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.
“I will be here in the West doorway, that is where I am today.
I am that Thunder in the sky, I am the cleansing when you cry.”
Before her death on Jan. 4, 2011, Lillian Pitawanakwat, Thunderbird Eagle Woman (Ninkii BinessMijissi Kwe) of the Thunderbird clan, wrote out comforting words for those left behind.
Cyndy Vanier, who delivered Lillian’s eulogy, said the Elder gave…
It is not only “immoral” but “stupid economically” for the federal government to continue to underfund the education of the fastest growing, youngest segment of the Canadian population.
“(It’s) as dumb as anything…. These are the people on who we are going to build a nation and we’re not going to educate them? It’s just beyond belief,” said former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin.…
Officials from Regina and Saskatchewan are in a celebratory mood.
But they also realize they have three years of hard work ahead of them as they prepare to host the 2014 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).
The NAIG Council awarded Regina the multi-sports competition after final bid presentations were made in mid-May in Moncton.
Two other cities–Halifax and London, Ont…
Artist—Little Hawk
Song—Six Nations
Album—Vigilance
Label—Ojiji Music
Troy Westwood may be better known as one of Canadian Football League’s more colorful kickers with 17 years in the CFL and playing with the Winnipeg Blues Bombers but thanks to his Aboriginal relations, he began his music career as one of the founders of Eagle & Hawk and then returned to music from…
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Dakota Brant: The reality checks! Any friend can be prepared to give you a hug and a shoulder to lean on, but strong spirited friends can help you collect your thoughts and ask you “what do you need to do to go from here?”
W.: What is it that really makes you mad?
D.B.: I am angered the most by the ignorance of…
British Columbia Treaty 8 First Nations are furious. They say their right to meaningful consultation regarding the future development of a massive dam and hydroelectric generating station on their traditional land has been violated.
“We’re being railroaded,” claimed Chief Roland Willson of the West Moberly First Nation in northeastern, B.C.
“It’s totally disrespectful,” he said. “…
Three years ago, two First Nations women in British Columbia were complete strangers. Today, one woman is planning to give the other the ultimate gift–the gift of life.
When 19-year-old Alissa Derrick of the Wetsuweten First Nation in Smithers, B.C. met Adrienne Charlie in 2009 she had no idea that the 33-year-old would play such an instrumental role in saving her life.
The two…
DEAR AUNTIE
Dear Auntie:
My uncle is an important person in my life. He sits and teaches me stories and songs and he takes me hunting with him and talks about the land, and all kinds of interesting stuff. But lately, he’s been different. He’s been drinking, and he’s not the same person. My mom says she doesn’t want me around his house anymore. Says something bad is going to happen…
THE URBANE INDIAN
It seems there is much ado about something in the city of Toronto these days, and oddly enough, it’s in the theatre world.
It seems Soulpepper Theatre’s recent production of the 1960 classic musical The Fantasticks has raised the ire of many local Aboriginal artists.
One of the canon’s most beloved musicals is, in itself, rather innocuous, all except the…
TREATY 3 GRAND CHIEF DIANE KELLY
expressed “shock and frustration,” reports the Montreal Gazette, at an award given to a Kenora Police officer who was involved in the shooting of a First Nations woman. Helen Proulx, 39, was shot by the officer after responding to a domestic call. Witnesses said the officer tried to convince the woman to give up the knife, but she advanced toward the…
THE YALE FIRST NATION TREATY WAS
ratified in the provincial legislature on June 2. That’s the good news. The bad news is Sto:lo leaders who oppose the treaty say the deal is far from done. Sto:lo Tribal Council (STC) and the Sto:lo Nation (SN) have expressed their opposition to the treaty approved by the 66 members of the Yale Band.† The conflict, reports the Chilliwack Times, is over…
APTN NATIONAL NEWS REPORTS
Big Brother is watching, and is monitoring not only First Nations protests, but has developed a “Hotspot” reporting system designed to provide “continuous environmental monitoring” and “information dissemination” or existing and emerging risks.” The department has also developed a “Hotspot” binder to summarize and analyze “case files.” The documents that detail…
GLEN BANNON, 57, THE FOUNDING CHIEF
of a First Nations police force, is doing jail time in connection with a kickback scheme where he received recreational vehicles and a pick-up truck for sending police business to a car dealer in Sault Ste. Marie. He was sentenced to one year in jail for breach of trust and accepting secret commissions. Bannon was chief of the Anishinabek Police…
A DRUG BUST INVOLVING THE MOHAWK
territories of Akwesasne and Kanesatake near Montreal took place June 14 with 500 officers from a variety of police departments, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Surete du Quebec, the First Nations Police of Quebec and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, working together in the operation to take down a major crime organization. It…
The federal government’s quiet move to change the name of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Canada certainly didn’t go without notice. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his new majority government Cabinet, John Duncan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Island North, maintained the post he held pre-election, but with the swapped out word with…