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Raven's Eye

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Launched in 1997. A news publication specifically designed for the Indigenous people of British Columbia and Yukon.

  • April 20, 2010
  • Rudy Kelly, Raven's Eye Writer, Kamloops

If Aboriginal people are going to reverse negative trends-and the stereotypes that often come with them-they will need to be led by their youth, who make up more than half of their population.
That was the message heard in Kamloops last month where more than 800 Aboriginal youth attended Gathering Our Voices 2006, the annual provincial Aboriginal youth conference.
The conference,…

  • April 20, 2010
  • David Wiwchar, Raven's Eye Writer, Victoria

Non-Native consultants, advisors, and lawyers be warned; you will be replaced by First Nations professionals.

The Government of British Columbia has tabled legislation to enact the $100-million New Relationship Trust that will help fund long-term capacity building for First Nations. Tom Christensen, minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation announced the legislation on March…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Rudy Kelly, Raven's Eye Writer, Prince Rupert

After receiving acknowledgment from local leaders, including North Coast MLA Gary Coons and the parents of a missing young woman, Florence Naziel appeared awkward with the attention and could only say in a cracking voice: "Thank you."

And with those words Naziel set out on March 11 to walk the stretch of highway that nine young women-seven of them Aboriginal-have walked since 1989 and…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Rudy Kelly, Raven's Eye Writer, Prince Rupert

"We are like trees, planted together. We grow strong and tall, and our roots twist around each other, so we can withstand any storm. When we work together, when we respect each other and develop trust, we can move mountains."

Nisga'a Lisims President Nelson Leeson spoke those words to the thousands of First Nations people who had gathered for the weekend festivities in Prince Rupert on…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Laura Stevens, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

A graduation ceremony for 11 students got underway at the Native Education Centre on Jan. 25, with a traditional welcome and comments from community representatives, including MLAs Lorne Mayencourt and Richard Lee.

A 12-week program designed in partnership with the Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS), the Native Education Centre and British Columbia…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Rudy Kelly, Raven's Eye Writer, Prince Rupert

The new Prince Rupert container port will provide an economic boom for northern B.C. Area First Nations want to share in that prosperity, not threaten it, as some fear.

Those are the words of Lax Kw'Alaams chief band councillor, Gary Reece as he responded to criticism that claimed a recent court injunction by local First Nations was a dangerous money-grab that recklessly endangered the…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Morning Star Doherty, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Robert 'Willy' Pickton appeared in British Columbia's New Westminster Supreme Court on Jan. 30 and pled not guilty to the first-degree murders of 27 women linked to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside sex trade.

Sixty-eight women have disappeared from that section of Vancouver since 1991, many of them of Aboriginal descent. Investigators found DNA from 31 women on Pickton's property in Port…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Reuel S. Amdur, Raven's Eye Writer

Marilyn Van Bibber is a Northern Tutchone from the Selkirk First Nation near Pelly Crossing, Yukon who has had an important impact on the lives of many Aboriginal people.
Van Bibber, armed with a diploma in nursing and a certificate in midwifery, has served northern Native communities for some 25 odd years, and with a number of university courses in political science and sociology under…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Brian Lin, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

"Tenacity, dedication and pure stubbornness" kept a unique First Nations library open through hard times, according to Gene Joseph, founding librarian of the Xwi7xwa Library at the University of British Columbia's First Nations House of Learning.

And the library's new status as a full branch of the UBC library system puts it in a position to extend collections, services and outreach…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Laura Stevens, Raven's Eye Writer

The prevention of deadly infections is as simple as washing your hands, and in learning the differences between viruses and bacteria to know when and how to use antibiotics.

The lessons are part of a province-wide program called, Do Bugs Need Drugs?, aimed at children, families, and health care professionals to address antibiotic resistance. In 1998, the program was developed in Alberta…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Kelly Poirier, Raven's Eye Contributor, Port Alberni

The students at Haa-huu-payuk elementary school were treated to a special workshop Jan. 11 and 12 that got them talking about science.

It was just the kind of activity the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council's fisheries program-called Uu-a-thluk- was hoping the school would engage in to help ensure the future of resource management.

Many young people have a strong dislike for math and…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Debora Steel, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Imagine what it would be like to be caught in the middle of 10,000 stampeding caribou. What would it sound like? How would you survive? Well, you don't have to imagine for very long. The stampede will travel to Vancouver when Red Sky, a contemporary Aboriginal performing arts company, brings the wildly successful Caribou Song to the stages of the Firehall Arts Centre Feb. 8 to 11.

  • April 20, 2010
  • Raven's Eye Staff

North America's only cruise ship terminal with a First Nations theme is one step closer to becoming a reality with an investment of $9 million from the Government of Canada. Stephen Owen, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport) made the announcement in Campbell River Nov. 9. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada will provide $6 million and Western Economic…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Paul Barnsley, Raven's Eye Writer, Ottawa

Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler got an earful from the chiefs-in-assembly when he showed up at an Assembly of First Nations meeting to wave the Liberal Party of Canada flag on Dec. 8, and B.C. issues were well represented.

When it was announced late on Day 2 of the special chiefs' assembly that it would be Cotler who would represent the Liberals during a candidates election forum…

  • April 20, 2010
  • Heather Andrews Miller, Raven's Eye Writer, Ottawa

A project organized by the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) is giving up-and-coming Aboriginal performing artists a chance to have their music heard.

Dig Your Roots-Aboriginal will showcase the talent of up to 100 Aboriginal artists from across the country, who will have their work featured on the Dig Your Roots Web site. Out of those 100 or so performers, 15 will…