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Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission members (behind sign from left) Chief Wilton Littlechild, Dr. Marie Wilson and Justice Murray Sinclair lead the Reconciliation Walk.
Thousands of marchers, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, crammed Marion Dewar Plaza in Ottawa on May 31 for the first day of the closing ceremony of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“My belief and…
Youth suffering mental health problems go without treatment
A study recently released by Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa indicates that a large number of young people from
First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities suffer from mental health problems and drug abuse. However, they are not seeking help because of a lack of Aboriginal-…
Deputy Premier of the NorthWest Territories,
Jack Lafferty (second from left), was just one of many to put acts of
reconciliation into the Bentwood Box over the six years the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission held events.
CMHR to examine leadership role
The carved Bentwood Box, that was used to
…
Mohawk psychologist Dr. Rod McCormick believes in the
healing power of nature. Halfway through his keynote address at a conference for mental health professionals on May 28, he assigned the participants a task. Go outside and focus on a piece of nature and ask a question or ask for help.
You have to approach it with humility and come back in five minutes were the only instructions…
Peel Aboriginal Network (PAN) showed their resourcefulness
when they celebrated their kick-off to Aboriginal History Month in Mississauga. They converted their parking lot on Brittania and Hurontario in Mississauga into a celebratory venue complete with hoop dancing, barbecues, face painting, arts and crafts, and vendors selling everything from fine art to quill earrings to very hot…
Born artist gave all he had
While other kids in Wikwemikong, on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island, were running around with baseball bats and jars for catching frogs, Josh Peltier carried paint brushes or a sketchpad.
Surrounded and inspired by great Woodland Anishnaabe artists like Leland Bell and Daphne Odjig, Josh continued creating until he realized he…
Lawyer Louise Mandell was the first chancellor of Vancouver
Island University to have the honor to sit in the seat of Knowledge and Wisdom. When it was unveiled, May 27, she closed her eyes, grounded herself in a silent meditation and sat on the chair made from reclaimed old growth cedar adorned with 24-carot gold leaf designs.
The chair, part of a suite made for convocation held…
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has slammed the federal government for not implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. On May 6, the Conservatives voted down a bill that would ensure that the laws of Canada were in accordance with the declaration.
“The Canadian government’s rejection of the
implementation work with respect to the…
Court action launched by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and Shishalh Indian Bands on behalf of their own day scholars will have an impact on all Aboriginal people who were day scholars at Indian residential schools from 1920 to 1997.
“It’s been a rough journey but it was amazing when I got the call from our legal team that we’d been certified. I was very overwhelmed,” said Jo-Anne…
Guest Column
To the children we lost, the ones who survived, and the families who were never the same without them, we honour and recognize your stories and your truths.
For more than 100 years, our children were taken from us. Our communities and families suffered as 150,000 little boys and girls were removed from their homes and taken to schools where their language was beat…
Get off the pot, Ottawa, and demonstrate that your words are more than just a bunch of consonants and vowels strung together and carried into the world around us to fill the silence with noise. Every word uttered should be considered a precious gift, a reflection of what’s in a person’s heart, their thoughts and speak to their resolve. If you don’t mean it; don’t say it.
Aboriginal…
The international spotlight will be on Toronto this summer as the city hosts both the Pan American Games and Parapan American Games. Prior to these athletic competitions, however, various groups are joining forces to bring Toronto some recognition through the Pan Am Path Art Relay. These events, which include an Indigenous one called First Story Toronto, will help to celebrate the city’s…
After six long, hard years of heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Justice Murray Sinclair is tired. But he is also hopeful.
Sinclair expects the message repeated by the TRC – that reconciliation is a Canadian issue and not an Aboriginal issue – will be underscored by
the numbers and make-up of the crowd that marches in Ottawa on May 31 when the TRC kicks off its…
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report said Canada’s negotiation of treaties with First Nations were “marked by fraud and coercion.” The report said the federal government continues to stall on the implementation of treaties to this day.
The TRC suggests the only reason Canada bothered to enter treaties was because it couldn’t afford to subdue the Indigenous population…
Straight-talking Chief remembered
He was an honoured leader who cared equally for each and every member of his Tsuu T’ina First Nation, and so the old-time Elders named Gordon Crowchild “Lifetime Chief.”
“That’s the way he was. He always felt responsible for those around him,” said son Lee Crowchild. “Even after he was no longer the official chief, he helped…