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.
Page 11
Camosun College presented Distinguished Alumni Awards to outstanding former graduates at this year's June convocation.
Two of the three recipients were Aboriginal: Chief Sophie Pierre and the late artist and activist Art Thompson.
Chief Sophie Pierre graduated from the college's business administration program in 1978 and has been chief of the Ktunaxa Nation since…
Page 10
Xats'ull Heritage Village is located on a sunny shelf above the mighty Fraser River deep in the heart of the Cariboo, 37 km north of Williams Lake on Highway 97. Xats'ull, (pronounced hats'ull) is the Secwepemc or Shuswap word meaning "on the cliff". It fittingly describes the area that has been occupied by the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation for generations.
In 1990 a German…
Page 9
Matt Thorpe is one of those people who demands 110 per cent from himself on a regular basis and thrives on it. He's constantly thinking two or three steps ahead; yet engage him in conversation, and he can make you feel that there is nobody more important to him than the person he's talking to right now.
Thorpe calls his ability to focus intently on just what is being said…
Page 8
Following years of population decline, the northern tip of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) will experience growth led by the return of First Nations people.
A new sub-division will be added to the Old Massett reserve, where 293 homes will be constructed during the next decade for about 1,000 Haida who are expected to return home. The 163-hectare parcel of land being…
Page 7
Even during nights when the hardiest of mainlanders would have stayed indoors, there continues to be a stream of customers flowing into the ice cream shop in Old Massett.
"We don't stop for nothing around here and the wind isn't (even) blowing sideways yet," the owner of Sweet Treats, Brandie Hill, said. "Even if it's like this, it's usually busy."
Even if it is…
Page 6
The very busy 20-member Thunderbirds firefighting team is the only sustained action crew in the Port Alberni area, meaning they can fight most fires from start to finish, and they have the ability to break into smaller initial attack crews for greater maneuverability in fighting multiple small fires.
When a fire is reported, the forest centre dispatcher will send in a…
Page 5
She took five years to complete her degree in nursing and become the first Aboriginal student to graduate from Trinity Western University's nursing program in Langley last year. For 34-year-old Kathleen Lounsbury, graduating with a B average from the nursing program with a bachelor of science degree, although both fulfilling and exciting, was not easy.
Lounsbury, who…
Page 4
Thirty years of progress was celebrated at the Rotary Peace Park in Whitehorse this year. Hosted by the Gathering of Traditions Potlatch Society, hundreds of visitors marked the anniversary of an historic meeting in Ottawa in 1973 that resulted in the first comprehensive land-claim negotiations in Canadian history. The celebration was held on June 21, National Aboriginal Day.…
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On a scorching summer Saturday, friends and family of Edgar Charlie gathered at the Thunderbird Hall to witness his seating as the head chief of Kelthsmaht. Kelthsmaht traditional territory is on Vargas Island, in view of Tofino. It is one of the several nations that amalgamated to form modern-day Ahousaht.
The heir to the Kelthsmaht head chief's seat has been the subject…
Page 3
Nuu-chah-nulth leaders and fishermen took to the waters of the Alberni Inlet last month to support the protests of the Area G Trollers Association.
The trollers were protesting against a Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) decision to prevent them from accessing valuable Somass River sockeye salmon runs because of a "bureaucratic accounting error."
…
Page 2
Dear Editor:
When I read the story in Raven's Eye, (July, First Nations team up for economic opportunities, page 1) I couldn't believe it. But it is a reality; the Squamish and Lil'wat band chiefs have agreed to pay the province of British Columbia $25,000 per year for the use of four acres of land in the resort town of Whistler. You read that right: the Natives are paying…
Page 1
The Provincial Emergency Program, operated by the Ministry of Public Safety and the Solicitor General, was reporting 352 active fires Aug. 11 in the central region of the province around Kamloops. An evacuation order for the Bonaparte Plateau region on Highway 5 remained Aug. 12, with 80 to 100 non-residents under order to evacuate. Province-wide, on Aug. 12, 24 evacuation alerts…
Page 1
The federal government and the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation have settled on terms that would allow precedent-setting expansion on the Esowista reserve inside the boundaries of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
The Esowista reserve, located on a long beach on the south side of Schooner Cove, has been the focus of numerous protests as over-crowded families sought relief.…
Page 11
The Cariboo Tribal Council (CTC) and Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training Centre in Williams Lake are sponsoring the first CTC Tourism Training course this spring. Project Management Trainer Cheryl Chapman, a member of the Xats'ull (Soda Creek) Indian Band who has been actively involved in the tourism industry for almost 10 years, is co-ordinating the six-week program.
"…
Page 9
An amazing collaboration of blues musicians rocked the Yale Blues Club in Vancouver on June 15, the weekend before National Aboriginal Day (NAD). In a phenomenal fund-raising effort, several artists came together to support the three-day NAD Art & Culture Celebration, held outdoors the weekend of June 20 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Germaine Langan, organizer of both…