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.
Page 30
INAC promised to dismantle in Manitoba
It was supposed to be the place where we would see the beginning of the end of the department of Indian Affairs in Canada.
Years passed, and close to $40 million was spent on the devolution of authority from INAC to First Nations, and instead of the department's demise, Manitoba is one region where the federal government has…
Page 26
Sports have always been an important part of Jacqueline Lavallee's life. In high school, the young Metis woman from Saskatoon was involved in basketball, soccer, track and volleyball. And when she attended the University of Saskatchewan, where she completed combined Education and Kinesiology degrees with a minor in Native Studies, she was on both the university's soccer team and…
Page 25
A decade after she graduated from the University of Manitoba with her masters in Education, Myra Laramee has returned to the institution to help it improve the way it prepares teachers to provide Aboriginal education to their students.
Laramee has been employed by the Winnipeg school division for the past 27 years, with the last nine of those years spent as principal of…
Page 23
CD:
Music is the Medicine
Song: Corn Cob Soup
Label: Arbor Records
Producer: Brandon Friesen
There are too many good tracks on Derek Miller's Music is the Medicine CD to recommend just one. How's that for a compliment?
The Wheels of Fire track has been a frequent request line favorite on the three Aboriginal radio stations that compile…
Page 22
The Master Butchers Singing Club
By Louise Erdrich
HarperCollins
389 pages
$39.95 (hc)
Chippewa writer Louise Erdrich usually writes about Aboriginal people in her novels, which detail the interconnected lives of the Morrissey, Kashpaw, Lamartine, Lazarre, Nanapush, and Pillager families of North Dakota. In her eighth novel, using her own…
Page 21
Martha Pedoniquott is still haunted by the thought of her beloved aunt, Lucy Pedoniquott, dressed only in a hospital gown and paper slippers, freezing to death in an icy swamp just metres from the hospital where she was a patient.
What makes it even more difficult to bear, is knowing that the Ontario Provincial Police refused to conduct a full and immediate search for her…
Page 19
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Derek: In a friend? A quality? Sense of humor.
W: What is it that really makes you mad?
D: It's real easy to get sad and mad mixed up sometimes. What makes me angry? I guess it would probably be. . . this communication breakdown makes me mad. (Windspeaker messed up on the time zone conversion and…
Page 16
Nasivvik
On April 5, 1939, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision that stands out as one of the most memorable strokes of pen in Inuit history. The question that the court considered was:
Does the term "Indians", as used in head 24 of section 91 of the British North America Act, 1867, include Eskimo inhabitants of the province of Quebec? The Supreme Court's…
Page 16
Music Biz 101
The promotional kit or press kit is an artist's primary marketing tool geared to solicit interest from potential presenters and the media.
An effective promo kit should be visually appealing and include a biography, a photo, a CD, press clippings, and a business card. A discography/videography and a quote sheet of excerpt statements from other…
Page 15
Pro Bono
Dear Tuma:
I am a status Indian working for a Native political organization. Our head office is located on reserve, but we also have a branch off reserve where I work. Can my wages be garnished by debtors?
Working for the Credit Bureau
Dear Working:
I am assuming that you are being paid from the head office, which is located on reserve…
Page 15
"History: Blend of both myth and selected facts alterable for political purposes. History is arguably second best to economics as evidence of academic corruption.
-found on a Web site on doublespeak
We're constantly assaulted by the "news." It doesn't matter whether you buy it at the newsstand or have it delivered by the local loudmouth, there's not much difference…
Page 15
Naked Native people. You don't really see a lot of them. Especially at this time of year. I'm talking about their representation in television, theatre or print. And even more so, its Native men that are remarkably absent from baring all to the world.
I mention this because some time back I was writing a play titled alterNATIVES. During the creation of that play, my…
Page 14
First Nations people who access Health Canada's Non-Insured Health Branch (NIHB) services must sign consent forms so that their private information can be used by the government. The deadline for signing is Sept. 1, and if people don't meet that deadline they will be forced to pay cash, up-front, for medical services.
NIHB pays for medical care given to status Indian…
Page 13
Chiefs and technicians marked the addition of another 17 First Nations to the 14 already participating in the First Nations Land Management Act [FNLMA] with a press conference on March 31. The main point that media were meant to take away from the discussion is that even in this one small area of governance, a lot of learning and institution-building is required before First…
Page 12
Three Ontario Court of Appeal justices have ruled that the children-and perhaps the grandchildren?of former residential school students can sue the federal government for loss of culture.
The 3-0 ruling was handed down March 27. Mr. Justice Jean-Marc Labrosse wrote the court's decision. Madame justices Louise Charron and Eileen Gillese concurred.
It's estimated…