Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.
Community focused with a grassroots appeal. Established in 1993 to serve the needs of the Indigenous people of Alberta.
Forty years later, the little college that could has plans to grow and serve 500 students.
In 1972, Maskwacis Cultural College opened its doors as a cultural education centre in Hobbema.
“It was a place to preserve and protect our language, history and culture,” says Patricia Goodwill-Littlechild, MCC president.
Two years later, MCC began its first academic program, the…
Marilyn Shirt, dean of Indigenous language at Blue Quills First Nations College, has joined forces with Dr. Allison Eamer, a University of Ontario Institute of Technology professor, in a shared vision to preserve First Nations’ languages. When the two met at a languages conference in Hamilton four years ago, they discovered they had a common interest in exploring ways to use technology and…
The message is clear: new premier Jim Prentice needs to talk to First Nations leaders.
“He needs more dialogue with First Nations and obviously the jurisdictional issue needs to be addressed first and foremost. Our sovereign relationship is with the federal crown. We are a sovereign nation and we determine what is best for us as First Nations,” said Chief Brad Rabbit, of the Montana…
A lot of young Canadian boys grow up with dreams of playing in the NHL. That dream came true for a young Metis boy from St. Albert, and now his family is celebrating his accomplishments after a special honour.
Joseph Benoit was born in 1916 and passed away in 1981, after a long and storied career in hockey and standing up for his country in WW2.
His great niece, Joanne…
The Fort McMurray Métis is hoping to run about four membership drives a year, with the next tentative date set for somewhere in the first part of December, 2014.
Anyone with Métis heritage and can prove it, is potentially eligible to be a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
Kyle Harrietha is the General Manager of McMurray Métis and says there are many benefits in…
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was in Fort McMurray for a few days to tour the oilsands for an environmental documentary he is working on, reports CBC News. DiCaprio wanted to see the oilsands first-hand and learn more about their impact. He currently serves on the board of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Resources Defence Council and started his own environmental charity foundation in…
Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding via videoconference with Child Protection for Western Australia to formalize a partnership to exchange knowledge, research collaboration and a potential caseworker job exchange. Australia has been leading the implementation of the Signs of Safety model. It focuses on tools to help workers determine a family’s strengths and resources to reduce the…
Tuberculosis rates are highest among First Nations residents, and immigrants and refugees who arrive in Alberta from countries where tuberculosis is widespread. Cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis are on the rise in the province, according to a new surveillance report, which examined the cases between 2010 and 2012. However, the office of the province’s chief medical officer of health,…
A two-day fatality inquiry into the suicide death of Billy Joe Crowshoe, 32, at the Drumheller Institution has resulted in no recommendations. Crowshoe hanged himself on Sept. 21, 2010, in his prison cell while serving his sentence. He made a noose out of his bed sheet, attaching the sheet to the wall 10 feet above the ground. Presiding over the inquiry was Provincial Court Judge Michael C.…
The provincial government’s new Family and Community Safety program has $20 million to deliver to local agencies to help end child abuse, family violence, sexual assault and bullying, and to support children’s mental health. The fund will build on the work that is ongoing in communities and strengthen it by supporting new and innovative programs. “This funding will be instrumental in ending…
The Alberta government has directed the panel reviewing the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan to not consider concerns raised by the Athabasca Chipewyan, Fort McKay, Onion Lake, Cold Lake Cree, Mikisew Cree, and Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nations, and Fort McKay Métis as they are not directly harmed by LARP. The province has also said that treaty rights do not fall within the purview of the…
Ermineskin Cree Nation lawyer Danika Billie Littlechild has been named vice president of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Littlechild practices law with Indigenous peoples in several areas of expertise: governance, Indigenous legal systems, environment and international law. She has been a member of the CCU for more than a decade, serving as chair and vice-chair in various positions between…
Slam poetry performer Zaccheus Jackson Nyce (fourth from left backrow) was struck and killed by a train in Toronto on Aug. 27. A member of the Piikani Nation, Nyce, 36, was in the midst of a solo tour of Canada. Nyce ended up living in East Vancouver, battling a drug addiction. He found a way to overcome when he hit it big entering a slam poetry competition in 2005 and going on to win a spot…
A Royal Conservatory of Music program that has dramatically increased academic engagement and success of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students is being expanded.
For the past six years Learning Through the Arts Youth Empowerment Program has been operating in numerous Fort McMurray schools. Developed by The Royal Conservatory in 1994, it uses arts-based activities to help engage…
Elek Himer finally managed to bring home some hardware from a prestigious lacrosse competition.
Himer, a 15-year-old who has Cree and Mohawk ancestry, was a member of the Alberta entry that captured the bronze medal at the national boys’ under-16 field lacrosse tournament.
The six-team event, which was called the Alumni Cup, concluded on Aug. 31 in Edmonton.
Himer, who…