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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Buffalo Spirit
It is not easy to balance it. A lot of people that come and they bring something, sometimes they bring tobacco and sometimes we have a lot of tobacco, but that doesn't help with our bills. It's OK. We don't mind that. We manage. But they have to realize that. We always have to protect ourselves. We always have to prepare. We always have people here. We…
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Windspeaker's Paul Barnsley was one of three journalists sent on a two-week tour of the South Pacific by the Victoria-based Pacific Peoples Partnership (PPP). The non-governmental organization seeks to raise awareness of social and political issues in a part of the world that is not seen as a high-priority area in Canada for international aid. The other reporters were Nelson…
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What would your chess set look like?
If someone asked you to design and create the checked board and its 32 pieces, what materials would you choose? What story might you tell?
Many Quebec Native artists assigned the task to create a chess set by Montreal's First People's Festival chose to remember.
They fashioned kings, queens, bishops and the other well-…
age 19
The Big River First Nation celebrates Diabetes National Awareness Week in May, but the community's dedication to fitness doesn't end with one week of activities. For the past year, the 1,700 residents who live on the reserve, located approximately 120 kilometres from Prince Albert, have been enjoying a friendly competition with one another to accumulate kilometres of walking for…
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Did all those people in the World Trade Centre really die? Or did some just walk away from miserable lives and start again...
Ten Little Indians
By Sherman Alexie
Grove Press
244 pages, $39.95 (hc)
Sherman Alexie is far from ordinary. The Spokane/Coeur d'Alene writer has written two novels, three books of short fiction, six books of poetry and…
Page 15
Nasivvik
Once every generation, Canadian lawmakers tackle matters of great importance affecting Indigenous people in Canada. We in Nunavik have had our share of such events, most notable for the fact that we had no say whatsoever in the most important ones.
The 1912 Quebec Boundaries Extension Acts transferred our ancestral lands to the Province of Quebec. The…
Page 15
Pro Bona
Dear Tuma:
I have a question for you. Can you help me with it? A couple years ago the chief gave out a bunch of loans through the fisheries. So, anyways, now they are saying they are going to start taking deductions off my welfare cheque. Can they do that to me?
Need All My Ration
Dear Need:
No, the band cannot seize or garnish your…
Page 14
Music Biz 101
Publicity will invariably involve interviews with the print and electronic media. Interviews can be nerve-wracking and intimidating or they can be a totally positive experience, much like a job interview. Preparation goes a long way in easing the tension. Research the program or column for the angle and style of writing or reporting the interviewer takes. Is…
Page 14
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote "The Rich are different from you and I," to which everybody usually responds, "Yeah, they got more money." On a similar theme, it's been my Ojibway-tainted observation over the years that middle-class white people are different from you and I-they're insane.
Much has been written over the years about the differences between Native people…
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Medium Rare
I suspect Aboriginal peoples get most of their news from mainstream newspapers, radio and TV, despite alternatives, such as Aboriginal newspapers and APTN News. However, with a few exceptions, I also suspect most mainstream journalists are ill-prepared, ill-equipped or unwilling to cover most Aboriginal stories.
There's no doubt there's more coverage…
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Thomas J. Burke made history on June 9 when he became the first Native person elected to a legislature in Atlantic Canada. Burke won the riding of Fredericton North in the New Brunswick provincial election. Burke is also the only Native lawyer practising in Fredericton.
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Thomas J. Burke: Commitment has got…
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Delby Powless is proof that size does not matter.
The diminutive 22-year-old starred for the Iroquois Nationals' entry at the inaugural world box lacrosse championships, which concluded in late May in Hamilton.
At 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, Powless was the smallest player on his team at the world event. Yet, he managed to lead his squad in scoring and came close to…
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Members of the Iroquois Nationals had mixed feelings following the conclusion of the inaugural world indoor (box) lacrosse championships.
The Native club was pleased it was able to garner the silver medal at the six-squad tournament, which concluded on May 24 at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum. But team members were not thrilled with how things transpired in the gold-medal…
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Whale Rider, a new film to be released this month in Canada, is inspired by the Ngati Kanohi, the Indigenous New Zealanders' creation story. Ironically, the movie is written and directed by a pakeha, a white New Zealander. Her name is Niki Caro.
"The people who owned the legend were very clear with me and with others about the fact that I was the one they were backing to…
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Two of the world's eminent Native documentary filmmakers from opposite sides of the globe started in much the same place.
"As I grew up I wanted to make it better for other children...I started going around to classrooms to talk directly to them" about what was happening to First Nations people, "because no one was teaching them this," said Montreal-based Alanis Obomsawin…