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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.
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Editor's note: There was an attempt last month to publish this article in Windspeaker, but gremlins in the machinery only saw a small portion of it make the issue. We apologize for this error and any confusion it caused. Here it is in its entirety.
A federal committee that has the rare power to keep the government honest is embroiled in a dispute that involves the…
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British Columbia's Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-kwa-mish Tribes have filed a judicial review application in Federal Court to stop what they describe as the "slaughter" of seals and sea lions by salmon farming operations near Gilford Island, about a one-and-a-half hour's plane ride north of Vancouver Island.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans admits that about 400 marine animals…
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The end of the month -March 31-was the deadline and it was looming ominously when chiefs and health technicians from several treaty groups across Western Canada gathered in an Edmonton hotel March 25 and 26 to figure out what they're going to do about Health Canada.
The federal health ministry's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB, formerly MSB or medical…
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On Feb. 22, the Ontario Court of Appeal lifted its year-long stay of a decision in the landmark Powley hunting rights case, and upheld the Metis right to hunt and fish for food as of Feb. 23.
"February 23rd is an historic day that all Metis will mark on their calendars," said Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) President Tony Belcourt. "We welcome the freedom to hold our heads…
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Fourteen Aboriginal people who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in their chosen fields were recognized in Winnipeg on March 10 when the ninth annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards were handed out.
This year's ceremonies saw awards given in the categories of Arts and Culture, Business and Commerce, Energy, Media and Communications, Heritage and Spirituality…
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An estimated 500 people, including about 200 chiefs and five Assembly of First Nations (AFN) vice chiefs, spent two days in Winnipeg in early March talking about how to stop the federal government's proposed First Nations governance act.
AFN National Chief Matthew Coon Come was a no-show on both days, despite having confirmed a time to speak on day one.
"It's…
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The Haida Nation has put Canada on notice that it is asserting Aboriginal title to the Queen Charlotte Islands, known as Haida Gwaii, where the Haida make up one-third of the population. They laid claim on March 6 not only to the land, but the offshore resources, which are said to include multi-billion-dollar oil and gas reserves.
Aboriginal rights lawyer Louise Mandell,…
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Dear World:
The prophecies from all cultures have been written that this is the year of the decision. Either we are going to change and clean our Mother Earth, or keep on destroying her as we have been doing. If we do not make the change, then there is no future for our children.
The Mother Earth's veins have been clogged for many years and her veins are her water…
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I was born when everything seemed so natural. People loved nature and spoke to it as though it had a soul. I was once surrounded by the laughter and smiling faces of these beautiful people; their singing and storytelling lifted my spirits and was good for my health.
I loved nature so much my grandfather named me KOOM-NUCK. It's a sacred name and even to this day I do not…
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I have seen and been to Oz; actually walked the hallways. Not many people can say that.
I am not referring to the prison show on television, or that certain place over the rainbow. Oz is at the Machantucket Pequot Reservation in Connecticut, home to, not only the first, but also the largest, Aboriginal casino in North America.
The casino is a large, imposing green…
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Two recent court decisions have sent a very strong message to the provincial government of British Columbia to change the way it deals with economic development projects that affect First Nations.
In an unanimous decision on Feb. 27, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the provincial government and forest company Weyerhauser have had "a legally enforceable duty…
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Re: Tradition goes to court, as published in the March 2002 edition of Windspeaker).
Dear Editor:
It disturbs me to see the opinions of these women. There was a time when singers and dancers were initiated into the powwow circuit. Parents and family would save for a year for a give away. Elders would counsel the initiates.
I suspect this is not commonly…
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Professor, Department of Native American Studies
University of Lethbridge
The referendum on sovereignty-association in Quebec has found a kind of weird mirror image in British Columbia. Try as the Gordon Campbell Liberals might to deny it, they are no less anxious than Quebec's separatists to exempt their provincial government from those aspects of Canadian law they…
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Two more huge court decisions in favor of Indigenous peoples this month met with instant appeals. Here we go again.
The Haida people caught the world's attention when they did the unthinkable and asked a British Columbia court to enforce Canadian law. The court obliged.
Gordon Benoit told us things were pretty lonely back in the early 1980s when he started his…
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One ruling in a taxation case in favor of an Aboriginal man in Edmonton's Federal court was balanced by another decision against an Ontario Aboriginal woman in March.
Gordon Benoit was successful at trial in his quest to have Treaty 8 people ruled exempt from Canadian taxation. Rachel Schilling's attempt to avoid having her off reserve employment income subject to income…