Close to 400 vaccinated as clinic launched for Thunder Bay’s urban Indigenous population
March 13, 2021
The head of the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) says its first vaccine clinics for Thunder Bay’s urban Indigenous population were launched with success this week.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/covid-urban-indigenous-vaccine-clinic-1.5947776
Ontario reports fewer than 1,300 new COVID-19 cases, but positivity rate increases
March 15, 2021
Ontario health officials are reporting fewer than 1,300 new cases of COVID-19 following three consecutive days in which the case were above that mark.
Ontario Launching Provincial Booking System for COVID-19 Vaccines
March 14, 2021
The Ontario government is launching a provincial booking system and customer service desk to support COVID-19 vaccination appointment bookings. The portal will be live on Monday, March 15 at 8:00 a.m. and will be accepting appointment bookings at mass immunization clinics, starting with individuals aged 80 and older.
Health unit warns of potential high-risk COVID-19 exposure in M’Chigeeng
March 12, 2021
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) is advising the public of a potential high-risk of exposure to COVID-19 specifically for anyone who attended 662 Crosshill Road in M’Chigeeng First Nation on Saturday, March 6, and Sunday, March 7.
https://www.manitoulin.com/health-unit-warns-of-potential-high-risk-covid-19-exposure-in-mchigeeng/
Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation declares state of emergency for mental health and addictions crisis
March 12, 2021
Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, a First Nation near Greater Sudbury, has declared a state of emergency because of the mental health and addictions crisis the community is currently experiencing.
Sol Mamakwa: How Ontario can help protect Indigenous communities from the ravages of COVID-19
March 12, 2021
On the last Saturday of January, I drove 12 hours to Muskrat Dam First Nation. Like most First Nations in the riding of Kiiwetinoong, Muskrat Dam is a remote community that’s only accessible by small planes or winter roads carved from ice and snow to provide temporary access.
‘I got a little personal,’ Doug Ford says of suggestion Indigenous MPP jumped vaccine queue
March 14, 2021
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Sunday that he “got a little personal” when suggesting last week that an Indigenous MPP jumped the line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Ford said he called NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong, and apologized but wants people to remember that “we’re from two separate political parties.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/7695987/doug-ford-sol-mamakwa-comments/
Doug Ford owes Sol Mamakwa an apology
March 12, 2021
A few facts about Ontario’s performance in the COVID-19 pandemic to date, as we round the one-year anniversary of this ordeal: of the 12 other provinces and territories in this country, eight have had fewer cases per capita; 10 have had fewer deaths per capita. We’re at least still in the top tier for testing, but testing alone doesn’t end a pandemic.
https://www.tvo.org/article/doug-ford-owes-sol-mamakwa-an-apology
82 new COVID-19 cases reported in Thunder Bay district on Friday
March 12, 2021
There have been more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the first 12 days of March 2021 in the Thunder Bay district, than what it saw in all of 2020. That’s the case as of Friday, with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) reporting 82 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of new cases announced in March to 644.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/new-covid-thunder-bay-1.5947348
Contrary to sensational reporting, Indigenous people aren’t scared of a COVID-19 vaccine
March 14, 2021
Indigenous people are playing a major role in one of the latest COVID-19 anxieties: vaccine hesitancy. As inoculation rollout begins across the country, news coverage tells us that vaccine hesitancy may hinder the pandemic response in Canada. And Indigenous people are one of the groups fuelling that concern.
Transition centre 1st of kind in Canada
March 15, 2021
A new $1-million transition facility at Pikangikum First Nation will allow reserve residents under arrest for minor offences to remain in their community and close to their families.
Indigenous owned and operated project management consulting company expands services during pandemic
March 15, 2021
Superior Strategies Inc. has found success during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by continuing to expand its virtual training programs and providing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and other supplies.
Hand drummers signal call for justice for Curve Lake First Nation woman
March 12, 2021
Several women’s hand drummers were at the Ontario Court of Justice in Peterborough on Thursday (March 11), calling for justice for Cileana Taylor. The 22-year-old Curve Lake First Nation woman suffered head trauma, allegedly at the hands of her then-boyfriend, on Sept. 3, 2020.
Natural Gas starts flowing to Saugeen First Nation
March 12, 2021
Huron Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson is marking a milestone for the Natural Gas Expansion Program Saugeen First Nation Project. She says Enbridge has connected the first 13 customers on the First Nation to natural gas.
https://blackburnnews.com/uncategorized/2021/03/12/natural-gas-starts-flowing-saugeen-first-nation/
Joint Statement by Ministers Miller and Lametti on the filing of a judicial review before the Federal Court
March 13, 2021
The Minister of Indigenous Services, the Honourable Marc Miller, and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable David Lametti, issued the following statement today: “On March 12, the Government of Canada filed its written submissions before the Federal Court in support of two applications for judicial review of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) rulings rendered in September 2019, July 2020 and November 2020, which relate to compensation and the definition of a First Nations child for the purposes of Jordan’s Principle eligibility.
COVID-19 halts Indigenous rights resistance, for now
March 12, 2021
It seemed like Indigenous Peoples were on the verge of something big in early 2020. A growing national movement in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en was growing just as the COVID-19 virus shut the country down.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/aptn-investigates-down-the-barrel-part-2/
Thunder Bay social services board receives millions for mental health, addictions and for homeless shelters
March 12, 2021
A slew of municipal affairs and housing funding announcements this week is resulting in millions of dollars flowing through the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administrative Board to address a range of issues in the district.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/tbdssab-millions-in-funding-1.5946473
Melillo wants to ‘eat his words’ on clean water crisis
March 15, 2021
Ottawa has once again delayed the completion of much-needed work on designing and building water construction plants in communities with long-term drinking water advisories but has recommitted to providing clean drinking water across the country.
https://www.drydennow.com/local/melillo-wants-to-eat-his-words-on-clean-water-crisis
Land acknowledgements are about better relations, not just checking a box
March 14, 2021
Decolonial facilitator Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee says land acknowledgements are more than just copying, pasting and reciting, to check the box and get it done — they’re about good intention and working towards better relations.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/land-acknowledgements-british-columbia/
Thunder Bay professor bucks family trend, does his part to deliver reconciliation to city
March 14, 2021
Travis Hay is not your typical professor. At age 32, he’s young, accomplished and his body of work speaks for itself. He has taught in the History and Indigenous Learning Departments at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., Seven Generations Education Institute in Fort Frances and has been cited by Justice Murray Sinclair, lead investigator in the Thunder Bay Police Services Board investigation final report published Nov. 1, 2018.
Nanook Gordon and Brianna Olson Pitawanakwat want to make encampments more livable for Indigenous folks. Here’s how
March 14, 2031
Last April, during Toronto’s first lockdown, Nanook Gordon started making food and care packages and handing them out to Indigenous people living on the street. “I wanted to help my people,” says Gordon, who is Inuvialuk. “One guy started crying because he was so grateful [for the] warm pasta meal I gave him.”
Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team aims to make Olympic competition under its own flag
March 14, 2021
Iroquois Nationals lacrosse star Randy Staats was angry at first, but he now says an international snub of his team only fuelled his desire to play on the world stage. Three years ago, the International Olympic Committee granted the sport of lacrosse provisional status for the 2028 Games, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/iroquois-lacrosse-team-olympic-competition-1.5948810
COVID-19 has been devastating for Indigenous women in Parry Sound-Muskoka area: counsellor
March 12, 2021
A woman who counsels vulnerable Indigenous women in the Parry Sound-Muskoka area said she has seen firsthand how devastating the COVID-19 global pandemic has been for the people she tries her best to help.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/covid-19-devastating-indigenous-women-204416477.html
Women Indigenous Leaders Speak Out about Gender-Based Discrimination
March 12, 2021
A group of Indigenous women in leadership roles came together online today to kick off a conversation they hope will empower women and bring an end to gender-based discrimination in their communities and politics.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/03/12/Women-Indigenous-Leaders-Speak-Out-Gender-Based-Discrimination/
The weight of not being like the others’: Indigenous students on the challenges of university
March 12, 2021
Kailey Nicholas was nine years old when she started feeling it. The way things changed when people found out who she was. It was as though the white school children had been told to keep their guard up around Nicholas and the other Mohawks.
Book review: Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
March 13, 2021
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt explores the history of Indigenous expulsion during the first half of the nineteenth century.
A message from the Ontario Small Business Support Grant Team
March 12, 2021
The Ontario government is committed to providing Indigenous small business owners with financial support to help them manage through this pandemic. We want them to have access to support that can help them sustain their business, keep people employed, and continue serving their communities long after COVID-19 is behind us.
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/03/12/a-message-from-the-ontario-small-business-support-grant-team/
Timeline of the Indigenous history of lacrosse
March 13, 2021
A short timeline of how Indigenous people were pushed out of lacrosse competition and their efforts to return:
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/03/13/timeline-of-the-indigenous-history-of-lacrosse/
Indigenous Grand Council, Tribal Council hold virtual variety show to lift spirits
March 13, 2021
The Prince Albert Grand Council and Meadow Lake Tribal Council are holding a virtual gathering to uplift the spirits of northern communities. “We’re just trying to do our part, getting some motivation into our members and to our community and into the province to try to motivate people to keep going,” Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/virtual-variety-show-pagc-mltc-1.5949058
Indigenous radio call-in show a ‘bridge’ keeping communities connected during pandemi
March 14, 2021
The people behind an Indigenous radio station’s weekly call-in and request show say it’s helping its listeners connect with their families and friends throughout Manitoba now more than ever during the pandemic.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/manitoba-nci-radio-call-in-show-1.5944830
Manitoba First Nations stepped up to tackle COVID-19 since first confirmed case a year ago
March 13, 2021
First Nations have stepped up tremendously since the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed by Manitoba a year ago.
Anishinaabe artist selling non-fungible tokens says they’re ‘paying off in more ways than one’
March 13, 2021
Imagine creating something that makes you money over and over and over again. Twenty-two-year-old Anishinaabe artist Quinn Hopkins hopes to do that by selling his work on a new market. His digital piece, based on Norval Morrisseau’s Medicine Bear, sold on an NFT marketplace within four days of it being posted.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/anishinaabe-artist-non-fungible-tokens-1.5945611
UM institute leads ‘momentous’ vaccine rollout to First Nations at request of federal government
March 12, 2021
In a landmark acknowledgment of the growing health-care autonomy of Indigenous Peoples, the federal government has given an Indigenous health institute at the University of Manitoba responsibility for leading the COVID-19 vaccination project in all 63 Manitoba First Nations.
Cape Breton First Nation’s plan for early fishing forced DFO’s hand on new regulations says spokesperson
March 12, 2021
Rules for the upcoming spring fishing season were developed and announced ahead of schedule says a Department of Fisheries and Oceans spokesperson. Minister Bernadette Jordan’s statement that L’nu moderate livelihood fisheries will be required to fish under the department’s licences and within the established commercial fishing season have received harsh criticism from First Nations representatives.
Mi’kmaw personality Trevor Sanipass charged with committing indecent act
March 13, 2021
A well known personality in Nova Scotia has been charged for committing an indecent act that allegedly took place on July 7, 2019. Trevor Sanipass, 45, of Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia, is well known in the territory for travelling to communities and taking part in ceremonies.
Listuguj fishers featured in TV documentary about their commercial fishery
March 13, 2021
Chris Martin of Listuguj First Nation has been fishing since he was a teenager. Now, at 38, he’s one of the fishers featured in a 13 part documentary series – Gespe’gew’gi: The Las Land which is airing on APTN.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/listuguj-gespegewgi-the-las-land-commercial-fishery/
Manitoba’s proposed smoking ban ‘intrusion’ on jurisdiction of First Nations say chiefs
March 12, 2021
The Manitoba government has introduced a bill that would see smoking exemptions in First Nations communities revoked. Indoor public smoking has been banned for a number of years in Manitoba but the ban hasn’t applied to First Nations because they fall under federal jurisdiction.
Show us the science: Chiefs ask Ottawa to see the evidence for limiting their fisheries
March 12, 2021
Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq chiefs say they want to see the science that backs up a decision to restrict their fisheries. Last week, Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan, in a bid to end the conflict that has arisen since the Sipekne’katik First Nation began a moderate livelihood lobster fishery in September, announced that such fisheries would be required to operate within established commercial fishery seasons.
Learning ancient Mi’kmaq game is helping Cape Breton Indigenous women improve well-being
March 13, 2021
Heidi Marshall from Membertou First Nation remembers watching her father play the game of waltes when she was a child.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/learning-ancient-mikmaq-game-helping-203911766.html
Indigenous-only COVID-19 immunization clinic launches Monday in Calgary
March 13, 2021
Alberta’s first Indigenous urban COVID-19 immunization clinic will be launched in Calgary on Monday. The clinic will be located at the Circle of Wisdom Elders and Seniors Centre.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/indigenous-covid-19-immunization-clinic-1.5949040
Fourth round of Indigenous Strategy grants launched
March 13, 2021
UCalgary’s Indigenous Strategy, ii’ taa’poh’to’p, has launched its fourth round of grant funding to Indigenize teaching, learning and research on campus. Applications are now being accepted for the Intercultural Capacity Building grant.
https://www.ucalgary.ca/news/fourth-round-indigenous-strategy-grants-launched
New research finds corporate Canada dragging its feet in disclosing progress on reconciliation
March 15, 2021
New research suggests that corporate Canada is slow to recognize the value of tracking and reporting on Indigenous relations and reconciliation. The report, Business and Reconciliation: An Update Exploring the Performance of Public Companies in Canada, reviewed company disclosures using a broad set of indicators to measure progress in advancing reconciliation since the release of a benchmark report in 2017.
B.C. First Nations Health Authority hopes all Indigenous adults vaccinated in Phase 2
March 13, 2021
The top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority says she is “hopeful” all Indigenous adults in the province, including those who don’t live on reserves, will be offered the COVID-19 vaccine in the second phase of the immunization program.
Marches across Canada bringing awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous
March 13, 2021
“Take Back Canada” rallies are happening across the country to bring awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and one of the local organizers speaking out made headlines last Fall for speaking out against residential schools.
https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/03/13/marches-across-canada-missing-murdered-indigenous-women/
Tsilhqot’in First Nation fights water discharge permit for Gibraltar mine
March 14, 2021
B.C.’s Environmental Appeal Board will consider a Tsilhqot’in National Government’s appeal of a waste-water discharge permit for a major mine north of Williams Lake.
Family searches for clues months after 24-year-old Cree woman vanishes in downtown Vancouver
March 13, 2021
Sheila Poorman has spent six months taping posters up across Vancouver, hoping someone might know why her daughter vanished after leaving a downtown apartment.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/chelsea-poorman-missing-woman-vancouver-1.5946304
Threatening note empowers Secwepemc woman to start a safety group for Indigenous women
March 13, 2021
Lisa Kenoras was at a rally where youth were occupying B.C. legislature steps in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en on what is shared territories known as Victoria, B.C., when a man slipped a note in her hand that shook her to her core.
Canada Invests in Cutting-Edge Indigenous Geothermal Electricity Production Facility
March 12, 2021
Canada has world-leading clean power resources, and the Government of Canada understands that one of the most important ways to fight climate change is to harness these resources to power our homes, businesses and lives. Investing in clean energy projects, including geothermal energy, will invigorate local economies, drive job creation and curb pollution.
https://www.jwnenergy.com/press-release/604bc866103ffce873d5661e/
‘It’s hard to believe it’s been a year’: N.W.T. leaders reflect on anniversary of COVID-19 pandemic
March 15, 2021
It’s been a year since the World Health Organization deemed COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic. Dr. Kami Kandola, the N.W.T.’s chief public health officer, said in a news conference on that day the territory had been preparing for a pandemic “for weeks.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nwt-covid19-year-reflections-1.5946703
Learning to negotiate: online simulation exposes youth to the complex world of treaty negotiations
March 14, 2021
Rayna Vittrekwa didn’t know how complicated it would be. The 23 year-old from Fort McPherson, N.W.T., was one of 16 Indigenous youth from across the country to come together in an online treaty simulation this past week.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/national-treaty-online-simulation-1.5948975
Limitless liquor orders a recipe for bootlegging, MLA says
March 15, 2021
Iqaluit-Manirajak’s MLA says frequent large orders from the territory’s own liquor warehouses are red flags for bootlegging. “There are currently very few limits on the amount of alcohol that residents living in unrestricted communities can order at any one time,” Adam Arreak Lightstone said in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
New mineral development strategy in the Yukon to replace colonialist mining legislation
March 13, 2021
Since the Klondike Gold Rush, prospectors have essentially been allowed stake a mining claim anywhere in the Yukon under the free-entry system – including places like White River First Nation (WRFN) territory.
Feds submit arguments to overturn ‘unreasonable’ and ‘egregious’ CHRT rulings
March 12, 2021
The Canadian government argues it did not racially discriminate against First Nation kids in a “willful and reckless” or “wanton and heedless” manner by underfunding the child and family services system on reserves and in the Yukon, according to documents filed in Federal Court.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/feds-argue-discrimination-not-ongoing-chrt/
New Hampshire woman looks to reunite traditional parkas with seamstress
March 14, 2021
An estate sale can be a treasure trove, and Robin Saunders found some treasure at a sale in her home state of New Hampshire: three traditional handmade parkas. Now she’s trying to reunite the parkas with the people who made them.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/new-hampshire-parkas-1.5947761
UPCOMING EVENTS
Issue 9 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/oo21c/.
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario 47th All Ontario Chiefs Conference 2021
The Chiefs of Ontario and Grand Council Treaty #3 will be hosting the 47th All Ontario Chiefs Conference 2021 on June 15-17, 2021. For more information, please visit https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/aocc-2021.
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.
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
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.
