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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.

  • July 11, 2016
  • Photos: Bert Crowfoot

The Treaty Six Grand Chieftainship was transfered from Grand Chief Chief Tony Alexis to the new Grand Chief Randy Ermineskin, after the Grand Entry at the Alexis First Nation Powwow on Friday night, July 8, 2016.

Former Alexis chiefs and other chiefs from the Treaty Six Confederacy were in attendance.

Chief Tony Alexis was gifted a teepee for his work of the past year from the…

  • June 16, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor MOOSE JA

 

Losing her home in a fire in 2009 opened the door to beauty pageants for Siera Bearchell, crowned only last weekend as Miss Universe Canada.

In receiving help from the Canadian Red Cross when her family lost their house, Bearchell started volunteering for the organization. It was during that time that she heard about Miss Teen Saskatchewan.

“I thought it would give me a…

  • June 16, 2016
  • Drew Hayden Taylor, Windspeaker Columnist

Most would consider a trip to a Cuban resort to be one of pleasant distractions; warm sand, rum and a rather shallow excursion into another culture. This is what my partner and I thought when we visited Cuba several weeks ago. 

It seemed obvious to us that in the months ahead, more and more Americans would be flooding the beaches and gradually Kardashianizing the whole island. I had…

  • June 16, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris
 Windspeaker Contributor MONTREAL

It seems only fitting that a major celebration of lacrosse next year will be staged in Montreal, and more specifically at McGill University.

Plans for the 150th Anniversary of Lacrosse Celebration were announced at a news conference on Wednesday. The event is scheduled for a year from now, June 16 to June 18 in 2017.

The festivities will include re-created games,…

  • June 15, 2016
  • Windspeaker Staff

Speak truth to power. That’s what a delegation of young men and women of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation did when they visited “The Hill” in Ottawa June 13 to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

They talked with him about how Canada has left them behind on housing, education, clean water and health services. They shared stories of the challenges they face, their lack of prospects for a…

  • June 14, 2016
  • Dianne Meili

Norman Tait: Determined carver single-handedly revived Nisga’a art form

By Dianne Meili

Norman Tait, Sim'oogit Gawaakhl, exacted the same discipline from his carving team as he did from himself.

“He was ambitious and focused,” said the carver’s youngest brother Robert “Chip” Tait, who, years ago, helped his siblings complete a pole for Vancouver’s Capilano Mall, while also…

  • June 7, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor ENDERBY, B.C.

June 7, 2016.

It isn’t enough that about a year ago a number of hereditary and elected chiefs in British Columbia picked up a commitment stick to live violence-free and to stop violence against women.

It isn’t enough that chiefs across the country have signed the Assembly of First Nations’ pledge to end violence. It isn’t enough that chiefs have had their communities pledge non-…

  • June 6, 2016
  • Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

Two very important things happened in 1962, scientist Faisal Moola told the crowd gathered at Queen’s Park on June 2 to support Grassy Narrows First Nation.

The first was the publishing of “Silent Spring”, a book by biologist Rachel Carson that was the inspiration for the modern environmental movement.  “Silent Spring essentially woke up the world to the consequences of environmental…

  • June 2, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor VANCOUVER

The talking has to end. It’s time for the British Columbia government to listen to the changes First Nations want to make for child welfare and it’s time for those changes to be implemented.

“I believe that the First Nations people have the answers, have the solutions on how we can improve and support our children and families in our communities. We have the answers. We just need to be…

  • June 1, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor POPLAR RIVER FIRST NATION, Man.

Respect that the Elders taught Sophia Rabliauskas for the land drove the Poplar River First Nation’s member to take an active role in getting Pimachiowin Aki nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The responsibility of looking after what’s around me, my environment, my community, the land, was taught to me by my parents, my father and grandfather especially, because it reminded us…

  • June 1, 2016
  • Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor

“I would say 100 per cent of our people are poisoned by mercury,” said grandmother Judy Da Silva speaking about her community of Grassy Narrows First Nation. “Some of our people don’t even understand that they are being poisoned by mercury when they have all these different ailments,” she said.

 

Photo: (eft to right) Craig Benjamin of Amnesty International, Chief Simon
…

  • May 31, 2016
  • Drew Hayden Taylor, Windspeaker Columnist

The Urbane Indian

Not long ago my partner was attending an Aboriginal healing function when she found out there was going to be a women’s ceremony included, one that she had not been told about in advance.

Under normal circumstances that would not have been a problem. For most it’s usually an enjoyable and respected experience where women come together to share and heal. But her…

  • May 27, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor THUNDER BAY, Ont.

Ontario has committed close to $222 million over three years to address gaps in health services for the province’s Indigenous population, particularly those in the north.

The announcement came two months after Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, supported by Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Isadore Day, declared a health emergency.

“It’s unfortunate that in a…

  • May 26, 2016
  • Andrea Smith Windspeaker Contributor

The Banff Center for the Arts has a special guest coming around for this year’s National Aboriginal Day celebration. The Centre has chosen to spotlight the Inuit people for its three-day event, beginning June 20.

Along with screening films based on the Inuit Arctic experience, they will hold workshops about Inuit history and culture, led by Johnny Issaluk.

Issaluk is a well-known…

  • May 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

 

 

Treaty4News reports that the name Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations will replace Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The organization’s name change was decided by vote on May 25 at the FSIN Legislative Assembly held in North Battleford, with 22 nations voting for the change, four opposed and a number of the 74-member nations abstaining.

The idea to…