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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Strong Women Stories: Native
Vision and Community Survival
Edited by Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence
Sumach Press
264 pages (sc) $26.95
Strong Women Stories picks up where Kim Anderson's last book left off. In A Recognition of Being, published in 2000, Anderson explored the ways in which Native women have been stereotyped and stripped of…
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Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Susan: I need a friend who is very true and very solid in themselves and their self-confidence, because you can easily get caught up in [celebrity]. Even friends can get caught up in a celebrity's career and you lose sight of why you're together or why you're friends. So that's the biggest thing for me, is…
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The mention of a thunderbird conjures up images of wonder and majesty, beauty and longevity. Perhaps it was because renowned artist Norval Morrisseau was given the name Thunderbird by his grandfather, that he set upon the path to found the Woodland School of Anishnaabe Art, a style of artistic expression recognized around the globe.
Norval now lives a quiet life near…
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With the last of the day's sunlight piercing the trees to light up the stage, Stephen Kakfwi, singer, songwriter and premier of the Northwest Territories, performed a set of three songs at the South Slave Friendship Festival held Aug. 14 to 17.
Only recently has the 52-year-old taken to the musical stage, inspired by a local fiddle player who, just before dying in a plane…
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John Joseph Harper was walking home on a cold winter's night in early March 1988 after an evening out with his brother when he crossed paths with Winnipeg police constable Robert Cross, who was scouring the neighborhood for two Native men who had just stolen a car.
While no one is sure exactly what happened next between the two men, there is no doubt as to the outcome of…
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Music Biz 101
A road manager or roadie is indispensable to the success of a tour. It is his or her responsibility to make sure that the artists and their gear get to their destination on time. Road managers deal with all of the possible situations that will invariably happen no matter how well planned the tour is. This means acting as the contact person between the…
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The Urbane Indian
Now I'm a traveling kind of guy. I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of wonderful lands. I've even had my share of unique adventures. But this one was a first for me.
Picture it-I'm on my way to Vermont for a series of dramaturgical (theatre stuff) meetings with the artistic director of an American theatre company that is interested in…
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Medium Rare
Have you noticed how many journalists and newspapers use the dreaded "R" word these days? Not long ago, they would have gone into a fit if confronted with the you-know-what word. They understood that it had to be used carefully because of its explosive nature and the passions it could set loose. Not anymore.
This began to change about 15 years ago.…
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Nasivvik
There is a fundamental flaw in the composition of Parliament, which begs to be brought to national attention: There are not enough Indigenous members of Parliament in Ottawa.
This great lack of Aboriginals in Canada's cradle of power has to be corrected if the country is to deal squarely with the root inequalities that exist as a result of this absence of…
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Pro Bono
Dear Tuma:
How do we get more Indigenous lawyers in the system?
Future Mi'kmaw Lawyer
Dear Future:
With encouragement and support. The road to becoming a lawyer is often seen as difficult and nearly impossible, but it does not have to be. You first need to get into law school and this usually requires an undergraduate degree, very good…
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Convicted pedophile Arthur Henry Plint will be released from Mountain Penitentiary and will be moving to a private nursing home in Kamloops after being granted parole last week.
A five-member parole board granted the 85-year-old Plint's parole citing his "age, failing memory, deteriorating health, and level of denial, and lack of motivation to preclude full participation…
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The former press secretary to Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault as press secretary to Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine?
That could be what you'll see in the coming weeks.
Nancy Pine, a Garden River (Ontario) band member, left a reporter's position at CKCO television to join the minister's staff as press secretary. In June of 2002, she…
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There is a sense in Aboriginal communities that something's wrong with the way the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was operating, but the foundation's executive director, Mike DeGagne, says it's simply the fallout that comes from doing a tough job.
"Part of our problem, if you really want to break it down into rough estimates, is we've approved about a quarter of what we've…
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The federal government is pushing back the deadline to March 2004 for Aboriginal people to sign consent forms so they can receive their non-insured medical services.
But the joint Assembly of First Nations/Health Canada announcement on the issue left Inuit officials miffed
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) spokesman Stephen Hendrie would not confirm that his…
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Calgary Police Detective Len Dafoe is asking for the public's help as he attempts to follow up on several CrimeStoppers tips that may lead to an arrest in the case of a Calgary man who posted lewd photographs of Native women on the Internet.
As reported in our December 2002 issue, a red-haired man named "Don" posted photos of several Native women having sex with him on…