Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.
Page 13
After 20 years and a journey around the world, hundreds of vials of Nuu-chah-nulth blood have been returned home to the West Coast.
The people there welcome their return, but remain critical of the system that allowed the blood to be used for a variety of different research studies over two decades without their permission.
Dr. Richard Ward took the blood between…
Page 11
As more and more municipal and provincial governments bring in laws to ban smoking in enclosed public places, the jurisdiction of First Nations governments over their own territories is coming into question.
In Saskatchewan, where a province-wide ban on smoking in all enclosed public places is scheduled to kick in on Jan. 1, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (…
Page 10
According to a recent poll, most Canadians do not consider improving the quality of life of Aboriginal Canadians to be a high priority for the federal government.
The poll, conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), suggests almost one in two Canadians (49 per cent) believe that Aboriginal Canadians are on an equal footing with, or better off…
Page 10
The federal government refuses to discuss letting First Nations governments decide which people are First Nations and this threatens the continued existence of Native peoples in Canada, said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine.
"We've had a number of discussions now with ministers and senior officials. Our big concern there is that while we are making…
Page 9
Chiefs across the country believe that the unique position of First Nations in Canada is being threatened by the pan-Aboriginal approach being employed by federal officials. Metis issues and Inuit issues should not be poured into the same pot with the issues of First Nations people.
National Chief Phil Fontaine returned to that subject several times during the course of…
Page 9
Proponents of the Bill C-20 say the new legislation will be optional for First Nations to buy into or not, but opponents have worried that it will be forced upon them and that it would in turn force taxation on their communities.
One exchange in House of Commons just before the break demonstrated that the department of Indian Affairs sees at least one aspect of the bill…
Page 9
The proposed federal legislation that would create four national financial institutions for First Nations passed quickly through the House of Commons in mid-December and could pass through the Senate just as quickly early in the New Year.
As Parliament rose for the Christmas break on Dec. 15, a break that will last until Jan. 31, all that was standing between the passage…
Page 8
While ruling that a lawsuit launched by former Ontario residential school students could proceed as a class action, a panel of three Ontario appellate court judges vehemently discarded arguments that the federal government's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process would be a better way to settle the dispute.
Justice Stephen Goudge, a former lecturer in both labor law…
Page 8
Not only has the government of Saskatchewan put a freeze on $410,000 in funding that was to go to the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan (MNS), now two federal government departments have followed suit and frozen their flow of funds to the organization.
The Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians has put on hold the $1.175 million the MNS is eligible to…
Page 5
Dear Editor:
The residential school system has become an educational paradigm that teaches Aboriginal students that we are victims of a cruel past. As a proud Native man, I despise this notion with a passion. My viewpoint may be controversial to those out there who continue to harbor residual feelings of pain and angst, but the reality is that these are the cards we have…
Page 5
This is a call for Global Four Directions Prayer for Peace, a 24-hour effort to end the war and global violence. We are asking all the leaders and peacemakers to join us in this effort. The start date will be noon Dec. 31, starting in the Eastern time zones, and continuing through Jan. 1, 2005.
We are requesting spiritual leaders all over the globe to call their people…
Page 5
Dear Editor of Buffalo Spirit:
I am honored to have found this site and wished to let all know that I have read Ed McGaa's book and keep it with me as a reference. I have for so long now (12 years) read, studied, and dreamed of more knowledge. I was awakened to this path as a child and had it awaken again in my 30s and this is my path of choice.
Peace
Susan…
Page 5
Dear Editor:
I read your editorial and others and agree with what you have said on all fronts. The reason former prime minister Jean Chretien and others cannot see the events as you do is because he is not able too. He's simply is French, white, from a different generation and indifferent to your ideas because he has never lived or walked where you have.
It's really…
Page 5
Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott may have pitched Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine into the deep water in regards to Bill C-20, the financial institutions' legislation currently before the Senate for consideration.
Scott told the standing committee on Aboriginal affairs that he had a letter of support for C-20 from the national chief, who chiefs…
Page 27
If you hold this publication up and give it a shake your Windspeaker 2005 Aboriginal History Calendar should fall out from the pages.
The calendar is an annual December insert in Windspeaker, much anticipated by the readers, who look forward to seeing which two Aboriginal smiling faces will grace the walls of their offices, school classrooms and homes for the next 12…