Clam Garden Series: Dennis Hetu and the ancestral clam farm
By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, Toquaht citizen Dennis Hetu couldn’t believe his eyes the day he stumbled upon an ancient clam garden in his ḥaḥuułi (traditional territory) on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The action unfolded over 20 years ago, but Hetu remembers it like it was yesterday. Having just acquired a commercial licence to harvest oysters, Hetu was out on the water scouting beaches when he came across an inviting spot for clamming. It was low tide, he had a rake on hand, plus his aunt had requested clams for dinner…so he boarded the beach and started digging. “I was very weary of the beach because I knew that bears were around. My head was on a swivel....
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Documentary wins award prior to its world premiere in Vancouver
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter It took about four times longer for director Kim O’Bomsawin than she had originally planned to complete her latest film. But as it turned out, O’Bomsawin, a member of Abenaki First Nation is more than happy now with the delays she experienced while filming Ninan Auassat: We, the Children. The documentary’s world premiere is set for Oct. 4 at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). A second VIFF screening will be held on Oct. 6. Even before being screened to the public for the first time, the movie had become an award-winning one. VIFF officials selected Ninan Auassat: We, the Children as the festival’s Best Canadian Documentary. The award includes a $15,000 cash prize. Ninan Auassat: We, the Children tells the inspiring stories...
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Alberta threatens new legal action over Ottawa’s revised environmental assessment act
(CP)-Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is threatening another legal challenge against Ottawa’s environmental assessment law, a move federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is dismissing as a political stunt. The federal Impact Assessment Act was enacted in 2019, but a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year found much of it unconstitutional. In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government made changes to the bill in the summer. But Smith said in a Thursday letter to Trudeau that the changes aren’t good enough. Smith said the province would mount a legal challenge in four weeks if Ottawa doesn’t commit to further changes. “The federal government continues to play politics and cater to activists,” she said in a Friday news release, accusing the Liberals of failing to meaningfully consult with Alberta. Smith’s ultimatum...
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‘There was nothing I could do’
First Lytton, then Jasper: the emotional toll of wildfire destruction weighs heavy for survivors and their families By Eva Takakenew Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Amy Romer, works as a mentor for Megaphone’s peer newsroom called The Shift in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.The Shift is made up of a diverse group of individuals with lived experience of poverty, who are reporting from the DTES instead of being reported on. On the day of the wildfire disaster in Lytton, B.C. — which destroyed the village on June 30, 2021 — Megaphone vendor Peter Thompson, whose hometown is Lytton, was living in Vancouver. Upon hearing the news, his immediate thought was to find a way to help, but being so far away without a vehicle, he felt powerless. “I felt really bad that there...
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First Nations leaders say Saskatchewan court workers sent home for orange shirts
The Canadian Press-Indigenous leaders say two staff at a Saskatchewan courthouse were told to go home and take off the orange shirts they wore for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Meadow Lake Tribal Council is demanding an investigation. Richard Derocher, a vice-chief with the council, says the two First Nations women had been proud to wear the shirts, as well as orange skirts, for work Monday at the courthouse in Meadow Lake, northwest of Saskatoon. But he says they were told to go home and change and left feeling ashamed. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice says it can’t speak to government policies or programs during the ongoing provincial election campaign. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said at a campaign stop this week that he’s open to expanding legislation...
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Closing arguments begin Monday in sexual assault trial against native healer
By Keith Lacey Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Closing arguments will begin Monday in the trial of a traditional native healer from the Williams Lake area charged with sexual assault while performing native healing sessions against several women in Penticton two years ago in the fall of 2022. Donald Wayne Ashley was charged with sexual assault after several different women accused him of inappropriate touching during traditional native healing sessions over a four-day period two years ago. Ashley, who did not testify during the trial and is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the seven-man, five-woman jury (there is also one male and one female alternate jurors) at the Penticton courthouse. On Friday, defence counsel Mark Norha and Crown attorney Andrew Vandersluys made legal arguments before Justice Michael Brundrett relating to...
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Work continues on alert system for missing Indigenous women: minister
The Canadian Press The federal government says it’s making progress on a pilot program for an alert system that would inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl is missing. The federal and Manitoba governments have been working on a Red Dress Alert system. It would be similar to Amber Alerts, which are used when a child is abducted, and the aim is to eventually make it countrywide. Gary Anandasangaree, the federal minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations, says a Manitoba Indigenous group has been selected to lead the pilot, which was first announced in May. Statistics Canada said in a report last year that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than the rate for their non-Indigenous counterparts. The federal budget set aside $1.3 million...
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First Nations take a stand against nuclear waste in the North
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – Pays Plat First Nation member Sharlene Bourdeau Waboose was clear about her reason for participating in Wednesday’s rally at Waverley Park. “Because Pays Plat is against the burial of nuclear waste in the North,” she said just before the rally got underway. Leaders “have to think of the next seven generations,” she said, and the deep geological repository’s proponents “are not thinking of the next seven generations. “I’m thinking of a couple of hundred years from now. Something that’s manmade is not going to last, then it’s going to poison the environment.” Bourdeau Waboose was among nearly 200 people who gathered in the north-side city park for a rally against nuclear waste storage in Northwestern Ontario. Julia Rusnak, a Lac...
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Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of the tribe to the game
MIAMI, Okla. (AP) — Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including “probably hundreds of hours” colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century later with a proposal to make a playable character out of their famous leader Tecumseh in the upcoming game Civilization 7, Barnes felt a rush of excitement. “I was like, ‘This can’t be true,’” Barnes said. “Do they want us to participate in the next version of Civilization?” Beloved by tens of millions of gamers since its 1991 debut, Meier’s Civilization series sparked a new genre of empire-building games that simulated the real world while also diverging into imaginary twists. It has captivated nerdy fans like...
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City police place officer in First Nations high school
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – Eric Gray remembers feeling uncertain about police when he arrived in the city from Sandy Lake First Nation to attend Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School. “Coming into Thunder Bay, I was nervous about the police because I have heard all these stories about what they’ve done to First Nations people,” he said. Having a dedicated school resource officer “makes me feel better about that,” he said after it was announced that the Thunder Bay Police Service has launched a partnership with the school’s operator. DFC, as it’s called, is run by the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council for teens like Gray who come from First Nations where high schools aren’t available. Thursday at the council’s offices on Hewitson Street, the joint...
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First Nations couple climbs to Mount Everest Base Camp
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A Northwestern Ontario couple have proudly carried the flags of their First Nations to a place few Indigenous people from Canada have been before: base camp on the world’s highest mountain. Travis and Marietta Duncan posted photos of themselves holding up the flags of Bearskin Lake and Muskrat Dam First Nations on Facebook earlier this week. Reaching Everest Base Camp after a 15-day trek evoked “a feeling of self-accomplishment for both of us,” Travis, from Muskrat Dam, said in an interview Thursday from Lukla, Nepal. “We also wanted to represent our communities in a positive way,” he added. “It was also overwhelming too, because the scenery was so beautiful in the mountains,” said Marietta, who is from Bearskin Lake. “It was just a...
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Lawyer for only RCMP officer convicted in Dale Culver’s death requests obstruction case be dropped
By Amy Romer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Lawyers for a “Prince George” Mountie convicted of obstruction in the death of Dale Culver are calling for a stay of proceedings — a “legal maneuver” that has “outraged” Gitanyow leaders. The 35-year-old Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en man died in police custody in 2017, sparking an investigation by the province’s police watchdog. In July, a judge found Const. Arthur Dalman guilty of obstruction of justice for ordering bystanders to delete cellphone footage of Culver’s violent arrest. It was the only guilty verdict in the case. But just three weeks later, Dalman’s lawyers applied for a stay of proceedings, arguing his Charter rights were breached, including the right to a trial within a reasonable time. The B.C. Prosecution Service (BCPS) confirmed the Aug. 16 filing...
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Public school board candidate decries First Nation residents’ exclusion
By: Maggie Macintosh Local Journalism Initiative Reporter An Anishinaabe candidate in the Mountain View School Division’s upcoming byelection is calling for systemic change so on-reserve residents have a say in choosing the people making decisions about the public schools their children attend. Scott Lynxleg said he was shocked and saddened to learn that members of Tootinaowaziibeeng First Nation, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Dauphin, are ineligible to nominate or vote for local school board candidates. “It just feels wrong,” said Lynxleg, a father and grandfather of public school students who splits his time between Tootinaowaziibeeng and his main residence in Dauphin. Lynxleg is seeking a vacant seat in Ward 2 of his division’s embattled board of trustees. A byelection to fill four vacancies in Mountain View is scheduled for...
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Inuit lawmaker asked to leave the podium at Danish Parliament after speaking only in Greenlandic
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A lawmaker representing Greenland in Denmark’s Parliament was asked to leave the podium of the assembly after she refused to translate her speech delivered in Greenlandic — the Inuit language of the sparsely populated Arctic island — into Danish, highlighting strained relations within the Danish Realm. Aki-Matilda Høgh-Dam, from the social democratic Siumut party, is at the center of a debate about whether lawmakers from Greenland and the Faeroe Islands can speak in their own tongues before the Danish Parliament. The two semi-independent territories each hold two seats in the Folketing in Copenhagen. During a traditional debate day Thursday, where parties’ political affairs spokespeople explain their party’s line, Høgh-Dam gave an eight-minute speech in Greenlandic. She had beforehand distributed a translation of her speech to the...
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What the parties are promising ahead of the British Columbia provincial election
The British Columbia’s New Democrats released the party’s platform Thursday days after the Greens unveiled a plan for government ahead of the election on Oct. 19. The B.C. Conservative Party has not released its platform, but has made a series of policy announcements and promises as election day approaches. Here is a look at some of the top promises made by each major party: NDP — Leader David Eby made perhaps the biggest promises in the fall campaign before it even began, promising that a re-elected NDP government would open involuntary-care facilities for those with overlapping addictions, mental illness, and brain injuries. — Eby also promised that the NDP would scrap B.C.’s long-standing carbon tax if the federal government dropped its requirement for the tax, and would instead shift the...
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‘You were innocent’: Judge acquits Manitoba man 50 years after murder conviction
Canadian Press-An Indigenous man convicted of killing a restaurant worker 50 years ago was acquitted Thursday by a judge who called the case a wrongful conviction that involved systemic discrimination. Clarence Woodhouse, 72, held up his court papers, along with a T-shirt that said “Innocent,” outside court. He told reporters he is looking forward to spending time with his son and grandchildren. “I’ll probably just relax,” Woodhouse said in a quiet voice. Woodhouse is the third man to be exonerated in the 1973 death of Ting Fong Chan, a chef who was beaten and stabbed near a downtown construction site. Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were acquitted last year. The federal justice minister ordered a review of their case as likely miscarriages of justice. Their 1974 convictions were based largely...
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Indigenous youth descend upon Iqaluit for climate conference
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter For some attendees, a youth conference in Iqaluit this week is a-once in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the Nunavut capital and its landscapes. The SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Summit kicked off in the city Tuesday and runs through Thursday. Events are being held at the Aqsarniit hotel and Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. The three-day event, which was previously held at locations in the south, has attracted more than 100 Indigenous delegates from across Canada. Keynote speakers, panels on environment-related topics, skills and career development workshops and on-the-land lessons are all on the agenda. Mihskwakwan James Harper is one of the organizers of the SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Summit in Iqaluit. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier) “I’m Woodlands Cree, so we’re surrounded by nothing but trees....
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Zone for eastern Hudson Bay beluga protection shrinks, Inukjuak now outside it
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The boundary that marks a protection zone for belugas in the eastern Hudson Bay Region is smaller after a recommendation from Nunavik’s marine wildlife management board was accepted by the federal government. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced the change Thursday in a news release. Hunters are limited to a total allowable harvest of belugas within this zone per year. But the northern boundary of the beluga management zone is now south of Inukjuak, which means hunters in that community can now harvest an unlimited number of beluga in their coastal waters. The Nastapoka River estuary and the Little Whale River estuary are still considered closed areas, and require an approved estuary harvest plan for opening. Hunters who wish to hunt...
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‘You were innocent’: Judge acquits Manitoba man 50 years after murder conviction
An Indigenous man convicted of killing a restaurant worker 50 years ago was acquitted Thursday by a judge who called the case a wrongful conviction that involved systemic discrimination. Clarence Woodhouse, 72, held up his court papers, along with a T-shirt that said “Innocent”, outside court. He told reporters he is looking forward to spending time with his son and grandchildren. “I’ll probably just relax,” Woodhouse said in a quiet voice. Woodhouse is the third man to be exonerated in the 1973 death of Ting Fong Chan, a chef who was beaten and stabbed near a downtown construction site. Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were acquitted last year. The federal justice minister ordered a review of their case as likely miscarriages of justice. Their 1974 convictions were based largely on...
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Federal fisheries officers refusing duties because of violence on the water in N.S.
(CP)-Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they’re refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa’s response to their complaints. The union representing the officers says its members have been shot at, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers — and their families — have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing. “They’ve been exposed to firearms such as automatic weapons (against) which their current body armour does not protect them,” Shimen Fayad, president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, said in an email Wednesday. She said a federal labour investigator is reviewing documents from the Fisheries Department and from officers who have refused some enforcement duties on the water and on wharfs in the province. We...
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