Saskatchewan Sage

A Canada-wide warrant was issued Sept. 11 for Whitecap Dakota First Nation former senior accountant Hugo Gallegos, charged with theft over $5,000 following an investigation by Saskatoon RCMP and the integrated organized crime unit. It is alleged that Gallegos stole more than $1 million “The amount is significant as it has impacted our cash flow but we cannot let a criminal impact the…

The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan continues to be embroiled in controversy as members try to oust President Robert Doucette. A decision on an application for a court injunction against Doucette, filed by Vice President Gerald Morin and his supporters, was delayed by the judge until Oct. 10. The delay allowed the MN-S legislative assembly to go ahead on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, but not without…

The Advocate for Children and Youth has been directed by Social Services Minister June Draude to investigate a child taking the life of another child on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation. Both boys involved were in foster care. On Aug. 21, Lee Bonneau, 6, was found beaten in a wooded area not far from the Kahkewistahaw First Nation community centre and died in hospital. RCMP believe a…

Jeff Baker, a Métis educator and scholar, is the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education’s first ever chair in Aboriginal Education. As chair, Baker will teach both graduate and undergraduate classes with a focus on kindergarten to Grade 12 education, particularly for the Indian Teacher Education Program, which is designed for First Nations students interested in teaching. He will…

At the end of July, Saskatoon lawyer Dan Shapiro began as the new chief adjudicator of the Independent Assessment Process, which provides compensation to former students for abuse they suffered at Indian Residential Schools. Shapiro replaced Dan Ish, who announced in February that he would be stepping down. Shapiro has been a deputy chief adjudicator for the Indian Residential School…

The City of Regina has set as a priority the development of a First Nation and Métis recruitment and retention strategy. According to the latest statistics, of 1,164 city employees—not including seasonal—129, or 7.8 per cent, are self-declared as Aboriginal, falling below the city’s 15.2-per-cent target set by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Most Aboriginal employees work as…

A new communication agreement between Sturgeon Lake Child and Family Services and the Ministry of Social Services will see the agency notified every time one of their children is put in foster care off-reserve and if a child is seriously hurt or dies while in foster care. The service had been meeting with Social Services about a better communication protocol since 2010, but the ministry did…

Beleaguered Métis Nation-Saskatchewan President Robert Doucette is fighting off another call for his resignation. Dubbed Métis Revolution 2013, 12 of the 17-member Provincial Métis Council have revolted against Doucette’s leadership and are lobbying Premier Brad Wall and the federal government to denounce him. Darlene McKay, area director for western region 2, is among those accusing Doucette…

Brenda Butterworth-Carr has become the first Aboriginal woman ever promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent within the RCMP. Butterworth-Carr has been appointed to the position of Saskatchewan RCMP Commanding Officer, “F” Division. A member of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation, Butterworth-Carr began her career in 1987 as a special constable in her hometown of Dawson. From there she went…

Terry McArthur, who resigned as chief of Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, will not be receiving $48,000 in severance pay. Initially council said he would be paid but criticism from Aboriginal Affairs Canada forced council to withdraw the money. McArthur was sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty in May to sexually…

A new program to be offered this year by the University of Saskatchewan’s college of education will see more focus on “anti-colonialist” education and First Nations content. Critics within the college were concerned the new program overemphasized these areas at the expense of sufficient instruction on how to teach specific subjects like language arts, fine arts, social studies or math. In…

Cassandra Opikokew, associate director at Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre, will use a $108,000 stipend from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research doctoral research award over the next three years to work on her dissertation project titled The Indian Solution to the Policy Problem: Developing an Indigenous Policy Making Model, in which she is comparing health and education…

Another court date has been set for Douglas Hales, 35, charged with the first-degree murder of Daleen Bosse. The mother and university student went missing in 2004. Her remains were discovered in a wooded area north of Saskatoon in 2008. Hales was arrested shortly after the remains of Bosse were found, and has been in custody ever since. Earlier this year he dismissed his lawyer–the…

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has signed a memorandum of understanding with the David Suzuki Foundation. The Gifts of the Creator/the Environment will see First Nations continue to maintain and assert their inherent rights and laws that originate from the land, air, and water as gifts from the Creator. In moving forward with economic development in Saskatchewan, the potential…