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.
Rank Comix is the creation of the talented Adam Martin, a Kahniakehaka artist from Six Nations of the Grand River who currently lives in Regina, SK.
Adam's cartoons are generally motivated by news stories of his own choosing, and the space we provide in Windspeaker allows him a regular venue for his perspective to be recorded and shared.
It is our hope that RanK Comix will…
Blackfoot Elder overcame fear to pass on traditional ways
To walk into Maggie Black Kettle’s tipi from the bustling grounds of the Calgary Stampede was to enter the peaceful eye of a pounding, frenetic storm.
The muted light, smell of prairie sage, and lilt of her soft voice–sometimes dipping so low as to sound like a whisper–soothed the senses. Her stories of a…
Walking alongside his father from Cochrane, Ont., and now with about 800 km left until they reach Halifax and the third national Truth and Reconciliation Commission event, Patrick Etherington Jr. has come to realize that the blisters on his feet and his aching legs do not compare to what his father and other former students of residential schools went through.
“It’s hard what we’re…
Though he’s now in his fifties, former Canadian boxing champion Wayne Bourque still likes to be in the middle of the action.
Bourque, who is Metis, opened up a gym called Centre Ring in Toronto 22 years ago. This facility offers Boxercise classes.
As its name implies, Boxercise is a combination of exercises that a typical boxer would use during training sessions. Workouts include…
Another provincial tournament
Aboriginal youth teams are being sought for a provincial basketball tournament in British Columbia.
The inaugural BC Aboriginal Provincial Basketball Championships are scheduled for Oct. 21 to Oct. 23 in Prince Rupert. This event will feature both girls’ and boys’ divisions in the under-14, under-16 and under-19 age groupings.
…
An online resource designed to provide Aboriginal women with sexual health and reproduction information was launched this summer. To access the site go to Aboriginalsexualhealth.ca
“In Canada, Aboriginal women have the highest rates of cervical cancer, STIs and HIV/AIDS, diabetes, including gestational diabetes, among other sexual and…
Kids Help Phone has launched its newest poster campaign designed for Aboriginal youth with a message from Aboriginal youth: You’re not alone.
It’s a simple and poignant message displayed on the new posters which better reflects Aboriginal youth than the previous generic posters from Kids Help Phone.
The organization not only released new posters, but has also been working on…
Artist— Murray Porter
Song—Dog House
Album—Songs Lived & Life Played
Label—Independent
Back in 1995 there was a release of an album called 1492 – Who Found Who, which changed how people looked at music released by an Aboriginal artist. People found Murray Porter! It seemed everywhere you went, people’s music players were loaded with this cd. Very quickly Murray…
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Louis Gong: Integrity.
W: What is it that really makes you mad?
L.G.: Greed
W: When are you at your happiest?
L.G.: I’m happiest when I’m sharing my art and ideas through conversation, speaking gigs and workshops.
W: What one word best describes you when you are at your worst?
L.G.: Indecisive…
DEAR AUNTIE
Dear Auntie:
An acquaintance of mine is going around telling everyone she has a fatal illness. She even organized a feast to say goodbye to her friends, but the night before the event she cancelled saying she was too ill to host it. I’ve since learned that her condition is being faked. I’m so mad at this person for playing with my emotions I want to expose her in some…
THE URBANE INDIAN
I am going to tell you the obvious. It’s a complex world out there. More specifically, all across this country, in its bureaucracy, in its media, in its politics and in its culture, being Native is becoming more and more complex.
It’s also becoming more departmentalized and segmented.
For example, there is a First Nations’ bank. There is the Aboriginal…
Industry has one more First Nation to consult when looking to do work in northern Alberta.
A special ceremony was held Sept. 12 that celebrated the conclusion of years of negotiation that resulted in the creation of the province’s 45th First Nation.
Peerless Trout First Nation was created through the settlement of the Bigstone Cree First Nation specific claim, the largest claim…
A high rate of youth suicide in Pikangikum, a rural Ontario reserve, prompted the province’s Deputy Chief Coroner to investigate and provide recommendations to help the First Nation community address the tragic epidemic.
“I would absolutely call it a crisis. There’s no other way to characterize it,” said Dr. Bert Lauwers, who led the review and wrote the report.
The report—The…
THE TK’EML/PS AND SKEETCHESTN INDIAN
Bands want the S/upreme Court of British Columbia to provide an injunction to prevent International Forest Products Ltd. and West Fraser Mills Ltd. from logging in four sensitive watersheds within their traditional territory. The companies hold licenses and permits to cut within the Jamieson Creek, Criss Creek, Heller Creek and…
Three First Nations women were detained and arrested Sept. 9 after staging a protest against oil and gas exploration on their southern Alberta reserve.
Arrested were Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Lois Frank and Jill Crop Eared Wolf, all members of the Blood Tribe which is a part of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
“It was three unarmed women in a peaceful protest to honor our land,”…