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 Tsilhqot’in First Nation is one step closer to reconciliation, at least in regards to the provincial government of British Columbia.
The Nation and the province reached an accord Feb. 11 with the signing of an official declaration to work together over the next five years towards realization of the Supreme Court of Canada Tsilhqot’in decision, the first to recognize Aboriginal title…
Harvey Strosberg said Canada insisted First Nations go through the government rather than deal directly with oil and gas companies, and Canada failed to protect First Nations’ interests. Now Canada will have to pay.
Strosberg is the lawyer for two Saskatchewan First Nations in a lawsuit against the branch of the federal government responsible for monitoring oil and gas production on or…
February 10, 2016
Onion Lake and Poundmaker Cree Nations filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the federal government claiming $3 billion in damages and alleging “a continuing breach of fiduciary duty and negligence on the part of the federal government.”
“For many years the federal government has controlled the exploitation of oil and gas rights on First Nation reserves.…
British Columbia is moving away from the over-used practise of granting Aboriginal high school students Evergreen completion certificates instead of graduating them with Dogwood diplomas, and that will have an impact all the way down to kindergarten, said Tyrone McNeil, president of the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC).
“This is relevant well beyond a Grade 12…
February 9, 2016
Poundmaker’s Lodge is calling for First Nations and allies to close their accounts and boycott TD Canada Trust.
“Take your valuable business elsewhere,” said Executive Director Brad Cardinal. Poundmaker’s Lodge, a long time client of TD Canada Trust, has begun steps to close off its accounts following an incident on Feb. 5 that the board is referring to as…
Deborah Ginnish knows the importance of having families listened to before the federal government undertakes the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.
Last week, Ginnish travelled from her home on the Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia to be part of a forum conducted by the Assembly of First Nations on the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta.
The…
At a meeting of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition held in Terrace on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5., representatives from 27 First Nations discussed the possibility of a First Nations-led environmental assessment process for major industrial projects, reads a press statement Feb. 8 from the group’s Coalition and Steering Committee.
The group says it is made up of nations who have agreed to…
On Feb. 11, the University of Toronto’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, as part of an LGBTQ Film Series, will be showing the film Two Spirits, written and directed by Lydia Nibley.
The 65-minute film features a generous and loving member of the Navajo/Diné community named Fred Martinez who was nádleehí, a male-bodied person with a feminine nature, a special gift, according to his…
John Joe Sark, a member of the Mi’kmaq Nation traditional government, is petitioning the federal government to change the name of the Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst historic site near Charlottetown, saying it’s an insult that a national park in Prince Edward Island is named for a military general who wanted to kill aboriginal people with smallpox. Sark wants the name of General Jeffery…
The 2016 Talking Stick Festival will be held in Vancouver Feb. 18 to Feb. 28, and it’s shaping up to be quite the event. The festival explores Aboriginal culture through the arts, and this year will include battling birds, a celebration of powwow culture, slam poetry and much, much more.
Battle Of The Birds is a performance based on a traditional Nlakap’amux story about a community…
The Moose Hide Campaign has headed to Ontario at Cambrian College. Started in B.C. a couple of years ago, the campaign is a grassroots movement to include men in the battle to end violence against Aboriginal women and children.
People are to wear the small pieces of moose hide as a conversation starter. It’s a symbol of their commitment to honor, respect and protect the women and…
Pope Francis will travel to Mexico Feb. 12 to Feb. 18 and is expected to issue a decree that authorizes the use of Indigenous languages in mass celebrations. Francis is expected to present the decree Feb. 15 during a mass dedicated to Indigenous people in Chiapas state, where there will be readings and songs performed in three different Indigenous languages. It’s a controversial move in Roman…
Internal government documents show that it will cost $2 billion to eliminate mould and chronic overcrowding on reserves in Manitoba, about 13 times more than the $150 million the federal government promised for all First Nations across Canada this year, reports the Canadian Press.
Reports from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, obtained under access-to-information…
Photos are supplied
While farming is sometimes thought to be a colonial practice imposed on First Nations by force by European governments, one First Nation in Canada is embracing it.
The Tsawwassen First Nation recently formed a partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University to bring a farming program directly to Tsawwassen land. The “farm school” teaches how to plant, grow and…
The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s new curatorial resident of Indigenous and Contemporary Art has found a unique way to draw attention to the discussion around treaty territories and land claims.Jaimie Isaac of the Sagkeeng First Nation is the curator of an exhibit called “We are on…