Windspeaker Publication

The appeal to the Daniels case, set to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in October, is not enough to keep Betty Ann Lavallee from stepping down as the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

“It’ll be up to the next national chief to take the ball and run with it,” said Lavallee, who feels confident she has done the necessary preparation work to make the next steps…

The National Football League’s Washington Redskins lost their latest legal fight, but the team’s lengthy battle over the use of its name, deemed offensive by many, especially Native Americans, appears to be far from over.

The latest in the saga occurred on July 8, when a federal judge in the U.S. ruled to cancel the team’s trademark name and logo.

The U.S. District Court for the…

Don’t wait for “the big home run” or the “big solution” that will resolve Canada’s troubled relationship with Aboriginal people. There are many things on the journey of reconciliation that are “doable” and everyone can exercise acts of reconciliation, said Hereditary Chief Robert Joseph.

Chief Joseph is the Ambassador for Reconciliation Canada and a member of the National Assembly of…

The cousin of former Alberta Regional Chief Cameron Alexis is one more statistic for 2015. Misty Potts Sanderson of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation was last seen March 14 near the northern Alberta First Nation.

Sanderson, 37, is another in a long string of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. At the same time her family went public with a plea for help, the RCMP were…

The Métis National Council said it was gravely disappointed that after six years of interventions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), it was not invited to participate in any way in the final public national event. Without explanation or notification, the Métis Nation did not receive an invitation nor information on this closing event held in Ottawa in June. After having suffered…

The gaps in economic outcomes between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal Canadians remains large, said Chief Clarence Louie, chair of the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board. The NAEDB released its first Progress Report on the state of Aboriginal economic development June 17 in Osoyoos, B.C.

The report builds on the 2012 Aboriginal Economic Benchmarking Report,…

The Aboriginal Pavilion for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games is the lone “official” Indigenous music and arts festival for the games, and organizers have announced a full line-up of musicians and multi-disciplinary artists who will “transform Fort York Historic Site’s Garrison Common grounds into one of the summer’s hottest free admission festival destinations,” reads a press release.…

The Yinka Dene Alliance, made up of First Nations in northern BC that have banned the Enbridge Northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline from their territories, are touring First Nation communities along the Energy East Tar Sands Pipeline route. They are sharing the story of how they came to understand the dangers associated with the Northern Gateway pipeline, and how they built a wall of opposition…

“There is a lack of humanity in the way that CFS operates,” Manitoba’s new First Nations family advocate told the Canadian Press. Cora Morgan, appointed by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said Child and Family Services doesn’t treat children in care and their families as “human.” She said the system is broken. CFS is taking children into care too quickly, without doing the proper…

National Chief Perry Bellegarde said the Assembly of First Nations has identified 51 federal ridings where the Aboriginal vote could decide a majority and minority government in the upcoming election in October. AFN is working to mobilize the Aboriginal vote. “We are starting to harness that political energy, that political power.” Bellegarde said. Aboriginal voters need to know which parties…

Mi’sel Joe, Chief of the Miawpukek First Nation, is attempting to repatriate the remains of two of the last members of the Beothuk Tribe from the Scottish Government and the National Museums Scotland. Chief Nonosbawsut and his wife Demasduit died in the early 19th century in Newfoundland and their remains have been stored at the National Museum of Scotland, “final examples” of the Beothuk.…

CBC has learned that Aboriginal Affairs held back $1 billion in funding to Indigenous peoples over five years, allowing critical needs in Aboriginal communities, like potable water, housing and education, to go unmet. In an email to the CBC, Aboriginal Affairs said that “lapsed funds” are carried forward to future needs and used on a variety of programs, though the spokesperson did not specify…

Annie Johnston and Madeleine Jackson held each other and wept softly as Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Dr. Marie Wilson talked about the children who had died at residential school, many of whose names were not recorded. And for more than half, the cause of death was not known.

“(Some) died alone in the wilderness, trying to escape from oppression and conditions they suffered at…

THOMPSON HELPS RUSH CAPTURE TITLE

Thanks in part to Jeremy Thompson, the Edmonton Rush managed to capture its first National Lacrosse League (NLL) championship in franchise history.

Thompson, a member of the Onondaga Nation, and his teammates won the NLL title on June 5, thanks to an 11-10 victory over the Toronto Rock. With the win, Edmonton swept the…

Chief Bryan LaForme has a busy schedule these days. And
LaForme, the Chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, will continue to have his share of additional duties for the next couple of months.

That’s because his First Nation has been designated as host First Nation for both the Pan American Games and the Parapan American Games, which will be held in Toronto and…