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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.

  • April 14, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor BURNABY, B.C.

Caption: Photo credit Marie Octaviano

Team in white is Maori national side
Saints player in black
 
It’s amazing how quickly plans can snowball.

A perfect example of this is an event that British Columbia’s Skidegate Saints, a men’s basketball team, will host this summer.

Last year, the Saints of Haida Gwaii, travelled to New Zealand to play against the…

  • April 11, 2016
  • Andrea Smith Windspeaker Contributor NUNAVUT

A media company in Nunavut is taking a modern approach to traditional stories and culture. Taqqut Productions Inc. is an Iqaluit-based, Inuit-owned film company dedicated to sharing stories from the north through voices of the north.

Created in 2011 by Louise Flaherty and Neil Christopher, Taqqut Productions has been creating animated children’s films, and winning international awards…

  • April 8, 2016
  • Andrea Smith Windspeaker Contributor VANCOUVER

Lawyers for BC Hydro are taking an “appalling” position on the human rights of Indigenous people by arguing against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in a Site C Dam case now before the Federal Court of Appeals, says the First Nations Summit.

BC Hydro argues that the UN Declaration is not part of Canadian law, nor a customary standard, and is only “…

  • April 7, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

A demonstration is being organized Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m. in Saint-Laurent (Montreal, Que.) in solidarity with the family of Sandy Michel and the community of Lac-Simon, Que.

Michel, 25, was shot by Anishnabe Nation Tribal Council police in Lac-Simon, near Val-d'or during the evening of April 6. Lac-Simon is located 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

The police were…

  • April 7, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor VAL-D’OR, Que.

 
A rescheduled meeting with Quebec Aboriginal Affairs Minister Geoffrey Kelly for Friday could not have been better timed for Edith Cloutier, executive director of the Val-d'Or Native Friendship Centre and president of Regroupement des centres d'amitié autochtones du Québec.

Cloutier will be letting Kelly know that she is disappointed with measures announced on April 5 by Public…

  • April 7, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor MISSISSAUGA

Members of the two Ontario squads for this year’s National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) have plenty of reasons to be excited.
For starters, officials from both clubs believe they have assembled rosters that will challenge for top spot in their respective categories at the national tournament.

 

 


Caption: Ontario’s…

  • April 6, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and the Elected Council of Six Nations of the Grand River are setting the record straight on statements recently issued by the Sûreté du Québec, a press release states.

As First Nations, Kahnawà:ke and Six Nations have the legal right to produce, distribute and trade tobacco, reads the statement. Attempts to regulate or restrict a First Nation from…

  • April 5, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor SASKATOON

Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party was re-elected Monday taking 63 per cent of the popular vote and 51 of 61 seats. It’s Wall’s third term as premier.

The election victory means that the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations will push harder to get further in an agenda that is based on inherent and treaty rights.

“No matter who gets elected to any provincial or federal government…

  • April 5, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

Ontario’s Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling that evidence on the abuse of 3,800 of residential school survivors could be destroyed after 15 years. This period will allow time to notify survivors and ask whether they want their records archived.

The chief adjudicator of the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) wanted the destruction of the recordings, transcripts and…

  • April 2, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask.

Organizers of an Aboriginal men’s hockey tournament in Saskatchewan believe they have found the secret to success—non-contact hockey.

The 16th annual Lawrence Weenie Cup wrapped up this March 27 in North Battleford, Sask. Twelve teams from across Saskatchewan took part in the men’s recreational category. And six other squads participated in the Masters division, which was restricted to…

  • April 2, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

The Calgary Peace Prize 2016 will be awarded to Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild, the three commissions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Calgary Peace Prize recognizes outstanding individuals from the global community, who work toward making the world a more just, safer and less violent place.

This year it celebrates the…

  • April 2, 2016
  • Andrea Smith Windspeaker Contributor EDMONTON

The list of recipients for this year’s 21st Annual Esquao Awards is out. Notable and noteworthy women from across the province will share the stage on April 15 as they are presented with awards, one-by-one, in areas ranging from community involvement in justice activism to environmental work.

Angeline Gutierrez-Rain, Krista Laboucane, Rhonda Metallic and Joanne Pompana, all of Edmonton…

  • March 30, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

Update: CBC Thunder Bay has confirmed nine people were killed in the Pikangikum First Nations fire.

The fire began late March 29 at a single house on the reserve. The fire is under investigation, with police currently at the scene. The reserve is located near the Manitoba-Ontario border and has made headlines for health problems, including a suicide crisis.

  • March 30, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

 
Sixty people have been arrested in Quebec, Ontario, Kahnawake and on Six Nations at Brantford with police targeting a money laundering ring, reports CTV Montreal.

Operation Tarantula (Mygale) resulted in 70 raids March 30 targeting biker gangs who are said to have worked with criminals on reserve to buy tobacco in the United States, which was smuggled it into Canada and sold in…

  • March 29, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor SASKATOON

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to end all boil water advisories on First Nations within five years.

The budget delivered by his government on March 22 committed $1.8 billion to strengthen on reserve water and waste water infrastructure and $141.7 million to monitor water on reserve. Both commitments are over a five-year period beginning in the 2016-17 fiscal year.