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Ontario Birchbark

Ontario Birchbark

Launched in 2002. A publication specifically designed to serve the Indigenous people of Ontario.

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Six Nations Polytechnic will be the first Aboriginal institute in the province to offer a standalone degree program. As of January 2016, students at Six Nations Polytechnic Aboriginal Institute in Ohsweken can obtain a Bachelor of arts degree in Ogwehoweh (Cayuga and Mohawk) languages. This degree will help promote and protect Ogwehoweh languages and make it possible for students to complete…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

A Tribe Called Red has garnered a spot in the Prism Prize’s Top 20 best Canadian music videos of the year. The videos are voted on by a jury of more than 120 Canadian music, film and media arts professionals. After viewing hundreds of music videos released in 2015, jurors selected the Prism Prize Top 20 based on originality, creativity, style, innovation and effective execution. The Ottawa-…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Chiefs of Ontario have produced an innovative energy literacy tool that will provide First Nations in Ontario with foundational information necessary to build knowledge, insight and understanding of essential energy issues. The report will also be a useful reference guide for all First Nations across the country.

“This report is a process that will help demystify a complex energy…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Ontario Native Women’s Association is calling upon the Ontario government to develop a provincial anti-trafficking strategy as Ontario has been identified as a hub for sex-trafficking. ONWA is also calling for increased research and funding to better understand the domestic and international sex trafficking of Indigenous women and girls in Ontario and beyond.

ONWA underscores the…

  • January 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Angelique EagleWoman has been appointed dean of Lakehead University’s Bora Laskin faculty of law. She is the first Indigenous dean of a Canadian law school. The Indigenous Bar Association in Canada says Bora Laskin faculty of law’s actions, which also include the introduction of mandatory courses on Indigenous legal traditions and Canadian laws applied to Aboriginal peoples, demonstrate the…

  • January 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has provided the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation with $45,000 to assist its participation in the environmental assessment of the Goliath Gold Project.

The funding will enable participation in the upcoming steps of the environmental assessment, which include reviewing and providing comments on the environmental impact statement or on the summary…

  • January 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Next fall, Trent University will offer an Indigenous bachelor of education degree program. The new program is partly in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report last summer that called on all levels of government to change policies to repair problems caused by residential schools. The report also recommended that students be taught about the history and current plight of…

  • January 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is asking the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal a lower court’s decision and allow the First Nation to take action against Enbridge Inc., the National Energy Board and the Attorney General of Canada over Line 9, which runs between Sarnia, Ont., and Montreal. At the heart of its legal case is a question over the duty of the Crown to consult and…

  • January 26, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Moose Cree First Nation and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service have entered into a memorandum of understanding highlighting their joint commitment to fight drug trafficking. MCFN said it could wait no longer for the federal government to give more funding to First Nations policing and has gone ahead with funding for two NAPS officer positions for one year. The new positions will focus…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Garnet Angeconeb, a community builder and an advocate for reconciliation, was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada on Nov. 30 and presented with his insignia by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell. As a journalist and former councillor in Sioux Lookout, Angeconeb worked to promote his Anishinabek language and culture, and to foster intercultural dialogue between Aboriginal and non-…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Master Education Framework Agreement, recently signed by Education Minister Liz Sandals and Anishinabek Nation chiefs, is a formal agreement for the province and Anishinabek First Nations to collaborate on supporting Indigenous education in on-reserve and provincial schools. The goal of the agreement is to help strengthen education on Anishinabek history and culture in schools, bolster…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is calling on the province to create a revenue-sharing framework between government and First Nations “to provide certainty surrounding the benefits that these communities will gain from mineral resource development.” The chamber released its report earlier this month encouraging the government to do more in mining development in the province, including in the…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Chapleau Cree First Nation has initialed an agreement to settle a long outstanding Treaty Land Entitlement claim with the governments of Canada and Ontario. The eight-year long negotiation has resulted in the addition of more than 9,100 acres of reserve land in the Chapleau, Ont. area, as well as a significant monetary compensation package to address loss of use. “Although I feel that we…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

On Dec. 9, Bill 153, the Métis Nation of Ontario Secretariat Act, passed with unanimous consent in the Ontario legislature. The MNO Act does not deal with or interfere with the Métis Nation’s internal governance and institutions that are grounded on its inherent rights of self-government and self-determination, but it recognizes and accommodates the MNO Secretariat’s unique status as…

  • December 15, 2015
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Tyler Fauvelle works on his sculpture of Francis Pegahmagabow. Born at Shawanaga First Nation, Pegahmagabow was the most highly-decorated First Nations soldier in Canadian history. This will be a life-sized monument to honour his heroic service. It will be located at the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts in Parry Sound, Ont., overlooking Wasauksing First Nation (Parry Island),…