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.
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Aaron Paquette: A tough one right off the bat! All the good answers are honesty, loyalty, that kind of thing, but if someone's your friend, hopefully they already have that in spades. I think I'd have to say the ability to sit with you in silence, neither one feeling forced to break the awkward moment because the moment isn't…
Sustainability is about more than the environment - it's about taking care of socioeconomic issues and ensuring the inclusion of everyone.
That's the message Chief Kim Baird of the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) gave as a guest speaker at YWCA Canada's 116th Annual Membership Meeting held in Vancouver in June. Sustainability was the theme of the gathering. Baird shared stories of her…
Hundreds of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people gathered in solidarity in downtown Vancouver on May 29 to march together through the busy streets of the city to call attention to human rights issues facing First Nations people across the country.
Traffic was held at bay by a police escort as the sign-bearing train of people wound its way to the Vancouver Art Gallery, where First Nations…
Just from the smell I could immediately tell by the combination of sea air, smog, and silicone, I was back in the city of Los Angeles. Beverly Hills to be exact. The reason: I was there to accept an award from the First Americans in the Arts for my book on Native humour, ME FUNNY. They are an organization set up to help foster, develop and promote Native participation in the arts. Luckily for…
A new $126 Million agreement between the Federal Government and a Manitoba First Nation for land that was illegally expropriated by Canada will be the largest ever settlement for a single First Nation in Canadian history.
The band with 8,400 members living on and off reserve will receive nearly $119 million once legal and negotiation fees are deducted.
Descendants from what now…
"If your child is apprehended in Fort Hope (Ontario), your first appearance in court is not going to be in your community," said Ellaree Metz, manager for the Talking Together Program run by the Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation. Metz discussed what it's like for First Nations parents living in a northern Ontario community who have had a child removed from their family.
"Both…
Charles Meechance, the former chief of Saskatchewan's Red Pheasant First Nation, made his first appearance in court on June 18, charged with seven counts of attempting to buy votes in an election. The case was adjourned until July to allow Meechance time to hire a lawyer.
Also charged is fellow band member Burt Benson, who faces two counts of attempted vote-buying.
Meechance denied…
Charles Meechance, the former chief of Saskatchewan's Red Pheasant First Nation, made his first appearance in court on June 18, charged with seven counts of attempting to buy votes in an election. The case was adjourned until July to allow Meechance time to hire a lawyer.
Also charged is fellow band member Burt Benson, who faces two counts of attempted vote-buying.
Meechance denied…
A small band near Chard in northern Alberta is joining other bands like Chief Bernard Ominayak's Lubicon Lake Band in suing the Alberta government for failing to ensure its treaty rights.
Nearby industrial sites near Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation is making it impossible for them to hunt and fish to support themselves.
Chief Vern Janvier explained in a press conference "our…
A lapsed bill that would give Canadian human rights protection to First Nations people on reserves is finally being revived after 30 years.
MPs approved the Conservative bill on May 28 and now it heads to the Senate for consideration.
The legislation calls for First Nation members to be allowed to make formal human rights complaints against band councils or Ottawa, something they…
A drunk driver who killed a mother and her three daughters on a northern Alberta highway in 2006 may someday get behind the wheel again.
Though Raymond Charles Yellowknee, now 35, has had repeated impulses to get behind the wheel after drinking hard, seeming not "to show regard for endangering other people's lives and obviously does not fear harming himself,"according to one correctional…
Band members of the Kelly Lake Cree Nation, 540 km northwest of Edmonton, are concerned about the damage being done to their traditional lands from oil and gas exploration and hope to bring attention to their health and safety concerns by holding a blockade from June 20 to 23.
Members of the community, located on the northern BC and Alberta border, are undertaking efforts to convince…
One day before the June 11 apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, residential school survivor, Phil Morin, predicted the words would only be a small step to help Aboriginal people recover from the residential school system. He knew it would need to be followed with major action to be sincere a view that seemed to be held by the majority of Aboriginal people across the country.
"It's…
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
On behalf of the Residential School Survivors of Canada, we welcome your announcement of an apology. Residential School Survivors have waited patiently for decades to hear the Government of Canada acknowledge what was done and the profound impact on survivors, our families and our communities.
We acknowledge that it is your prerogative to speak for all…
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.
In the 1870's, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.
…