Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.
Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.
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Like his father, grandfather and great grandfather before him, John Perks has commercially fished on southern Georgian Bay all his life. But now he's been told that his fish quota has been used up by Bruce Peninsula Native people.
Two fishing tugs from the Nawash band from the Cape Croker reserve and one from the Saugeen First Nation reserve moved to Meaford, Ont. about…
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An organization that provides help to women and children in times of crisis is itself seeking help from the town of Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask.
At a recent town council meeting, the board that oversees the operation of the Qu'Apple Haven women's shelter in Fort Qu'Appelle, asked the town to consider a break on its taxes.
The Qu'Appelle Haven pays about $7,000 a year in…
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Before something tragic happens, members of a Nova Scotia band want a paved road connecting them with vital services more than 30 kilometres away.
Residents of one of Acadia First Nation's reserves, located in the southern reaches of the province, have to travel the dirt road every day to bring their children to school. The road frequently washes out, cutting them off from…
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Nunavut is only days old, but it's already facing a legal challenge. The Crees of Northern Quebec say the federal government violated their rights and Constitution when it agreed to give Nunavut islands in the James and Hudson bays that have been part of Cree ancestral territory for thousands of years.
The Grand Council of the Crees filed a court action on Feb. 19 asking…
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In the ongoing, public debate between environmentalists and the province over the issue of wilderness protection and the designation of certain Crown lands as 'Special Places', an important but powerful voice has so far remained unheard.
The voice does not belong to those in the forestry, oil or gas industries, who handsomely profit from 'developing' the natural resources…
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As publisher of Windspeaker, I usually don't write a publisher's statement unless I feel very strongly about an issue. Last year I used this space to express my concerns about the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards and how creative license was taken with Aboriginal culture, as well as other concerns.
After attending the 1999 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards on…
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In Native society, prior to contact with the Europeans, there was no such thing as a class system. There were no richer and poorer; the ruling philosophy of "sharing" made sure of that. Even the leaders were no richer than others in the community. In fact, many leaders often temporarily had less than other members of their communities, because they gave away what they had when…
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The Assembly of First Nations and the department of Indian affairs can agree on one thing - on-reserve housing is woefully inadequate leading to serious social problems.
According to an Indian Affairs fact sheet, on-reserve housing is "among the worst in Canada." To address this crisis, the AFN hosted a First Nations housing conference in Toronto on March 9 and 10. More…
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I remember the first word I ever spoke in my traditional language - Peendigaen. Come in. I was 23 and had been reconnected to my original family for less than a year. The gentle roll of Ojibway was foreign to me after two decades in the non-Native foster care system and, at first, that simple word felt awkward, clumsy, wrong. But when the person I spoke to smiled and stepped into…
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Nunavut is only days old, but it's already facing a legal challenge. The Crees of Northern Quebec say the federal government violated their rights and Constitution when it agreed to give Nunavut islands in the James and Hudson bays that have been part of Cree ancestral territory for thousands of years.
The Grand Council of the Crees filed a court action on Feb. 19 asking…
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Do you remember the exciting news back in October 1997 when the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, promised $20 million for Aboriginal languages? It was to be doled out at $5 million a year for four years beginning on April 1, 1998. While it was a pittance to what is needed to restore languages, we saw it as a glimmer of hope and the beginning of the government's…
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Dear Readers:
I am an Aboriginal woman, originally from a First Nations reserve in southwestern Ontario. In 1968 my brothers and I were removed from our biological family, and each of us adopted into non-Native homes. We were vulnerable, unknowing participants in the Sixties Scoop, the period from the 1960s to early 1980s when an estimated 15,000 Native children were…
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Dear Editor:
I am from White Bear First Nation in Carlyle, Sask. I am 16 years old. I am asking for help. My baby was born in November 1997 at Kelowna General Hospital. She was "removed" by the Ministry for Children and Families on Nov. 27, 1997 at approximately 3 p.m. They had asked me to bring her to the hospital nursery, but I had told them no, because I knew what they…
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Dear Editor:
The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs in Northwest British Columbia are culturally Gitksan, although a separate entity from the Delgamuukw (vs the Queen) plaintiffs. The chiefs are currently working on a national campaign to stop the much hailed Nisga'a Final Agreement in its present form. The Nisga'a treaty is currently being read in Victoria, then moves to Ottawa…
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A second group of former Alberni Indian Residential School students has come forward to launch legal action against Arthur Henry Plint, the United Church of Canada, and the federal government.
Dean Wilson (Haida), Raymond Moore (Nisga'a), William Joseph (Songhees), Mark Reid (Kwagiulth), Peter Knighton (Gitxsan), Daniel Edgar (Ditidaht) and Matthew Touchie (Ucluelet),…