COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: What you need to know

June 2, 2021

484,560 vaccinations have been administered in First Nations and Inuit communities

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-covid-19-update-1.6048956

National Indigenous History Month – 2021

June 1, 2021

To mark Indigenous History Month, APTN News wants to take you on a journey through Indigenous historical moments from coast to coast. All throughout the month of June, we will be looking back on important moments in the history of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples – and how our history shaped where we are today.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/ourstories/indigenoushistorymonth2021/

Native Women’s Association leaves national MMIWG action plan process, calling it ‘toxic and dysfunctional’

June 1, 2021

‘We are no safer now than we were two years ago’ says NWAC president Lorraine Whitman

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/nwac-mmiwg-action-plan-1.6047671

Murray Sinclair says more remains will be found at residential school sites

June 1, 2021

The former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Canada’s residential schools says the country is beginning to see evidence of how many children died at the institutions and that more sites will likely come to light.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-murray-sinclair-says-more-remains-will-be-found-at-residential-school/

Six Nations of the Grand River asks Trudeau for help searching grounds of Mohawk Institute

June 1, 2021

Canada’s largest First Nations territory is asking the federal government to help it search the grounds of a former residential school for unmarked graves.

https://www.chch.com/six-nations-of-the-grand-river-asks-trudeau-for-help-searching-grounds-of-mohawk-institute/

‘The Story of a National Crime’

June 2, 2021

A century ago, Dr. Peter Bryce demonstrated that residential schools were designed to kill. Canada’s government ignored him.

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/06/02/National-Crime-Residential-Schools/

‘The fault of Canada’: Trudeau addresses Commons on discovery of remains at B.C. residential school

June 1, 2021

More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, Inuit children were placed in residential schools from 1870s to 1996

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-house-commons-debate-residential-school-kamloops-1.60493122

The past is the present when it comes to Canada’s genocidal Indigenous policies

June 2, 2021

It’s time to tell truth about how genocidal and racist this country is, and stop feigning shock when there are those who respond in the affirmative.

https://www.hilltimes.com/2021/06/02/the-past-is-the-present-when-it-comes-to-canadas-genocidal-indigenous-policies/299691

The Kamloops residential school’s unmarked graves: What we know about the children’s remains, and Canada’s reaction so far

June 2, 2021

In B.C.’s Interior, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation says it’s found the remains of 215 children on the site of what used to be Canada’s largest residential school. Here’s what we know, and how it’s rekindled Indigenous demands for justice and action

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-kamloops-residential-school-mass-graves-215-children-explainer/

Manitoulin counsellor hopes Ontario’s safety plan in response to MMIWG report leads to meaningful action

June 2, 2021

Indigenous women not just victims of violence, but also powerful community members, says Delaney Campell

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/pathways-to-safety-delaney-campbell-1.6046842

Opinion: Ontario’s delay fuels anti-Anishinabek racism

June 2, 2021

Ontario is delaying the all-but-inevitable outcome of the Robinson Huron and Superior treaty trials by appealing findings for the Anishinabek in both stages one and two of the three-stage process.

http://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/06/02/opinion-ontarios-delay-fuels-anti-anishinabek-racism/

Six Nations will drop into alert level red of its own COVID-19 framework

June 1, 2021

The First Nation will drop an alert level on June 2, the same day the provincial stay-at-home order ends

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/six-nations-alert-level-1.6048543

Ginoogaming First Nation Seeks to Protect Sacred and Culturally Significant Lands

June 2, 2021

“We are trying to have our sacred and ancestral identity respected as a right,” says Ginoogaming Vice Chief Sheri Taylor. “Our rights cannot be reduced to only harvesting on the land. We have always been much more than that. We are a people and our rights to continue to survive as a distinct people were not all swept away by signing a treaty. It is the time that courts recognized that indigenous peoples are not two-dimensional.”

https://www.netnewsledger.com/2021/06/01/ginoogaming-first-nation-seeks-to-protect-sacred-and-culturally-significant-lands/

First Nations want inquiry into children who did not come home from London-area residential school

June 1, 2021

‘We have to remember what happened to them so that we won’t let this sneak up on us again,’ says Nancy Deleary

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/nobody-spoke-about-it-indigenous-communities-recall-devastating-effects-of-residential-schools-1.6047962

Indigenous centres step up support in wake of discovery of children’s remains

June 2, 2021

Coverage, memorials triggering trauma, especially among residential school survivors

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/indigenous-centres-support-kamloops-trauma-1.6048996

Indigenous support centres offer help after discovery of unmarked burial sites at former residential school

June 2, 2021

Mary Daoust, executive director of Minwaashin Lodge, says it’s important for Indigenous residents to have somewhere to turn as the discovery of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School leaves some grappling with trauma.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1903780931594

Communities mourn after remains of 215 children found in B.C.

June 2, 2021

Stuffed animals, orange ribbons mark memorials in eastern Ontario, western Quebec

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/residential-school-memorial-photos-ottawa-area-1.6049135

Stop asking how you can help — and listen, says B.C. residential school survivor

June 1, 2021

‘I just want people to sit, hear the story about residential schools, don’t try to respond’

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/eddy-charlie-residential-school-survivor-1.6049423

Indigenous leaders, Echaquan family call on Quebec to recognize systemic racism

June 1, 2021

Atikamekw leaders and Joyce Echaquan’s family called on the Quebec government Tuesday to recognize systemic racism in the health-care system and adopt the Atikamekw community’s solutions to reducing inequities faced by Indigenous patients.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/06/01/indigenous-leader-tells-coroners-inquest-community-haunted-by-joyce-echaquans-death.html

Ryerson students and professors adopt ‘X University’ name to denounce affiliation with architect of residential schools

June 1, 2021

On May 11, Ryerson University’s First Nation-led research centre, Yellowhead Institute, issued an open letter announcing that their students and faculty would be swapping the school’s current name with ‘X University’ in their email signatures and on social media.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/01/ryerson-students-and-professors-adopt-x-university-name-to-denounce-affiliation-with-architect-of-residential-schools.html

Bearskin Lake First Nation says Canada Day will be used as ‘day of mourning’

June 1, 2021

Bearskin Lake First Nation in Ontario says it will use July 1 as a “day of mourning” until the federal government acts on finding missing children who went to Indian schools across the country.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/bearskin-lake-first-nation-says-canada-day-will-be-used-as-day-of-mourning/

Toronto History Museums launches new virtual Indigenous Peoples Month Programming

June 1, 2021

Today, Mayor John Tory launched Indigenous Peoples Month at Toronto History Museums.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/toronto-history-museums-launches-new-virtual-indigenous-peoples-month-programming-873114267.html

Statement from Ministers Carolyn Bennett, Marc Miller, Daniel Vandal, and Steven Guilbeault on National Indigenous History Month and Indigenous Reads

June 1, 2021

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations; the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services Canada; the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs; and the Honourable Minister Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, issued the following statement today in honour of National Indigenous History Month and Indigenous Reads.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/statement-ministers-carolyn-bennett-marc-224400151.html

Three good books to read for National Indigenous History Month

June 1, 2021

June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, and the following are three good books for various ages.

https://www.northumberlandnews.com/opinion-story/10406021-three-good-books-to-read-for-national-indigenous-history-month/

Rich and diverse narratives of Indigenous Toronto, past and present told in newly released anthology

June 1, 2021

Rarely does an anthology cover the expanse of history, culture, contemporary arts and activism as the new book, Indigenous Toronto, How We Carry This Place. Edited by Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Rebeka Tabobondung, Brian Wright-McLeod, and John Lorinc, the new release was published by Coach House Books.

https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/06/01/rich-and-diverse-narratives-of-indigenous-toronto-past-and-present-told-in-newly-released-anthology/

Tracking the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Toronto

June 2, 2021

In addition to updating you daily on COVID-19 cases in Toronto, toronto.com is tracking every COVID-19 vaccine given in the city.

https://www.thestar.com/local-toronto-scarborough/news/2021/06/02/tracking-the-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-in-toronto.html

‘They helped me heal’: Online series sharing Indigenous culture through stories told by grandmothers

June 1, 2021

A new online speaker series called Grandmother’s Voice is helping to share Indigenous culture that was lost amid Canada’s history of colonization through stories told by elders in the Halton, Ont. community.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/they-helped-me-heal-online-series-sharing-indigenous-culture-through-stories-told-by-grandmothers-1.5451292

Further searches of residential school sites are next stage of healing for some Indigenous communities

Discovery at former Kamloops, B.C., residential school may be the start of a movement to search others

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kamloops-residential-school-remains-1.6048683

Podcast aims to reclaim Indigenous history by exploring words twisted by colonization

June 1, 2021

Kaniehti:io Horn is the host of the new CBC podcast, Telling our Twisted Histories

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1903454275554

Wisdom: Providing space for Indigenous artists to connect and share

June 1, 2021

International Indigenous Music Summit going virtual June 8 – 12.

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/wisdom/wisdom-providing-space-for-indigenous-artists-to-connect-and-share-3836706

First Nations were speaking the truth all this time, says regional chief

June 1, 2021

The discovery of a mass grave where the remains of 215 children were found at an Indian residential school in British Columbia last week has spurred the Alberta government to take action.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/06/01/first-nations-were-speaking-the-truth-all-this-time-says-regional-chief.html

‘We’re not done’: Search for answers at Regina Indian Industrial School continues

June 2, 2021

Sask. org continues work as Canada grapples with discovery of unmarked burial site in B.C.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-indian-industrial-school-1.6048451

Joyce Echaquan’s husband brings courtroom to tears as he pleads for change

June 1, 2021

Manawan chief says his community is still hurting; grand chief calls for reflection, not denial

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/atikamekw-chiefs-coroner-s-inquest-joyce-echaquan-1.6048672

Mi’kmaw author asked to remove poems from book considered for N.S. classrooms

June 2, 2021

Rebecca Thomas says the Department of Education didn’t get back to her when she wanted to discuss the removal

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/indigenous-author-remove-poems-department-education-1.6049152

B.C. announces plans to redistribute forest tenures to small operators, Indigenous communities

June 1, 2021

Province says it wants more diverse and competitive sector that ‘puts people and communities first’

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-forest-tenure-redistribution-1.6049137

Mi’kmaw opponents of Goldboro LNG say workcamp could be unsafe for women

June 2, 2021

No consensus from Mi’kmaw chiefs on the issue

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/goldboro-lng-workcamp-pieridae-mi-kmaw-opposition-mmiwg-1.6047286