Government of Canada supporting community-led initiatives for vaccination in Northern Ontario
January 29, 2021
Indigenous Peoples face unique challenges in accessing COVID-19 vaccines. Engagement and coordinated planning between the federal and provincial governments and Indigenous leaders is vital to support community-led approaches for access to culturally safe immunization. Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), representing 49 First Nation communities, is playing a key role in this work in Northern Ontario.
Ontario reports under 2,000 new coronavirus cases, 36 more deaths
February 1, 2021
Ontario is reporting 1,969 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the provincial total to 270,180. However, the government noted Monday’s case count is an overestimation.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7611639/ontario-coronavirus-cases-february-1-covid19/
Food security, mental health key issues for NAN
January 31, 2021
Winter road networks are key for remote communities. Last week, the deputy grand chief for Nishnawbe Aski Nation — Jason Smallboy — made a virtual presentation tot he standing committee on Northern and Indigenous Affairs.
https://www.drydennow.com/local/food-security-mental-health-key-issues-for-nan
NAN Congratulates Senator Murray Sinclair on his Retirement from the Senate of Canada
January 31, 2021
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, on behalf of the Executive Council, congratulates Murray Sinclair on his retirement from the Senate of Canada: “I am pleased to congratulate Murray Sinclair on his retirement from the Senate of Canada.
In Thunder Bay, an Indigenous People’s Court offers a new form of justice – but the pandemic has put obstacles in its path
February 1, 2021
The faint aroma of smoke from a smudging ceremony lingers at the start of the Indigenous People’s Court in Thunder Bay. The judge, prosecutor and court staff all take part in the ritual and then sit in a circle of desks.
NDP MPPs demand action as COVID seeps into First Nations communities
January 29, 2021
A Northwestern Ontario MPP says COVID-19 has broken through the lines of defence put up to keep it out of First Nations communities and he’s demanding the province take action to reverse course.
Ginoogaming First Nation confronts growing COVID outbreak
January 30, 2021
A COVID-19 outbreak in Ginoogaming First Nation continues to grow, with band leadership tightening restrictions and awaiting support from the Canadian Rangers. The number of active cases in the community, located just south of Longlac, grew to nine on Saturday.
Fort William First Nation reports COVID-19 case
January 30, 2021
Fort William First Nation has reported a new case of COVID-19 for the first time since November. CEO Michael Pelletier broke the news via Facebook Friday evening with a live video update, urging members to follow provincial lockdown guidelines.
https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/fort-william-first-nation-reports-covid-19-case-3308004
Anishinabek Nation recognizes its heroes in health
January 29, 2021
The Anishinabek Nation annually recognizes individuals in the health field who have exceeded their regular duties to keep citizens in their community safe. Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Glen Hare presented Heroes in Health Awards during the sixth annual health conference held virtually, recently. Two of those awarded are from Manitoulin Island.
https://www.manitoulin.com/anishinabek-nation-recognizes-its-heroes-in-health/
Treaty #3 Launches Red Ribbon Campaign
January 30, 2021
A new campaign has been launched in awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/01/30/217027/
Sixties Scoop class action settlement to move forward after delays
February 1, 2021
Parts of the class action settlement for Sixties Scoop survivors that have been on hold for nearly a year will resume next month, according to the class administrator.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/sixties-scoop-settlement-moves-forward-1.5893774
First Nations doctor wants more action following summit on anti-Indigenous racism in health care
January 30, 2021
“This is the same talk that we had 30 years ago,” said Dr. Lana Potts on Friday in an interview with CBC’s Radio Active. “But there’s really no tangible solutions — there’s no metrics to say we’re doing better.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/first-nations-doctor-wants-more-160000423.html
Symposium participants discuss the role and reach of the commissioner of Indigenous languages office
January 29, 2021
In everything the commissioner for Indigenous languages does communities must be at the centre. That is the conclusion that three break-out groups drew when discussing different aspects of the Office for the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages (OCIL) on the fourth day of an Indigenous Languages symposium hosted by Canadian Heritage.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/symposium-participants-discuss-role-reach-023653260.html
Indigenous WWII veteran Philip Favel dead at 98
January 31, 2021
A Juno Beach veteran of the Second World War, who also advocated for Indigenous veterans after the war ended, has died. Philip Favel was born in Prongua, Saskatchewan, which is part of the Sweetgrass First Nation, located about 150 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/indigenous-wwii-veteran-philip-favel-dead-98-1.5895812
Pro golfer partners with CJGA to bring the game to Indigenous youth
January 30, 2021
Steve Tooshkenig says that golf has been the medicine that saved his life and he’ll be sharing his love of the game with youth through a new partnership with the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA). Tooshkenig, who is a member of Walpole Island First Nation in southwestern Ontario, has been playing golf since he was five after being introduced to the sport by his parents who were both avid golfers.
Opinion: ‘At every turn, Canada chooses the path of injustice toward Indigenous peoples’
January 29, 2021
Reconciliation has not just gone off the rails—many Indigenous peoples think it’s dead. That is a damning assessment from peoples who, more often than not, have extended their hand in peace and given Canadian governments throughout history the benefit of the doubt.
Indigenous Food Tourism In Canada Ahead Of Post-Pandemic Trends
January 31, 2021
Food forms a major part of Indigenous cultures, with traditional knowledge and values being passed down from one generation to the next.
Madahbee Leach confident Indigenous people can become clean energy world leaders
January 29, 2021
Dawn Madahbee Leach knows who she believes should be at the forefront of clean energy projects. “Indigenous people can be leaders globally on clean energy,” Madahbee Leach said at a presentation at the Indigenous Clean Energy E-Gathering on Jan. 22. “I think that’s our role as stewards of the land.”
Northern doctors warn of nurse shortages in First Nation communities
January 29, 2021
Doctors across the northwest are warning of dire consequences due to nurse shortages in First Nation communities. A letter signed by 47 physicians across Northwestern Ontario to the Minister of Indigenous Services Canada is urging the federal government to increase funding for nursing, support staff, and housing.
Canada’s school systems are failing to address colonial past: educators
February 1, 2021
Growing up in Saskatoon, Sherri Swidrovich, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, still remembers learning about Canada’s white history with the constant reminder that her people were seen as primitive.
https://q107.com/news/7607422/school-history-education-60s-scoop-indigenious/
Ontario Takes Immediate Action to Stop the Spread of COVID-19 Variants
January 29, 2021
The Ontario government is taking immediate and decisive action to stop the spread of new COVID-19 variants throughout the province. It is implementing a six-point plan which includes mandatory on-arrival testing of international travellers, enhanced screening and sequencing to identify the new variants, maintaining public health measures to keep people safe, strengthening case and contact management to track the spread of new cases, enhanced protections for vulnerable populations, and leveraging the latest data to inform public health decisions.
Grandparents, researchers, friends: 20,000 people in Canada have died of COVID-19
January 31, 2021
When Thelma Coward-Ince donned her uniform in 1954, she was believed to be the first Black reservist in the Royal Canadian Navy. Decades later, the strong, hard-working great-grandmother moved into the Northwood long-term care facility in Halifax due to dementia. She lived there for five years among other navy veterans until a deadly virus began silently and rapidly spreading last spring.
Dakobinaawaswan: An interview with Shirley Stevens – the Cradleboard Carrier
February 1, 2021
Born in Toronto in 1951, Shirley Stevens’ first 15 years were spent growing up in the small rural village of Highland Creek. In her mid-teens, she began travelling to Northern Ontario and spent time in First Nations on Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, Lake Nipigon, and Lake Superior. Moving first to Macdiarmid in Northwestern Ontario and then to Thunder Bay in 1968, she received her BA/BEd from Lakehead University and began teaching in Indigenous Studies at Lakehead’s Confederation College.
Trickster Cancelled After Showrunner’s Indigenous Heritage Questioned
January 31, 2021
Canadian network CBC has cancelled Trickster after controversy surrounding showrunner Michelle Latimer’s Indigenous identity. Trickster, which is currently airing on The CW in the US, followed a young Indigenous teen named Jared (Joel Oulette), who turned to drug dealing in order to support his family. Jared becomes aware of a hidden magical world when he begins to see creatures such as talking ravens, doppelgangers, and skin monsters. The series had already been renewed for season 2 before the controversy erupted.
https://screenrant.com/trickster-show-cancelled-michelle-latimer-indigenous-false-heritage/
Ontario to impose mandatory testing at Pearson Airport
January 29, 2021
Ontario will test all arriving international travellers at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport ahead of the federal government’s own plan to implement airport testing in the coming weeks.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ontario-impose-mandatory-testing-pearson-034104276.html
Mi’kmaq dub of animated film ‘Chicken Run’ helps keep Indigenous language alive
January 31, 2021
Ten years after two Nova Scotians decided to dub the popular animated film “Chicken Run” into the Mi’kmaq language, their version of the adventure comedy has become a cult hit that continues to spark learning.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7610495/chicken-run-dub-mikmaq-language/
City of Ottawa to rename street after late Algonquin leader William Commanda
January 30, 2021
The City of Ottawa has approved the renaming of a residential street after a respected Algonquin elder in accordance to the city’s reconciliation strategy. The current street, Langevin Ave., named after Hector-Louis Langevin, a father of confederation and an architect of the residential school system, is located in an area called New Edinburgh just east of downtown.
Beadwork challenge brings Kahnawake together amid COVID-19 restrictions
February 1, 2021
When her Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community announced that it would be heading into a month-long stretch of new measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Jessica Hernandez said she was worried about people feeling lonely.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/beadwork-challenge-kahnawake-covid-19-1.5890318
‘Big dreams’ for collective of Kahnawake survivors of child welfare system
January 31, 2021
Lily Ieroniawákon Deer spent a decade of her youth in foster care, and is now using that experience to inform her academic research and support other young adults in her community after they age out of the child welfare system.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kahnawake-child-welfare-survivors-1.5892382
Kanesatake getting ready to heal…online
January 29, 2021
Kanesatake Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP) is embarking on a new journey with its community’s well being in mind.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kanesatake-getting-ready-heal-online-184033874.html
New mask factory on Alberta reserve ‘100 per cent Indigenous’
January 31, 2021
What business school teaches in four years, Jacob Faithful says he learned in four months. The Alberta man from the Frog Lake First Nations says he’s worked through several headaches that come with starting a business during a pandemic and will soon be opening the first mask manufacturing plant on a Canadian reserve that is fully owned and operated by Indigenous people.
First Nations partnership with construction company paying dividends
January 31, 2021
Pat Laliberte starts work at 4 a.m., climbing into the truck and driving the water wherever it’s needed. His company, KDM Constructors, is contracted to haul water and help with construction at the BHP Jansen potash mine east of Saskatoon.
Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation healing garden will commemorate residential school survivors
January 31, 2021
A First Nation near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border will soon start construction on a healing garden to honour its survivors of the residential school system. It will be built next to the health centre on the Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation, about 290 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/birdtail-sioux-dakota-nation-healing-garden-1.5893787
Indigenous leaders accuse Pallister of misleading people regarding flood protection project
January 30, 2021
Indigenous leaders are accusing the premier of misleading people about a legal fight over a major flood protection project. On Thursday, Premier Brian Pallister held a news conference urging Ottawa to sign off on the Lake Manitoba-Lake St. Martin Outlet Channels project.
First Nations people in Manitoba see alarming test positivity rate, as provincial rate drops
January 29, 2021
The First Nations population in Manitoba continues to be the hardest hit by COVID-19, with disproportionate infection rates, the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team said Friday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/first-nations-hardest-hit-by-covid-1.5893666
Indigenous art bank, new grants for Indigenous artists coming for P.E.I.
January 29, 2021
An art bank of Indigenous art and new grants for Indigenous artists living on Prince Edward Island were announced by the provincial government Friday. The two new programs are designed to celebrate and support the accomplishments of P.E.I. Mi’kmaw and other Indigenous artists, the province said in a written release.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-indigenous-art-bank-grants-1.5893799
Indigenous Youth and Mental Health: Culture and tradition go virtual in a good way
January 28, 2021
During COVID-19, many have found it difficult to stay connected due to the need for physical distancing. Despite these challenges, First Nations youth have led the way in offering new and fresh ways for us to stay connected online and enhance our mental wellness.
Indigenous Woman Turned Away From B.C. Hospital Has Stillbirth: Uncle
January 31, 2021
The uncle of an Indigenous woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby after allegedly being turned away from a hospital in British Columbia says she is traumatized by the experience of racism.
Racism at root of Indigenous knowledge being ignored in academia says UBC professor
January 31, 2021
Indigenous people still face systemic racism and their voices are often left unheard in the world of science say academics taking part in a webinar held by the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO).
‘I would want to know’: Nurse in Klahoose First Nation facing fears and centering facts as COVID-19 vaccines roll out
January 31, 2021
The community nurse in Klahoose First Nation in British Columbia says she wouldn’t offer vaccines to people unless she felt good about it. “I’m always reading and looking into the vaccines I give. That’s my responsibility as a vaccinator, working in First Nations Community Health,” Heather Jansen says.
First Nations leaders condemn widespread reports of racism at Royal BC Museum
January 29, 2021
A group of First Nations leaders in B.C. are speaking out after an internal survey at the Royal BC Museum revealed widespread issues involving racism and discrimination.
https://rock101.com/news/7607113/first-nations-royal-bc-museum-racism-survey/
Curing the ‘colonial hangover’: how Yukon First Nations became trailblazers of Indigenous governance
January 30, 2021
In 1973 Elijah Smith, former chief of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, travelled to Ottawa with a delegation of First Nations leaders to present then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau with a now-historic position paper.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/curing-colonial-hangover-yukon-first-181821561.html
New exhibit honours Yukon First Nations high school graduates and their regalia
January 30, 2021
Rich colours, intricate beadwork, and creative designs. That is just some of what encompasses the regalia Yukon First Nations high school graduates have been wearing for the past 45 years.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-first-nations-high-school-exhibit-1.5893299
Participants at Nunavut mine hearing question whether process is serving Inuit
January 29, 2021
Tensions continue between Baffinland and Inuit leaders at an expansion hearing for the Mary River mine, but yesterday it was the organization running the technical hearing that participants were frustrated with.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-leaders-question-environmental-mine-hearings-1.5893359
As a teen, Bella Cornell used her prom dress for Indigenous activism. Now it’s in the Smithsonian.
January 30, 2021
In 2018, Bella Cornell, a member of the Choctaw Nation, wore a beautiful custom-made red dress to her senior prom in Oklahoma. The piece, which was handmade by Della Bighair-Stump, a member of the Apsaalooke (Crow) Tribe of Montana, was made with red fabric, a color that represents missing and murdered Indigenous women, and worn as a form of activism.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/indigenous-bella-cornell-prom-dress-smithsonian-171046715.html
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario 15th Annual Health Forum
The Chiefs of Ontario 15th Annual Health Forum will take place on February 23-25, 2021. This year’s theme is Sharing Stories: The True Test of Resilience Amidst Pandemic. Click learn more for additional information.
For more information, please visit: https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/coo-health-forum
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario Special Chiefs Assembly
Please see the attached save the date notice for the next Special Chiefs Assembly held online on February 3-4th, 2020. More information and to register, please visit: www.chiefsmeeting.com.
Annex 9 Climate Change Modelling Experts Workshop, March 22, 2021
As a follow up from the 2019 Climate Change Modelling Experts Workshop hosted in Ann Arbor, Annex 9 is working with GLISA to host another virtual workshop in March.
For more information, please contact Chris Hoyos at Chris.Hoyos@coo.org.
2021 Great Lakes Day, March 1, 2021
The annual Great Lakes Day features dialogue on Great Lakes priorities by regional leaders and members of Congress who play a critical role in shaping Great Lakes policies.
For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/3sjaa10
International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) Annual Meeting, May 17-21, 2021
Hosted by Michigan Technological University, the virtual conference will feature four days of scientific sessions and speakers focusing on our theme Bridging: Knowledge, Seven Generations, Land-to-Lake.
For more information and registration, click here: https://bit.ly/3nI8gUh
Request for Proposals: Early Learning and Child Care Asset Mapping Report Consultant and Economist Team
You are invited to submit a proposal for a project by the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) to utilize your research expertise and economic expertise to create an Early Learning and Child Care Report that analyzes the existing landscape of early learning and child care programming and services in Ontario for First Nations children 0-6 years old.
Contract Opportunity: Research and Knowledge Translation Specialist
The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) is inviting applications for a contract position: Research and Knowledge Translation Specialist
https://chiefs-of-ontario.org/contract-opportunity-research-and-knowledge-translation-specialist/
Chiefs of Ontario Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates
Find Our Latest Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates Here. This website provides information on emergency planning and preparedness, as well as on the unique programs and services that are available to First Nations in Ontario during times of emergency.
Issue 8 of The Official Chiefs of Ontario Magazine, The Advocate is now online! To view, please click here: https://www.mediaedgemagazines.com/the-chiefs-of-ontario-coo/oo20/
