Sky Deer, Montour trek to Ottawa to oppose C 53
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer and Ross Montour, the lead chief on the Indigenous Rights and Research portfolio both made a trek to Ottawa last week to try to put a stop to a proposed law that would grant First Nations status to a community that has no real claim to that status. “There’s never really been a Metis nation in Ontario, so the government granting them First Nations status is not something that’s acceptable to us. We think the original rights holders to that land ought to be consulted and they haven’t been,” Sky-Deer said Tuesday morning. “Even the Red River Metis have denounced the claim.” Bill C-53 would recognize the Metis Nation of Ontario’s communities under Section 35...
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College unveils Buffalo Winter Count Robe
By Theodora Macleod Local Journalism Initiative Reporter LETHBRIDGE HERALD As part of the week’s events recognizing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Lethbridge College unveiled what the college calls “a sign of the ongoing work to understand traditional cultures and ways of knowing.” The traditional Buffalo Winter Count Robe serves as a record of major events at the institution and was painted by William Singer III (Api’soomaahka/Running Coyote) a Kainai knowledge keeper and artist who explains “each symbol has a story, and they all fit into each other and form a chain.” Made from the hide of a buffalo from Piikani Nation, the Winter Count Robe features pictographs representing events which were chosen collaboratively by various departments at the college in consultation with Kainai Kaahsinnoonik (Grandparent) Peter Weasel Moccasin...
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Province ordered to consult First Nations on mining permit allocation
By Seth Forward Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A Vancouver Supreme Court judge has found that the province’s Chief Gold Commissioner (CGC) has a legal obligation to guarantee First Nations are consulted before mining permits are administered. The Province were given 18 months to amend its online mining permit system to ensure First Nations rights are not bypassed, bringing to a close a historic court challenge by Gitxaa?a and Ehattesaht First Nations. Justice Alan Ross presided over the case, which took place at the Vancouver Supreme Court on Sept. 26. Ross agreed with the petitioners that B.C.’s online system, which had no structure for consultation with First Nations, was a breach of the Crown’s obligations. The two nations claimed that the current Mineral Tenure Act (MTA), last amended in 2012, does...
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Transportation paved the way for colonization: it can also support reconciliation
By Jaimy Fischer As Canada marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, individuals and institutions are being urged to acknowledge the colonial origins of this country, which are rooted in the persecution and genocide of Indigenous nations. There will be many meaningful conversations about ways we can each engage with and support reconciliation. However, one issue that doesn’t get enough attention is how transportation continues to be a serious challenge for Indigenous communities. Various aspects of transportation are addressed in the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG2S+) Calls for Justice, which underscore the root causes of ongoing disparities and violence against Indigenous Peoples in Canada. As a Red River Metis person and transportation researcher concerned...
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Food insecurity among Indigenous kids is a ‘public health crisis,’ doctors say
By Nicole Ireland THE CANADIAN PRESS Family physician Dr. Rebekah Eatmon sees parents in tears, frustrated that they can’t provide enough healthy food for their children. “I’ve never met an Indigenous parent that doesn’t want to do the best for their kids,” said Eatmon, who works at an Indigenous clinic in Vancouver and in two remote First Nations in B.C. Rising food prices have put “an even bigger burden on families who were struggling before,” said the doctor, who is a member of Lax Kw’alaams First Nation on her father’s side and Metis on her mother’s side. As families across Canada grapple with the increasing cost of groceries, a new study says First Nations, Metis and Inuit children and youth have been disproportionately affected by food insecurity for years, to...
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Metlakatla awarded $150 million for 100 year old shady land deal
By Seth Forward Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Metlakatla First Nation has agreed to a settlement with the federal government over an unjust sale of a portion of its land in 1906. The settlement awarded Metlakatla with a monumental $150 million after the community discovered financial wrongdoing from the Canadian government in the land sale around 25 years ago. After a decision by the National Special Claims Tribunal in December 2022 validated Metlakatla’s assertions, the Nation’s governing body finally announced the long-awaited settlement on Sept. 21. The Canadian government bought 13,567 acres for $7.50 per acre of Metlakatla’s reserve land in 1907 as part of its national railway project in partnership with the Grand Trunk Railway Company (GTR), though according to the claim, the First Nation was not made aware of...
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Muscogee Nation judge rules in favor of citizenship for slave descendants known as freedmen
By Sean Murphy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-A judge for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma ruled in favor of citizenship for two descendants of Black slaves once owned by tribal members, potentially paving the way for hundreds of other descendants known as freedmen. District Judge Denette Mouser, based in the tribe’s headquarters in Okmulgee, ruled late Wednesday in favor of two Black Muscogee Nation freedmen, Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy, who had sued the tribe’s citizenship board for denying their applications. Mouser reversed the board’s decision and ordered it to reconsider the applications in accordance with the tribe’s Treaty of 1866, which provides that descendants of those listed on the Creek Freedmen Roll are eligible for tribal citizenship. Freedman citizenship has been a difficult issue for tribes as...
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Catholic Bishops say $30 million reconciliation fund on track to meet new deadline
By Kelly Malone and Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Canadian Catholic leaders say they are almost halfway to their fundraising goals for a reconciliation fund formed after the church failed to meet previous financial obligations. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops held its annual meeting in Toronto this week, where church leaders were told the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund has raised $11.5 million so far, nearly 40 per cent of its goal. The Canadian bishops made a commitment in 2021 to raise $30 million in up to five years. They expect to raise at least $14 million by the end of the year. The Catholic Church was under pressure to properly compensate survivors under the Indian Residential School Survivor Agreement after it was reported that less than $4 million had...
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Six Nations councillor Nathan Wright resigns to take on band’s CEO job
By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) has confirmed Councillor Nathan Wright has resigned from council to take on the band’s top administrative role of “Acting Chief Executive Officer “.(CEO )left vacant with the one year leave of absence by former CEO Darren Jamieson. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) approved the hiring in a closed meeting Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023 waiting until Friday (Sept., 29th) to announce the new CEO. Wright did not seek re-election in the current SNEC elections . In a statement Friday, (Sept., 29th) SNEC said Wright was chosen “after completing a comprehensive selection process.” SNEC did not elaborate on the process or when it took place. In a statement SNEC said “Not only has Wright’s leadership skills shone during...
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Reconciliation and reckoning as Nisga’a totem pole returns from Scotland museum
Amy Parent, right, is shown in a handout photo with the Ni’isjoohl memorial pole alongside Nisga’a Chief Earl Stephens during a visit to the National Museum of Scotland. A homecoming celebration will be held for the memorial totem pole after an absence of almost 100 years on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-National Museums Scotland-Neil Hanna **MANDATORY CREDIT** By Dirk Meissner THE CANADIAN PRESS VICTORIA- A homecoming celebration for a memorial totem pole after an absence of almost 100 years will resonate far beyond the tiny Indigenous village in northwest British Columbia where it is being returned Friday. The House of Ni’isjoohl memorial totem, on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh since 1930, returns amid a reckoning for some cultural institutions about colonial legacies. But Indigenous, political, cultural...
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‘We’re not refugees, we’re evacuees’: Leaders meet for inaugural summit
By Amanda Rabski-McColl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter As area leaders gather in Timmins, First Nations’ capacity for their own emergency situations is front and centre on the agenda. The first Mushkegowuk Emergency Response Summit is bringing together emergency services workers and community leaders to brainstorm ways to grow capacity and take control of emergency situations on their lands, with Indigenous leadership setting the plans in motion. When it comes to evacuations, Mushkegowuk Council EMS manager Wilbert Wesley said a lot has transformed. “We see new advancements coming out, the federal government has come out with plans in regards to the First Nations and what options First Nations have to bring us to the table and make decisions for ourselves,” he told TimminsToday. When remote communities on the James Bay coast...
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AMO forms new Indigenous advisory council, adding Wawa mayor to their ranks
By Austin Campbell Local Journalism Initiative Reporter After disbanding their Indigenous relations task force, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario is forming a new Indigenous advisory council to better represent Indigenous voices and integrate Indigenous practices into policies across the province. Among other elected Indigenous officials, Melanie Pilon, who made history as the first Indigenous mayor elected in Wawa, readily accepted her invitation to join AMO’s new council. The main role of the council will be to advise on policy matters through an Indigenous lens, taking into consideration the effect of certain policies on First Nations communities and “urban Indigenous citizens,” Pilon noted. Furthermore, the Indigenous advisory council will build upon the goals outlined by the healthy democracy project in 2022, which allocated $1 million to boost “equitable representation, increase ...
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What ever happened to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most important relationship?
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA-The first mandate letters Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his cabinet ministers in 2015 said no relationship was more important to him, and to the country, than the one with Indigenous Peoples. He called for a new nation-to-nation relationship, one based on the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership. He promised to end boil-water advisories in First Nations communities within five years. He said constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations are a sacred obligation. “I know that renewing our relationship is an ambitious goal. But I am equally certain that it is one we can, and will, achieve if we work together,” Trudeau told the Assembly of First Nations in December 2015. “This is a responsibility I take seriously, and I have instructed...
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Former CTV news anchor Lisa LaFlamme speaks at Powassan library fundraiser
By Rocco Frangione Local Journalism Initiative A personal connection a Powassan resident has with former CTV News Anchor Lisa LaFlamme has helped the Powassan and District Union Public Library raise about $14,000. Marty Schreiter, the library’s program coordinator, reached out to LaFlamme over the summer to see if she would speak at a library fundraiser and she agreed. The tickets to the September 23rd event sold out within days and 200 people plus about 30 volunteers, support staff and Friends of the Library listened to LaFlamme give a fireside chat at the Trout Creek Community Centre about her journalism career. Now 59, LaFlamme considers herself lucky that she knew very early her passion and life path was to pursue a career in journalism. “I was in Grade 9 and knew I...
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Hajdu says ‘co developed’ First Nations water legislation to be tabled this fall
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she hopes to table a piece of legislation this fall that she says is the closest the federal government has come to co-developing law with First Nations. “It’s really, to me, very important that it reflects the input of Indigenous Peoples,” she said. The proposed bill would aim to begin addressing the protection of fresh water within First Nation communities, as well as water that flows into them. “I’m pretty excited about it,” Hajdu said in a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press. “It’s an opportunity to show the country that we can do things together _ even in this very Westminster parliamentary setting.” The new bill is expected to come more than one year after Canada...
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Report says Alberta energy regulator followed rules in Kearl mine wastewater release
By Bob Weber THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON- A third-party report into the release of millions of litres of oilsands wastewater at Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine has found Alberta’s energy regulator followed its rules in keeping the public and area First Nations informed, but concludes those rules are significantly lacking. “There were no areas of non-adherence to stated policies and procedures,” says the Deloitte report, prepared for the regulator’s board. But the report finds those procedures deeply lacking and recommends the regulator firm up and add details to many of its notification protocols. Essential terms such as “emergency” are left undefined, it says. Guidelines for handling water samples are not provided. Details were vague on how First Nations and other area communities were notified. “There are no documented procedures for internal...
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Manitoba Progressive Conservatives ‘pulling out stops’ with attack ads: analys
By Brittany Hobson and Steve Lambert THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG -Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives are continuing to be dogged by mounting disapproval for taking out billboard and newspaper ads that highlights the province’s decision not to search a landfill for the remains of two First Nations women. A stand-alone digital ad went up in Winnipeg that touts the Tories’ position against searching the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran because of safety concerns. The ad reads, “Stand firm against the unsafe $184-million landfill dig.” The party also took out a full-page ad in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday that featured the governing Progressive Conservatives’ promises, and included similar language on their decision to not search the landfill. The families of Myran and Harris, along with...
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One Indigenous issue could topple Conservatives in Manitoba general election and install First Nations premier
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In a provincial election campaign that has largely neglected Indigenous issues, Real Carriere says it’s one Indigenous issue that has dominated debates and ads that could decide the fate of the ruling Manitoba Progressive Conservatives on Oct. 3. And if the Conservatives lose, New Democratic Party leader Wab Kinew from the Onigaming First Nation in northwestern Ontario, would become the first First Nations person to hold the position of Manitoba premier. John Norquay (Metis) was the first Indigenous person in the position, serving as province’s fifth premier from 1878 to 1887. “Within every election cycle, I think there’s certain issues that compel Indigenous peoples to turn out to vote,” said Carriere, a University of Manitoba assistant professor in political science. “So, this is...
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Hajdu says ‘co developed’ First Nations water legislation to be tabled this fall
OTTAWA- Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she hopes to table a piece of legislation this fall that she says is the closest the federal government has come to co-developing law with First Nations. The proposed bill would aim to begin addressing the protection of fresh water within First Nation communities, as well as water that flows into them. She says that while working with the Assembly of First Nations and other stakeholders, she understood that people who live in communities want to have control over the rules and regulations that govern their water delivery. Hajdu says the bill will be the first to be introduced under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but she isn’t sharing much detail about what it will include. She says...
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N.L. government to apologize to residential school survivors from southern Labrador
ST. JOHN’S, N.L.- The Newfoundland and Labrador government will deliver a long-awaited apology to residential school survivors in southern Labrador on Friday. The province sad today that Premier Andrew Furey will be in Cartwright, where the Lockwood boarding school operated until 1964, to issue an apology in collaboration with the NunatuKavut Community Council. However, the announcement sparked anger from Labrador’s Inuit Nunatsiavut government, which does not recognize NunatuKavut as an Inuit organization. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a federal apology to Indigenous residential survivors in the province in 2017, after former prime minister Stephen Harper omitted the region from his 2008 apology. Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Dwight Ball also pledged an apology in 2017, but his plans to deliver it in 2020 were thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s release...
