Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.
Launched in 1997. A news publication specifically designed for the Indigenous people of British Columbia and Yukon.
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UCLUELET-The five Central Region Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations have started negotiating a new Interim Measures Agreement (IMA) this month with the British Columbia government.
Once again they are discussing co-management of the resource-rich Clayoquot Sound area on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Leaders of the Ahousaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Hesquiaht, Ucluelet and…
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WESTBANK-The Aboriginal Peoples Family Accord (APFA) is keeping attention focused on the actions and non-actions of the provincial government when it comes to honouring its commitment to help safeguard the well-being of Aboriginal children and families. It continues to press Aboriginal peoples' inherent right to have jurisdiction over their own children and families, with the…
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OTTAWA-Amnesty International has released a report stating "Canadian officials have too long ignored the threat to Indigenous women in Canadian towns and cities. Many are missing, some have been murdered, and Canadian authorities are not doing enough to stop the violence."
The report, Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous…
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The story of Xa:ytem is quite exceptional. The 9,000-year-old Sto:lo village, buried for centuries, was rediscovered in 1990 by archaeologist Gordon Mohs. It was his discovery that essentially rescued Xa:ytem, which means "sudden transformation," from the grips of a proposed housing development.
If you haven't yet visited Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre, you may be…
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A terrible tragedy visited the Penticton Indian Band Oct. 30 that left three young men dead and three more injured in a shooting incident.
Two Aboriginal men, Quincy Paul, 29 and Robin Baptiste, 24 of Penticton, died, along with Damien Endreny, a 20-year-old Caucasian male from Oliver.
They were found by RCMP at a roadside picnic pullout near a creek, just off the…
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Sun on the Mountains, Book 1
The Story of Blue Eye
Tyler Trafford
Thistledown Press Ltd., 2004
$18.95; 349 pp. (sc)
Not since I devoured saga after saga by that great chronicler of the American West, Zane Grey, 45 years ago have I enjoyed a story of the wide open spaces so much.
Canadian author Tyler Trafford's first Sun on the Mountains…
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ALERT BAY-Namgis First Nation and the Whe-La-La-U Area Council of northern Vancouver Island are criticizing an RCMP investigation and coroner's inquest into the February 2003 death of Lorraine Jacobson.
Jacobson was shot to death on Feb. 28, 2003 by Cst. Russ Channin in Alert Bay. The inquest concluded the first week of October.
Namgis and the council say the entire…
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Harley Desjarlais, the president of the Metis Provincial Council of British Columbia (MPCBC), has been suspended by the organization's board of directors, though the reasons for the suspension are not clear. A notice appeared on the MPCBC Web site several days before the MNC was scheduled to attend a special session with the first ministers on Health in Ottawa. As president of…
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The media is a very powerful tool.
Whether it is in the form of television, movies or the Internet, just to name a few, it has the ability to shape our perceptions of the world and colour our views of the people around us.
In the video Expressions of Aboriginal Youth, three youth seize the opportunity to use the camera to express their frustrations over the racism…
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Jill Paquette's self-titled debut album garnered awards for Outstanding Christian Recording and for Outstanding Aboriginal Recording at the 2004 Western Canadian Music Awards on Oct. 3.
The emerging artist beat out the likes of Burnt (Project 1-The Avenue); Kimberly Dawn (I'm Going Home); Eagle & Hawk (Mother Earth); and Wayne Lavallee (Green Dress) in the Outstanding…
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On Sept. 23 the First Nations within School District No. 58 attended a signing ceremony and feast marking a new Aboriginal education enhancement agreement (EA).
The gymnasium at the Coquihalla Middle School in Merritt was set up to accommodate approximately 80 school district staff and several Aboriginal groups.
The EA involves all five local bands and the Metis…
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The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) is taking a new approach to providing technical training to the province's First Nations, bringing both training and the technology needed to use it out to the communities and letting the communities call the shots.
The goal of the training program is to help Aboriginal communities reap economic benefits from their…
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The future of natural resource development will be the hot topic during the fourth annual Resource Expo at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver. From Nov. 7 to 10, Aboriginal, business and government leaders will come together to discuss the future of mining, energy and forestry on Aboriginal lands.
Hosted by the Native Investment and Trade Association (NITA), the event provides…
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Twenty-one bands in the Sto:lo Nation celebrated an addition to their land holdings on Oct. 23, a reserve that they will share jointly and equally.
Deanna Honeyman, leasing officer for the Sto:lo Nation lands department, said "This is probably one of the first times something like that has actually happened, that 21 First Nations actually got together to have one parcel of…
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Gerald McMaster, a Siksika member who grew up on the Red Pheasant reserve in Saskatchewan, occupies a senior position at the newly opened National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in the United States capital city.
Previously, McMaster was the curator-in-charge of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Que. He is also a well-known artist.
Now, as special…