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Windspeaker Publication

Windspeaker Publication

Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.

  • September 21, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor KTUNAXA NATION, B.C.

Multiple sources

 

 Brett Merchant’s walk along the Highway of Tears underscores the message delivered by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders: That the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls is a Canadian concern.

Merchant, from Cranbrook, is non-Indigenous.

“I think it’s huge,” said Shannon Girling-Hebert, administrator of…

  • September 21, 2016
  • Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

Alanis Obomsawin’s latest film is a condemnation of Canada’s discrimination against its most vulnerable citizens – First Nations children.

In 2007, the Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations filed a landmark discrimination complaint against the federal government. They argued that child and family welfare services provided to First Nations children…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Dianne Meili

Seneca orator outwitted Christian missionary

 

On a sweltering August afternoon, tourists stroll languidly inside the flint-studded walls of Old Fort Erie in southern Ontario, examining cannons and perusing interpretive displays.

Across clipped lawns to the east, the slow-moving Niagara River underscores the striking Buffalo, U.S. skyline.

The…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Windspeaker Staff

The arm of the Assembly of First Nations in British Columbia (BCAFN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the BC Business Council Sept. 6 which outlines an economic development partnership between First Nations and business leaders in the province.

It focuses on providing a remedy for the negative economic and social outcomes for First Nations in B.C.

Regional Chief Shane…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor EDMONTON

 “Travesty and injustice” were the words used Monday morning by the legal director of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund as she joined with other organizations, and about a dozen people, to mark the appeal of the man acquitted in the brutal death of Cindy Gladue.

Bradley Barton, an Ontario truck driver, was charged in the June 22, 2011, death of Gladue, a sex trade worker. Last…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Windspeaker Staff

Simon Fraser University (SFU) will host a 10-part public lecture series that examines how reconciliation is taking form in higher education.

Called the “President’s Dream Colloquium on Returning to the Teachings: Justice, Identity and Belonging”, the series intends to illustrate the history of Aboriginal peoples in higher education, as well as new ways forward through public lectures,…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Windspeaker Staff

The Assembly of First Nations is standing in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s fight against construction of Dakota Access Pipeline across their traditional territory.

Manitoba Regional Chief Kevin Hart, co-chair of the Climate Change and Environment Chiefs Committee and portfolio holder for alternative/green energy, joined international human rights experts and…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor MIAWPUKEK FIRST NATION, Nfld.

It is Miawpukek First Nation Chief Mi’sel Joe’s wish that “when” the remains of two Beothuk people – one a chief – are returned by the National Museums Scotland that he travel with them back to Canada.

Recently, that wish got a boost when the Canadian government got involved.

“To have the federal government come onside, I think that’s an incredible giant step in making sure that…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris
 Windspeaker Contributor KAHNAWAKE

Angus Goodleaf has had his share of lacrosse successes over the years. Now the 29-year-old star lacrosse goaltender is hoping to make a bit of history and bring a national championship to his hometown in Quebec, the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory.

Goodleaf is a member of the Kahnawake Mohawks, a Senior B lacrosse club. The Mohawks recently captured the crown in the Quebec Senior Lacrosse…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor YELLOWKNIFE

On Sept. 1 a long sought-after dream will be realized by the Délın̨ę people of the Northwest Territories: They will be self-governing.

“When the process of negotiation began, our chief negotiator said, ‘Oh, it will take a couple of years and it would be done,’ and then it took us 20 years. It was back and forth. It took a long process,” said Raymond Tutcho, who will become the first…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Colin Graf Windspeaker Contributor WALPOLE ISLAND, Ont.

Protestors at Walpole Island First Nation along the St. Clair River in Ontario blocked a construction crew from their territory today, putting completion of a natural gas line in jeopardy. 

Around 20 members of the community, also known as Bkejwanong Unceded Territory, along with non-Native allies, blocked the island’s only access route to stage an information picket Monday morning.…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Ruth Hopkins Guest Columnist

Windspeaker.com recently featured commentary by Drew Hayden Taylor entitled ‘The Shame of Skirt Shaming.’

In it, readers are forced to endure the bitter tirade of a male author who seeks to shame traditional practitioners of Native ways, including Elders and medicine people, for strictly adhering to centuries-old ceremonial protocol that requires women to cover themselves while…

  • September 8, 2016
  • Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

 

For the last several weeks, Dwight Dorey, the National Chief of the Indigenous Peoples Assembly of Canada (IPAC), has been hosting meetings for Indigenous people living in large urban centres and small rural settings.

IPAC was formerly known as the Congress of Aboriginal People and before that, the Native Council of Canada when it was founded 45 years ago.

The purpose of…

  • August 23, 2016
  • Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

Imagine going from being just one-eighth Indian to being half Indian. That requires a whole identity shift, a reinvention of self. 

Exit crazy York University party girl known as Spawn and enter serious, traditional, cultural-identity-seeker dressed in the requisite long skirt, accessorized with Indigenous jewelry, and fair hair dyed black. Lots of ceremonies and Elders.

This is…

  • August 23, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor WINDSOR, Ont.

Rocky Thompson’s work will once again be closely monitored during the upcoming hockey season.

A year ago people were wondering how Thompson, a former professional hockey player, would fare in his first season as a head coach.

Thompson, a 39-year-old Cree, had spent the previous eight years working as an assistant coach in the junior and pro ranks, including the 2014-15 season…