilievre vows not to impose a home equity tax as Liberals, NDP talk health care
By Craig Lord Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is claiming the Liberals will impose a tax on Canadians’ home equity if they’re re-elected as the federal election campaign enters its final week. The last day of advance voting in the general election saw federal leaders scattered across the country, pitching plans on homebuilding and health care. Poilievre was in Toronto Monday afternoon speaking to an audience with CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. He was asked whether he would put any taxes on equity saved in Canadians’ homes. “We will never allow a tax on home equity. Period. Full stop. Not going to happen,” he said. Currently, Canadians are exempt from paying capital gains tax on the sales of their primary residences, allowing those who own their homes to keep...
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Hudson’s Bay artifacts won’t be an easy buy for cash-strapped institutions: experts
By Tara Deschamps Museums, galleries and other archival institutions will likely need some help, if they want to buy Hudson’s Bay art or artifacts. Historians say most public organizations don’t have the kind of cash they’d need to easily purchase items belonging to the faltering, 355-year-old company. “The reality is archival institutions in Canada do not have money,” said Cody Groat, an assistant processor of history and Indigenous studies at Western University in London, Ont. “There’s chronic underfunding for cultural heritage across the country. It’s existed for many years.” Groat’s remarks come on the heels of news last week that Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company, will ask a court on Thursday for permission to auction off its 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts. The fur-trading-business-turned-department-store chain has...
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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Extends Condolences on the Passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis
(April 21, 2025 – Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa) – National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak issued the following statement regarding the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis. “On behalf of the Assembly of First Nations, we extend our deepest condolences to the global community grieving this loss,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “While the Catholic Church has a legacy of harm against First Nations, we acknowledge the progress made in recent years, largely due to Pope Francis’ efforts. He listened to us and heard us. He invited us to the Vatican and apologized. It was monumental in our history with the Catholic church.” “First Nations people still struggle with the relationship with the Catholic Church for good reason. We endured so much in the Indian Residential School era. His Holiness Pope...
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Canadians remember Pope Francis for historic apology for residential schools
By Nicole Thompson Pope Francis will be remembered by Canadian Catholics as a progressive leader whose approach to the papacy helped usher in a new era of Indigenous relations and make the church more responsive to its rank and file. The Vatican says the pontiff died Monday at age 88. Francis was the global leader of Canada’s most popular organized religion. Nearly 11 million Canadians identified as Catholic in the 2021 census, second only to those without a religious affiliation. His most lasting impact in Canada is likely to be his response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action: that he apologize for the legacy of residential schools on Canadian soil. Prime Minister Mark Carney, a practising Catholic, called the 2022 apology an “important step of...
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Community residents welcomed to take survey
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Fort William First Nation residents are being encouraged to take part in a regional health survey developed and overseen by Indigenous officials. The survey, which is open to people who live in the community, is sponsored by the First Nation Information Governance Centre in southern Ontario, and implemented by the Chiefs of Ontario. “Data collected from relatively few surveys can provide an overall picture of what’s happening in the province (when) aggregated with other participating First Nation communities,” a Fort William First Nation project bulletin said. The survey takes about 40 minutes to complete. It’s being made available April 24-25. Those who complete the survey receive a $50 gift card, the bulletin said. Respondents should book an appoint with FWFN’s health...
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Where do whale sharks mate? The search to learn where the magic happens for the world’s biggest fish
By Maria Cheng JAMESTOWN, St. Helena (AP) — Whale sharks shouldn’t be hard for scientists to find. They are enormous — they are the biggest fish in the sea and perhaps the biggest fish to have ever lived. They are found in warm oceans all around the world. By shark standards, they are slow swimmers. But they somehow manage to also be very private: Scientists don’t know where they mate, and they’ve never observed it before. They do finally have some clues, though. Scientists suspect the magic may be happening in the waters around St. Helena, a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean where Napoleon Bonaparte was once exiled and died. It’s the only place in the world where adult male and female whale sharks are known to...
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Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects
By Hallie Golden At least $1.6 million in federal funds for projects meant to capture and digitize stories of the systemic abuse of generations of Indigenous children in boarding schools at the hands of the U.S. government have been slashed due to federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. The cuts are just a fraction of the grants canceled by the National Endowment for the Humanities in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal government. But coming on the heels of a major federal boarding school investigation by the previous administration and an apology by then-President Joe Biden, they illustrate a seismic shift. “If we’re looking to ‘Make America Great Again,’ then I think it should start with the truth about the...
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Doig River First Nation officially opens cultural education centre
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca DOIG RIVER FIRST NATION, B.C. — After some postponements, Doig River First Nation (DRFN) officially opened its new cultural education centre. Local figures like former North Peace MLA Dan Davies, stewartship manager of the Fort St. John Association for Community Living Jared Braun and representatives from Northern Lights College joined DRFN Chief Trevor Makadahay and the band council to cut the ribbon on the Doig River Cultural Centre on Thursday, April 17th. Makadahay said the unveiling to the public is a “big step” for the overall continued growth of DRFN’s culture. “[It] really provides us a space to invest in our culture,” said Makadahay. “[We can] put time into it with language, development of curriculum, all of that.” Inside the two-story building...
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Supreme Court blocks, for now, new deportations under 18th century wartime law
By Nicholas Riccardi And Mark Sherman The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked, for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law. In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.” Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Supreme Court had said earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest...
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250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
By Hillel Italie And Michael Casey LEXINGTON, Mass. (AP) — Thousands of people came to this Massachusetts town Saturday just before dawn to witness a reenactment of how the American Revolution began 250 years ago, with the blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial spin. Starting with Saturday’s anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the country will look back to its war of independence and ask where its legacy stands today. Just after dawn on the Lexington Battle Green, militiamen, muskets in hand, took on a much larger army of British regulars. The battle ended with eight Americans dead and 10 wounded — the dead scattered on the grounds as the British marched off. The regulars would head to Concord but not before a horseman, Dr. Samuel...
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Some rural communities don’t qualify for rebate supplement
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Some rural residents who live in communities just outside Thunder Bay may feel a bit short-changed after the final federal carbon tax rebate cheques are issued on Tuesday. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says it has determined following a review that Oliver Paipoonge, Shuniah, O’Connor, Gillies, Neebing and Fort William First Nation are part of the Thunder Bay Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA). “As such, residents (in those communities) are not entitled to the (rebate’s) rural supplement,” a CRA spokeswoman said on Thursday in an email. The rural supplement adds 20 per cent to the rebate’s eligible base amounts, which have been issued quarterly. Liberal MPs, including Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay-Rainy River), have argued that the supplement has made the federal carbon...
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First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary
By Brenna Owen Deaths from toxic drugs may have dipped, but now is not the time to pull back on life-saving measures, especially given “misinformation” in the public discourse, the top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority said Monday. Dr. Nel Wieman said First Nations continue to be disproportionately represented among the deaths as the province marked the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis being declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. Wieman said her team was pushing B.C.’s Health Ministry to help find a tailored approach for First Nations-specific issues with the goal of preventing more people from dying and closing the gap with the non-First Nations population. Wieman presented data showing 427 members of First Nations in B.C. died of a toxic drug...
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Everglades restoration would protect Florida Keys while scientists watch drought conditions
By David Fischer ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) — The Everglades is more than just swamps, fan boats and alligators and restoration efforts impact more than the land between Florida’s east and west coasts. Florida Bay, a body of water located between the southern end of mainland Florida and the Florida Keys, makes up about a third of Everglades National Park. High salt levels during dry periods can have fatal consequences for the plants and animals living in the region, though experts are hopeful an early rain season this year will prevent a massive sea grass die-off like those experienced in the past. Estuary of the Everglades Steve Davis, chief science officer with The Everglades Foundation, called Florida Bay the estuary of the Everglades, which is actually a giant, slow-moving river starting...
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Neskantaga First Nation asks governments to respond to state of emergency after flood
A First Nation in northern Ontario that has been under a boil-water advisory for over 30 years is calling on all levels of government to respond to a state of emergency in the area, days after announcing it would evacuate community members hundreds of kilometres south to Thunder Bay. Chief Gary Quisess of Neskantaga First Nation called a local state of emergency on April 13 after water that had a strong fuel odour flooded into a local nursing station. A Wednesday news release said that the First Nation began evacuating about 130 people who require “full and immediate access” to health services to Thunder Bay. Quisess says in a Sunday news release he’s asking government officials to bring emergency health services to the remote community, saying the First Nation has...
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250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
By Hillel Italie And Michael Casey LEXINGTON, Mass. (AP) — Thousands of people came to Lexington, Massachusetts, just before dawn on Saturday to witness a reenactment of how the American Revolution began 250 years ago, with the blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial spin. Starting with Saturday’s anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the country will look back to its war of independence and ask where its legacy stands today. Just after dawn on the Lexington Battle Green, militiamen, muskets in hand, took on a much larger contingent of British regulars. The battle ended with eight Americans killed and 10 wounded — the dead scattered on the grounds as the British marched off. The regulars would head to Concord but not before a horseman, Dr. Samuel...
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Decreasing salmon populations disrupting Tsleil-Waututh Nation cultural practices, study finds
By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News A recent study suggests the historical decrease in salmon populations in Metro Vancouver waters from infrastructure developments is impacting səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) fishing and cultural practices. Using archaeological data, Indigenous oral histories and traditional use studies, researchers documented salmon populations like sockeye and chum from pre-colonization times to the mid-20th century. Researchers found since the 1860s, salmon in water bodies like the Fraser River and rivers and streams draining into Burrard Inlet have decreased 85 and 99 per cent, respectively, compared to pre-contact levels. “It’s just a huge reduction in simply the amount of fish that were out there,” said co-author Jesse Morin, adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s Oceans and Fisheries Institute. “And all those other things...
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From Buenos Aires to Rome: Key dates in the life of Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Key events in the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis and died on Monday: Dec. 17, 1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio, an accountant from Italy, and Regina María Sívori, the daughter of Italian immigrants. Dec. 13, 1969: Ordained a priest with the Jesuit religious order, which he would lead as Argentina provincial superior during the country’s murderous dictatorship that began in the 1970s. May 20, 1992: Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and in 1998 succeeds Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as archbishop of the Argentine capital. Feb. 21, 2001: Elevated to cardinal by St. John Paul II. May 2007: Helps draft the final document of the fifth meeting of the...
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What are the church’s rites after the death of a pope and the election of a new one?
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. The election itself is shrouded in secrecy, with cardinals forbidden from communicating with the outside world what happened during the voting in the conclave behind the frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel. St. John Paul II rewrote the regulations on papal elections in a 1996 document that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned. Here is what happens when a pope dies, a period...
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