Ont. reports 130 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths
July 19, 2021
Ontario is reporting 130 new COVID-19 cases today and no new deaths as the seven-day average continues to decline week-over-week.
https://www.cp24.com/news/ont-reports-130-new-covid-19-cases-no-new-deaths-1.5514573
NWO Reaches 102 Active Fires
July 18, 2021
The fire hazard has calmed down for parts of the far north, but remains extreme for the more southern areas of the region.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/07/18/nwo-reaches-102-active-fires/
Deer Lake First Nation fully evacuating due to forest fire threat in northern Ontario
July 16, 2021
A northwestern Ontario First Nation community is fully evacuating due to threats of forest fires in the region. Red Lake 51 is burning about 26 kilometres west of Deer Lake First Nation. The fire was listed as being observed, and more than 45,700 hectares in size, as of Friday morning.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/deer-lake-evacuation-1.6105443
$30M Not Enough to Compensate Lac Seul First Nation
July 16, 2021
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favour of the Lac Seul First Nation, determining $30 million is not enough to account for the loss of their reserve land without considerations being given to the land’s value to the hydroelectricity project.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/07/16/30m-not-enough-to-compensate-lac-seul-first-nation/
Akwesasne chief disputes data showing few residents fully vaccinated
July 18, 2021
Estimates of just how many people living in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne are fully vaccinated vary significantly, but its chief insists the number is skewed due to cross-border vaccinations.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/akwesasne-covid-vaccine-hesitancy-1.6105267
As the new ‘minister of everything,’ Rickford’s time is stretched too thin
July 18, 2021
With tensions between the province and aboriginal communities running high in 2007 after Six Nations protesters occupied a disputed housing development in Caledonia, Ont., and with an election just months away, former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty announced the creation of a stand-alone Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. He did not, however, expand the provincial cabinet.
MPP says recent cabinet shuffle will undermine Indigenous rights
July 16, 2021
Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa has some strong words for the provincial government, specifically Premier Doug Ford, in response to a recent cabinet shuffle. The Indigenous Northern Ontario member of parliament said that the recent move to combine the ministries of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) and Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) with the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs (IAO) “undermines Indigenous interests.”
Mamakwa expresses solidarity with Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation
July 19, 2021
Sol Mamakwa, the NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, expressed his solidarity with the people of Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation after they released a report on Thursday outlining the preliminary findings of a search of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School property.
Wiikwemkoong man completes journey to former Indian Residential School sites in Spanish
July 18, 2021
When 32-year-old Wiikwemkoong resident Michael (MJ) Eshkawkogan decided to run 147 km from his home to the former Indian Residential School sites in Spanish to honour residential school children and survivors, his intentions were clear: he would inspire others to educate themselves as well as face their fears head-on.
Researchers say that TB at residential schools was no accident
July 18, 2021
Two experts in tuberculosis say the mass death from TB at residential schools was no accident, but the result of deliberate neglect that was part of Canada’s broader genocidal project.
Assembly of First Nations chief says crimes have been committed
July 18, 2021
Recently elected Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Chief RoseAnne Archibald sees the issue of unmarked graves found at residential schools in Canada as one of her key priorities.
How Mary Simon can open doors for reconciliation from Rideau Hall
July 19, 2021
When Mary Simon offered her first words on her appointment as Canada’s next governor general, the Inuk leader spoke of how she saw it as “an important step forward on the long path towards reconciliation.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mary-simon-governor-general-reconciliation-1.6105313
Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony to be streamed online in 8 Indigenous languages
July 19, 2021
Dorothy Stewart is excited to be among a group of hosts bringing the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to their communities in Indigenous languages. CBC will be providing live online coverage of Friday’s opening ceremony in eight Indigenous languages.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-indigenous-languages-1.6105713
The art of truth: seven Indigenous performers tell stories of heroes to Collingwood audiences
July 16, 2021
Seven Indigenous performers of international renown gathered in Collingwood this week, drawn together by their passion for storytelling. They were all in town because of invitations from Daniel Vnukowski, the artistic director of the Collingwood Summer Music Festival, an international pianist who believes in the power of the arts to tell a story.
Stories from Anemki Wajiw: Fish skin leather
July 19, 2021
This summer, columnist Jolene Banning of Fort William First Nation is bringing us a series of audio stories about people reclaiming culture, community and connection to land in northwestern Ontario.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/jolene-banning-anemki-wajiw-fish-leather-1.6105546
Attawapiskat musician builds recording studio in shipping container
July 16, 2021
Since March 2020, Cree musician Adrian Sutherland has been isolated with his family in Attawapiskat, a remote First Nation on James Bay, without the resources to professionally record music. That is, until now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/attawapiskat-sea-can-recording-studio-1.6105245
Helping Immigrant Youth Grasp Indigenous History
July 18, 2021
Are classroom teachers integrating Indigenous content into their teachings? “What is being taught? How is it being taught? Is it authentic? Does it accurately reflect the true history of colonization?”
https://www.timminstoday.com/local-news/helping-immigrant-youth-grasp-indigenous-history-3955605
The standoff at 1492 Land Back Lane, one year later
July 19, 2021
As a crumpled-up school bus with the words “land back” draped over it lay on rubble across the normally bustling main street in Caledonia, Ont., federal authorities in Ottawa fired off a “discussion paper” to their provincial counterparts in Toronto.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/the-standoff-at-1492-land-back-lane-one-year-later/
Land claims documents spark questions
July 16, 2021
A letter addressed to the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) regarding a specific land claim settlement has given rise to a myriad of questions from people in Kanesatake who recently began to share the previously unreleased document, dated March 25, 2021.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/land-claims-documents-spark-questions-183430269.html
3 Innu First Nations say they are ready to take measures to stop Quebec pipeline
July 18, 2021
There won’t be any more negotiations over a proposed natural gas pipeline crossing Indigenous lands in northern Quebec, say Innu leaders who oppose it.
Sitting down with Sky-Deer, Kahnawà:ke’s new grand chief, after historic wins for women in politics
July 16, 2021
It’s been a high-profile, historic two weeks for Indigenous women in politics. Canada, the Assembly of First Nations and the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kahnawà:ke all made history by appointing Indigenous women to key leadership roles.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/sitting-down-with-sky-deer-kahnawake-new-grand-chief/
What land back means for this reclamation camp
July 18, 2021
For Karihwakatste Deer, reclaiming land traditionally a part of her community has brought a sense of family, connection, and peace. “We come from the land,” she said. “Our language comes from the land, our culture, it’s all connected to the land, and we need that connection.”
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/what-land-back-means-for-this-reclamation-camp-in-kahnawake
Indigenous community navigated COVID-19 while crossing borders
July 19, 2021
Travel restrictions have never stopped Colleen Lazore from crossing the Canada-U.S. border to see her children in St. Regis, N.Y. In fact the mother of four, who lives on Cornwall Island, Ont., has been moving freely across the St. Lawrence River throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/akwesasne-covid-19-summary-1.6101038
The hurdles Indigenous athletes face chasing Olympic dreams
July 18, 2021
A lack of access to elite sports, and issues with racism, are some of the hurdles facing Indigenous athletes when they chase their Olympic dreams. Previous Olympians are working to help remove those barriers.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hurdles-indigenous-athletes-face-chasing-024741916.html
Indigenous cookbook writer discovered his roots while foraging for recipes
July 18, 2021
Last week, I wrote that cookbooks have become a source of beauty, ideas and inspiration, nutritional knowledge and pleasurable perusal, at the same time as food has turned into art, a graceful display of creativity.
A Manitoba First Nation is in crisis. Leaders warn of dark pattern without more support
July 16, 2021
When Manitoba’s Tataskweyak Cree Nation declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, after nine young people were lost to suicide in the last 14 months alone, many took to social media to share their devastation.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8030952/tataskweyak-mental-health-crisis-government-funding/
Manitoba Indigenous reconciliation minister offers ‘sincerest apologies’ over residential schools remarks
July 16, 2021
Manitoba’s newly minted minister for Indigenous reconciliation has issued an apology after he said those who ran residential schools believed “they were doing the right thing” minutes after being sworn in.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/lagimodiere-apology-manitoba-1.6106459
2 Six Nations Treaty hunters to be resentenced for hunting in Sask. illegally: Court of Queen’s Bench
July 18, 2021
Two hunters from Six Nations in Ontario who were initially found to be exercising their treaty right to hunt for sustenance are to be sentenced instead, a Court of Queen’s Bench decision said.
Mounties charge man with arson over torching of N.S. lobster pound used by Mi’kmaw harvesters
July 16, 2021
Mounties have arrested a suspect in connection with the October 2020 torching of a lobster pound used by Mi’kmaw harvesters in Middle West Pubnico, N.S.
Minister of Indigenous Services visits First Nations communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
July 18, 2021
The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, has just concluded a trip to seven First Nations communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The first multiple-stop trip since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government of Canada announces the construction and operation of a new emergency shelter in Natoaganeg (Eel Ground) First Nation
July 16, 2021
Natoaganeg (Eel Ground) First Nation will be the site of a new shelter for Indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in times of great need and crisis. This new shelter will be the first of its kind located in rural New Brunswick and will serve 15 Mi’kmaw and Maliseet communities, as well as extending shelter services to other First Nations communities in the Atlantic region.
2 Indigenous men on Manitoba PC-appointed boards quit over ministers’ comments
July 18, 2021
Two Indigenous men have quit their positions on Manitoba economic development boards in the wake of controversial remarks by Premier Brian Pallister and a cabinet minister. The resignations of Jamie Wilson and Darrell Brown form the latest chapter in the growing fallout from Pallister’s comments on Canadian history, which have drawn widespread criticism.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/brown-wilson-resign-manitoba-1.6107800
Here’s a look at Brian Pallister’s full comments on Canada Day statue toppling — and what he’s said since
July 18, 2021
It started when Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister spoke publicly for the first time about the toppling of a pair of statues on the province’s legislative grounds on Canada Day.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/brian-pallister-comments-colonization-indigenous-1.6106977
‘I tried to be tough,’ says survivor of Marieval Indian Residential School sharing her story for 1st time
July 18, 2021
Phyllis Kretschmer has never shared her residential school experience with anyone. The active senior, who turns 85 at the end of July, is a longtime advocate in Regina with her group Intercultural Grandmothers Uniting.
Regina-born actor voices new character based on her own Nakoda background in Ubisoft video game
July 17, 2021
A Regina-born actor has recently added voice acting for a popular video game to her list of roles — and she even had a hand in helping develop the character, based on her own Nakoda background.
Solar power set to light greenhouse at high school in northern Sask.
July 16, 2021
A solar-powered greenhouse is almost up and running at the high school in the far northern Saskatchewan community of Île-à-la-Crosse, and the students aren’t just learning about solar energy — they also helped build it.
Growing human trafficking industry increasingly targets Indigenous youth in Alberta, non-profit warns
July 16, 2021
Human trafficking is a quickly growing concern around the world, and in Canada the industry increasingly targets Indigenous youth, a non-profit group warns. The Action Coalition on Human Trafficking Alberta, or ACT Alberta, are offering online seminars to raise awareness and offer help to those still trapped.
25 years later and First Nations no further ahead in control of oil and gas
July 16, 2021
The Indian Resource Council is fed-up with a 25-year-old memorandum of understanding with the federal government that has failed to move them along in acquiring control over the oil and gas on their reserves.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/25-years-later-first-nations-201458275.html
‘Miss the drumbeat’: the return of powwow season welcomed by First Nations
July 19, 2021
Under the early evening sun, dancers from across Canada and the United States filed onto the powwow grounds at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in central Alberta.
Indigenous Owned Company to Expand Distribution of Private Label Products to Retailers Across Canada
July 18, 2021
Have you seen them in local shops? Tomahawk Chips has been continuing to grow. Native Canadian Chip Corporation, an Indigenous owned and operated company announces a new partnership with Star Wholesale Ltd, a national distributor based in Calgary, to bring its Tomahawk Potato Chips and other Tomahawk branded products to retail shelves across Canada.
‘Racist and full of hate’: Groups demand justice for Wet’suwet’en man killed by RCMP
July 16, 2021
The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is calling for justice, accountability, an inquest and a higher level of oversight in the aftermath of the RCMP’s shooting of a Wet’suwet’en man in Campbell River, B.C.
Remote Dené community in B.C. celebrates clean water for 1st time in decades
July 16, 2021
A remote first nation in northern British Columbia is celebrating having clean drinking for the first time in decades. Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation teamed up with the University of British Columbia to build a new water treatment plant which they hope will keep the clear stuff flowing long term.
B.C. First Nation and partners propose new $10B LNG megaproject
July 19, 2021
A British Columbia First Nation is proposing a new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility to be built on the community’s treaty land and is making an environmental pledge to reach net-zero emissions within three years of commencing operations.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bakx-ksi-lisims-lng-1.6107901
‘A very powerful place’: Dispersed across B.C., the Lytton First Nation aims to come back stronger
July 18, 2021
Members of the Lytton First Nation who were scattered across British Columbia last month when a wildfire raged across their territory are eager to return to their ancestral lands, according to an elected representative.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lytton-first-nation-rebuild-1.6106474
American linguist develops braille alphabet for traditional dialect of the Ts’msyen people
July 18, 2021
Harris Mowbray has never been to Prince Rupert, B.C., but he has left his touch there. Mowbray, an amateur linguist and software programmer based in California, in collaboration with Prince Rupert resident and Gitga’at Nation member Brendan Eshom, has created a braille alphabet for Sm’algyax, the traditional dialect of the Ts’msyen people of the north coast.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sm-algyax-braille-alphabet-1.6102923
Vancouver lawyer Breen Ouellette makes a case that Canada’s constitution is legislated apartheid
July 17, 2021
A Métis lawyer seeking a federal NDP nomination in Vancouver Centre says that Canada’s constitution is profoundly racist against Indigenous people. In an interview with the Georgia Straight, Breen Ouellette described section 91(24) of the British North America Act as “legislated apartheid”.
Tłı̨chǫ community commemorates 100 years of Treaty 11 with new exhibit
July 17, 2021
The Tłı̨chǫ community is commemorating 100 years since the signing of Treaty 11 with the opening of a new exhibit at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/treaty-11-100-years-exhibit-1.6106697
Fighting hunger in the North through healthy, country food
July 16, 2021
This week brought about an announcement and the release of a study by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami about food insecurity in Inuit communities. The report, called the Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy, states 76 per cent of Inuit adults in Canada have unreliable access to nutritious, affordable food.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/fighting-hunger-in-the-north-through-healthy-country-food/
Grueling walk to Kamloops ‘heavy, but very important,’ say Yukoners halfway through journey
July 18, 2021
A group of Yukoners walking from Whitehorse to Kamloops, B.C., in honour of Indigenous children who died at residential schools is now about halfway through their journey. Undaunted by the heat and by long days on the road, the group of walkers has expanded since leaving Whitehorse on June 27, and now consists of about 14 people.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/warriors-walk-halfway-1.6105928
Nunavut shuts seven health centres temporarily because of nursing shortage
July 17, 2021
The Nunavut government says it will temporarily close seven health centres in the territory this summer because it doesn’t have enough nurses to staff them.
For Native American activists crossing the nation with a totem pole, sacred lands are their Notre Dame
July 16, 2021
Two dozen Native American activists in 10 cars towing one totem pole across the country. While this protest caravan may seem small, its message to Congress is outsized: Give Indigenous peoples a say before granting access to land that tribes consider sacred. The opposing argument: public lands are for everyone and the nation’s energy needs can’t be ignored.
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/native-american-activists-crossing-nation-010357319.html
