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.
The UBC Graduate School of Journalism project provides an in-depth look at efforts by Aboriginal communities to address such major health and social issues as suicide, sexual abuse, diabetes and the survival of traditional languages. The series of original news stories can be seen at www.indigenousreporting.com…
Wayne Pamajewon is unhappy right now with his community’s custom election and Elders tribunal processes.
Upon the recommendation of its Elders tribunal, Shawanaga First Nation held a by-election for chief earlier this year. Pamajewon participated in the Elders tribunal last fall when they recommended an election, not just for chief, however, but for council as well, after learning about…
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Jacob Pratt: I just appreciate friends that you, even if you don’t need them, they would be there if you ever needed them. Somebody who is trustworthy and loyal. A real friend is more like a sister or a brother, not just a friend.
W: What is it that really makes you mad?
J.P.: Many things can make people mad but like…
Sacobie joins hall
Josh Sacobie is about to become a Hall of Famer. The former University of Ottawa Gee-Gees star quarterback will be among the inaugural inductees into the New Brunswick Aboriginal Sport Hall of Fame. Sacobie is a Maliseet from the St. Mary’s First Nation in New Brunswick. Induction ceremonies are scheduled for April 27 in Fredericton. But Sacobie will…
Despite getting injured mere minutes before her gold-medal match, Daley Forbes was able to persevere and win yet another Canadian wrestling championship.
Forbes, an 18-year-old who lives in Port Alberni, B.C., captured the gold medal in the juvenile girls’ 75-kilogram category at the nationals, which concluded April 14 in Fredericton, N.B. For Forbes, a member of the Hesquiaht First…
Most people who survive a heart attack change their diets and cut back on strenuous activities; after surgery, they are almost as good as new.
But not Don Patrick Martin, a classically trained musician from the Mohawk First Nation of Kahnawake. After suffering from a heart attack last summer, he can’t do the simple things most of us take for granted.
For instance, he can’t be in…
David Chartrand, vice-president of the Métis National Council, said the federal government is finally listening to the concerns of the three major national Aboriginal organizations in cutting all funding to the National Aboriginal Health Organization.
In the 2012 federal budget, NAHO lost its full funding of $4.4 million.
The mandate of the organization, which was officially…
Dr. Carrie Bourassa, associate professor of Indigenous health studies at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), was one of 28 leaders invited to share their views on how to improve health at the Building on Strengths Roundtable Dialogue on Aboriginal health which took place at Rideau Hall on March 27.
One of the conclusions of the groups was that self-determination will play a…
The chief of the northwestern Ontario community Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (K.I.) is pleased to win another battle in the world of mining. It’s the second fight for the community west of Thunder Bay which wishes to keep mining and exploration companies out of its traditional territories in their bid to protect the environment and sacred sites.
The government of Ontario announced March…
Kitsumkalum chief strategized cultural and political renewal
Former Kitsumkalum Chief Clifford Bolton was a master carver, known for gallery and museum-quality art. His 1987 event to amalgamate his people and thwart government interference was politically creative.
For two centuries his people had almost lost themselves under assimilative pressures…
The Heiltsuk First Nation is demanding that the National Energy Board’s Northern Gateway pipeline joint review panel return to the coastal community and give them back the day-and-a-half lost in hearings last month.
“Right now we are in discussions with the joint review panel staff people,” said Heiltsuk Chief Marilyn Slett. “We want them to come back to Bella Bella,” she explained.…
Photo Caption: Cee Jai Julian (right), a former sex worker in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, addresses an April 10 press conference, with Battered Women’s Support Services worker Lisa Yellow-Quill.
A coalition of interested groups have rejected pleas to rejoin BC’s missing women inquiry, saying they will instead focus on a United Nations investigation and proposed royal…
The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline’s environmental damage risks far outweigh the economic benefits for British Columbians.
Enbridge is an international company. It has offices in Canada, United States, Spain, Columbia, and Venezuela. In Canada, Enbridge is proposing to build a pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to the shipping port in Kitimaat, B.C.. This proposal has…
The Urbane Indian
I look out my window and can’t help but notice that winter is beating a hasty retreat and spring is rapidly invading, spreading across the land like a canoe full of voyageurs and black robes.
The beginning of spring marks the start of some things and the end of others. No more pushing cars or trucks stuck in snowdrifts – unfortunately the primary source of…
The four-prong approach to fiscal management and economic development created in the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act of 2006 was reduced to three in the recent federal budget.
The 2012-2013 operating dollars for the First Nations Statistical Institute have been cut in half to $2.5 million. By April 1, 2013, there will be no funding available to the only First Nations…