Have media helped or hurt most Canadians’ understanding of Idle No More?
Mainstream media that try to distil a whirlwind of voices and visions into a soundbite or two, risk confusing their audiences as to who and what Idle No More is actually about
Why First Nations calling for a Nation-to-Nation relationship might want to walk their talk first
I didn’t really mean to be too provocative with that headline. (Okay, that’s a lie. Still, if it got your attention…) But, I have to say it: all these calls of late for nation-to-nation relationships between the Crown and Indigenous peoples? They don’t appear to have been backed up in practice on much if not...
You say divided, I say diverse: Is Idle No More about factionalism or freedom?
As people frantically try to get a handle on the explosive, never-a-dull-day developments in Indian Country lately, one recent exchange in the media caught my attention: the battle to characterize and frame the semi-spontaneous events on the ground collectively known as ‘Idle No More.’ The exchange began when National Post columnist Andrew Coyne asserted the...
POLL: How should a BC Legion atone for publishing a joke about ‘beer-baiting’ and hunting Indigenous people to their death?
A Legion based out of Cranbrook BC is at the center of a storm over a racist joke printed in its August 2012 newsletter. The joke’s premise features non-native hunters from two different Prairie provinces discussing whether it’s okay to pick off Indians with a rifle. After the one shows the other how it’s done...
POLL: Should boxer Damien Hooper have apologized for displaying an Aboriginal flag at the Olympics?
An Aboriginal boxer competing on behalf of Australia who also maintains clear allegiances to his people has gotten into some hot water for his visible display of the latter at the summer Olympic Games in London this week. In what is perhaps an ironically telling comment on the state of that country’s effort at Settler/Aboriginal...
Why a truly independent First Nations political voice could be just $1 or $2 away
Yesterday, as I watched the decisive re-election of Shawn Atleo as the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, my thoughts couldn’t help but turn to the perennial question hanging over the AFN: as an organization funded so heavily from the coffers of the Canadian government, just how independent a voice is it, anyway?...
Retired captain: How Northern Gateway may ‘consult’ and ‘accommodate’ Aboriginal interests
An interesting theory has been floated in the Vancouver Sun by ”an 87-year-old retired West Coast sea captain” about the Northern Gateway pipelines. In his editorial “Harper gov’t playing ‘shell game’ on pipeline,” Capt. Edward Wray alleges that “the [federal government's] and Enbridge’s so-called plan” for the ultimate route relies on a diversionary strategy: get people...
IndigenEtsy: A curated list of handmade native goodness
It calls itself “the world’s handmade marketplace.” And if you’re the crafty, self-starting entrepreneur type, you likely already know its name — Etsy. Started up seven years ago as a site for “very-very small businesses,” Etsy has become massive in its own right: 15+ million members, 875,000+ active shops, and 13+ million listed items. So...
How UN envoy’s visit launched food fight and debate over who speaks for Indigenous north in Canada
Nestled deep within the recent brouhaha over the visit to Canadian soil by Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, is an interesting sub-text: namely, who, in a complicated country like Canada, is in the best position to speak on behalf of Indigenous peoples? Well, as anyone even vaguely...
