Confusion over the First Nations Financial Transparency Act
According to Aboriginal Affairs, nothing but good will come from the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. They say the Act will help create stronger, effective and more self-sufficient communities. Not only will it help First Nation communities become prosperous, the Department says the Act will bring transparency and accountability to First Nation members and to...
From pain and fear to hope: a First Nation girl’s battle against a rare cancer
For a Manitoba mother whose daughter continues to recover from years of treatment for an extremely rare muscle cancer, life remains a day-to-day affair
A Landscape of Beauty and Violence
The country is made up of a diverse and vast geographic regions. From the arctic, the Atlantic to Pacific ocean – one would agree there is magnificent beauty in every part of Turtle Island. That beauty only goes so far to those whose lives are marked by violence. They may see this landscape differently. But regardless of...
(MIS)representation of Indigenous peoples in Canada and beyond
Rubber toy ducks with headdresses, ‘Drink like an Indian’ holiday poster, Sassy Squaw costumes, Dirty Drunken Half-Breed burgers, Matt Laur’s ‘Indian Giver’ comment to the much appropriated Navajo culture and design. The year? 2012. It becomes apparent that mainstream media -and mainstream society – has a problem representing ‘Indians’. Hardly news for those of us...
Violence against Indigenous women: Looking back through the media
Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. First designated by the UN over a decade ago, it’s meant to address what many consider an epidemic. But violence against Indigenous women and girls remains an active concern for many. Nowhere is that violence more visible than in the news media. Using...
Missing / Murdered Aboriginal Women: is it up to the public to call an inquiry?
For years, First Nations families, organizations and leaders have called on the federal government to hold a national inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and girls in Canada. Since the 1960s, over 700 First Nations women and girls have gone missing or died of violence. Bridget Tolley believes the number of cases is...
First Nation Communities Facing an Invisible but Deadly Enemy
It’s a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that can be deadly. Now imagine your children playing in it, or community Elders sitting and visiting in it. It is radon, and, unbeknownst to the residents of the Tobique First Nation, a Maliseet community located in northwestern New Brunswick, some of them had been exposed to it....
VIDEO: Tom Jackson urges people to ‘make change’ for Attawapiskat
Actor & musician Tom Jackson made Attawapiskat the last stop on his 2011 Christmas tour – and he brought a camera crew with him, including Algonquin filmmaker Caroline Monnet. The result is a short documentary about the remote northern Ontario community, which gained international recognition after it was learned that some residents were forced to...
Sisters in spirit? NWAC hit by division, funding crunch
For the past six years, families who have lost a loved one have been brought together from across the country at special, commemorative events by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). Known as ‘Family Gatherings,’ they’re an opportunity to honour a missing or murdered Aboriginal female family member, to ‘give voice’ to their story...
