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.
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Annabella Piugattuk, 21, was born in Iqualuit, Nunavut, grew up in Igloolik and is now in Vancouver concentrating on her studies to earn her high school diploma. She received a 2004 Genie nomination in the performance by an actress in a supporting role category for her portrayal of Kanaalaq in the recently released movie The Snow Walker. The film marked her professional acting…
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The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) have been delayed a year after the games' governing council ended its relationship with the group that had earned the right to host the games in 2005.
The NAIG council was expected to re-open the bidding to potential hosts after a scheduled three-day meeting in Denver May 13 to 15.
Another group in Buffalo may be awarded…
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Keiko Miki, president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC), attended a ceremony in Winnipeg on April 14 to call on the government of Canada to compensate former residential school students for loss of language and culture.
It was 16 years to the day after some 500 Japanese-Canadians and their supporters had rallied on Parliament Hill in 1988 to call…
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Jim Pankiw will soon have to explain his actions to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The decision came down in late April that the commission's tribunal will hear John Melenchuk's complaint against the independent Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Humboldt.
The former Canadian Alliance MP who was not welcomed back into the Alliance party (now Conservative…
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Six Nations of the Grand River band councillor Dave General admited he travelled to Saskatchewan to make a few waves. Little did he know he would be caught in a riptide of conflicting currents.
It was late in the afternoon of May 19, the second day in the three-day Assembly of First Nations Confederacy. Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell had just addressed the chiefs.…
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Ontario had its most successful year yet at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. The province sent four teams to the tournament, held April 18 to 24 in Prince George, B.C., and all four clubs won medals.
The Ontario South girls' team won its third consecutive title. The squad defended its crown by downing the Quebec-based team Eastern Door and The North 5-2 in…
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In the same week that Grand Chief Chris McCormick of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians told the United Nations that First Nations health in Canada is in pitiful condition, a British Columbia chief told Windspeaker that money allotted to First Nations health concerns was not distributed in the last fiscal year.
"They sent money back this year and I'm really…
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Kanesatake, the Mohawk settlement located at the halfway mark between Montreal and Ottawa on the edge of the Quebec town of Oka, is in turmoil-again.
Many will remember that this community was the site of the Oka Crisis, a 78-day stand off with the Canadian military in 1990 that brought worldwide attention to the land claim complaints of the 1,200 people who live there.…
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Dear Editor:
I am a 22-year-old member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, which is also known as Old Crow, Yukon.
The first experience I had with touring to help protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge came to me when I was 14 years old. I had the opportunity to travel down to the United States with 13 other members of Old Crow to meet with various people-…
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Dear Editor:
Just to make a comment about this letter in Volume 22 (April 2004) pertaining to "We are all Anishanabe." For whoever is interested, the proper definition of that word, Anishanabe, the traditional word really means "From whence he was lowered." It doesn't really mean "human being." That came afterwards, but originally that's what it was "From whence he was…
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Dear Editor:
Windspeaker did an excellent job at explaining the escalating risks journalists face as they work to keep communities informed in the article entitleds "Heavy price paid to bring you the story"-May 2004 issue.
We were also glad to see the story take the lid off a topic rarely covered in the Canadian media: the unbalanced coverage of Aboriginal issues in…
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Dear Editor:
Our Native leaders have problems of their own. Over the summer I posted a comment on Windspeaker saying how it would be nice if Native leaders took steps to make themselves known to the general public. That would help us constituents to possibly identify with and understand what each stood for. Maybe, as an informed public, we could say that we or I stand…
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The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is about to embark on an ambitious and far reaching exercise, preparing a detailed statement of the First Nation position on what self-government should look like.
It will do so in the full expectation that a Paul Martin government will keep its word and actually treat First Nations as full and equal partners in a joint relationship…
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Health care worker encouraged youth
When people speak about Jean Goodwill, word like "trailblazer" and "role model" are bound to come up. Other words you are likely to hear are "dedicated", "courageous" and "healer."
Goodwill was born Jean Cuthand on Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan in 1928. Her mother died of tuberculosis shortly after Goodwill was born,…
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The sources used to build a story determine the perspective from which a story will be told. Here's a way to determine if your local newspaper or broadcast group is allowing the a wide range of voices to be heard in the work they present to the public.
Take today's paper and choose three or four stories at random to read. As you are reading, write down what you learn…