Videos tell women’s stories of intergenerational impacts of Indian Residential Schools
It has been a long time since I’ve contributed to MEDIA INDIGENA, but I don’t feel bad because I’ve been busy with another Indigenous, insightful and innovative project: kiskino mâto tapanâsk: Intergenerational Effects on Professional First Nations Women Whose Mothers are Residential School Survivors. This Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence initiative set out to...
REVIEW: imagineNATIVE 2010′s Opening Night Film, ‘BOY’
BOY 87 min | 2010 | New Zealand Directed & Written by Taika Waititi. Starring Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, James Rolleston, T. Waititi Screens at imagineNATIVE Opening Night: Wed. OCT 20 @ 7 pm, Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor St. W.) MI Rating: ★★★★★ ————————— ◊ ————————— Boy, was that worth it. Set in 1984 on New...
Canada-wide vigils tonight in honour of missing and murdered Aboriginal women
Today, over 70 communities across Canada are solemnly holding vigils for hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. As part of the Sisters in Spirit national campaign spearheaded by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, the vigils call to national attention and action the continued tragedy of Aboriginal women’s over-representation in female disappearances and homicides...
New stats on Aboriginal youth sport and culture activity
Earlier this month, StatsCan released a study entitled “Participation in sports and cultural activities among Aboriginal children and youth.” Based on the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, the report drew on a total of 11,940 respondents, representing nearly 170,000 children. First, the overall picture: over 65% of Aboriginal children participated in sports at least once a...
New Session of United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Begins
Over the next 10 days, participants at the Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) will engage in important discussions related to this years special theme, ‘Indigenous peoples: development with culture and identity,’ areas associated with Articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous...
First in 4-part Aboriginal Graphic Novel Series to Hit Shelves: “Stone”
Stone, the first in a four-part series of graphic novels called 7 Generations, is set to be released Apr. 15. The series follows Edwin, a present-day Aboriginal teenager, on his journey to understand and reconcile with his family’s history. The striking colour cover accompanies black-and-white illustrations inside. 7 Generations will span the history of “the...
Aboriginal, Non-Aboriginal Wage Parity in Canada Will Take 63 Years: Study
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) just released its latest paper, The Income Gap Between Aboriginal Peoples and the Rest of Canada. Authored by Daniel Wilson and David Macdonald, the study looks at data collected in the 1996, 2001 and 2006 Canadian Censuses, to identify trends and raise questions about the persistent income gaps...
Residential School Money: Has It Helped Survivors Heal?
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) has just released The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement’s Common Experience Payment and Healing: A Qualitative Study Exploring Impacts on Recipients. (PDF of study available here.) The Common Experience Payment (CEP) is a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and is intended to monetarily recognize and compensate the...
Language Goes to Camp
It’s with great interest that I came across the release of Culture Camps for Language Learning: An Immersion Handbook, produced by the BC-based First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council. In my experience, culture camps like these present great opportunities for language learning. In July 2004, I participated in a week-long Cree immersion camp in Sturgeon Lake...
