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Windspeaker Publication

Windspeaker Publication

Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.

  • March 4, 2016
  • Fernando Arce Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

The second instalment of the “Indigenize or Die” series, which explored sustainable living from Indigenous points of views, began with a smudging ceremony in Toronto's OCAD University on March 2.

The series highlights the immediate dangers of climate change and of unhinged capitalism, and offers possible solutions through Indigenous teachings and practices.

“It's not a threat, it…

  • March 4, 2016
  • Shayne Morrow Windspeaker Contributor

Opponents to the Site C Dam project in Treaty 8 territory launched a hunger strike outside the BC Hydro office in Vancouver on Thursday morning.

The hunger strike was organized immediately following the “aggressive” dismantling of the Site C/Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land Camp by the RCMP on March 1, according to Tamo Campos, who is the grandson of renowned scientist/environmentalist…

  • March 3, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO

Mike Auksi is more than happy with how his hockey career ended.
Auksi, a 34-year-old who lives in Toronto, finished off his playing days by participating in an Olympic qualifying tournament in Budapest, Hungary.

He decided to retire after representing Estonia in the Olympic qualifier, which concluded on Feb. 14.

Though he’s Canadian and his father George is Ojibwe, in 2010…

  • March 2, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor KAMLOOPS

Jo-Anne Gottfriedson is optimistic that negotiations with the federal government on behalf of students, who attended Indian residential schools as day scholars, will trump litigation.

“It’s our hope that we’ll be able to sit down with (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Carolyn Bennett) and talk about possible negotiations rather than trial because time is of the essence…

  • March 1, 2016
  • Shari Narine Windspeaker Contributor VANCOUVER

A last-minute invitation to attend the Academy Awards has proven to be the career highlight for an Indigenous actor and an Indigenous designer.
Actor Duane Howard, who portrayed Elk Dog in The Revenant, walked the red carpet Sunday night in a tuxedo by Haida designer Dorothy Grant.

Being at the Academy Awards for the first time was “amazing,” Howard told Windspeaker. “It was…

  • March 1, 2016
  • Lauren Karonhiarónkwas McComber Windspeaker Contributor LAS VEGAS, Nevada

She’s a mother, a Fancy Dance powwow dancer, and a burlesque performer who will be competing for the title of Miss Viva Las Vegas April 14 to April 17.

Not many people can add those three occupations to their resumes, but somehow Lauren Ashley Jiles pulls it off.

Jiles, who grew up on the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk reserve just 15-minutes outside of Montréal, began her unusual life path a…

  • March 1, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

Tracy Nicole Bird, 36, a homeless woman, was
found dead in La Ronge Feb. 27, CBC reports. Police say the death is not
considered suspicious. Bird’s body was found in a wooded area of the town.
Street workers speculate she may have died of exposure as temperatures dipped
to –30 C. Bird suffered from alcohol addition, and her health problems were
complicated by burn…

  • March 1, 2016
  • Compiled by Debora Steel

Wallace Fox will not run for chief in the upcoming June 15 Onion Lake Cree Nation election, the Meridian Booster is reporting. He tells the paper that concerns from some of the Nation’s membership—a letter asking for his resignation was sent to council in November 2015— and personal considerations led to the decision, which was not to be seen as a resignation, he asserted.

“At…

  • February 24, 2016
  • Windspeaker Staff

“If Canada can’t bring First World Canada to all the communities within its borders, does it deserve those borders?” This statement by APTN host Michael Hutchinson, as part of the Feb. 23rd segment of The Laughing Drum, provides some interesting grist for the proverbial mill.

Hutchinson and his panel of Indigenous comedians were discussing some of the inane, shallow and badly researched…

  • February 24, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Inquest shows poor training, poor jail conditions

An inquest report into the death of Brian McPherson, 44, who died in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2011, while in custody at the Garden Hill band constable holding cells, says the holding cell was in poor condition, far too small and overcrowded.

McPherson died of sudden heart failure. There were eight…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Dianne Meili

Activist had huge FBI file

Lakota activist and poet John Trudell said that when he buried his wife and three children, he became the earth that received them.

His family, along with his mother-in-law, died in a house fire he maintained to his death was set by the FBI in 1979 to silence him and AIM, the American Indian Movement.

Known for his peaceful…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Windspeaker Staff

PhD candidate Kyle Bobiwash is one of 25 Aboriginal students who received the 2015 Irving K. Barber Aboriginal Student Graduate Award. With the $5,000 renewable award Bobiwash, 31, is free to undertake his doctoral research in pollination at Simon Fraser University without having to worry about working on the side.

“It’s a full-time job,” says Bobiwash, “I’m working at it from 8 a.m. to…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Sam Laskaris Windspeaker Contributor KINGSTON, Ont.

Despite a considerably increased workload, Caitlyn Lahonen has certainly been shining in her fifth and final season of eligibility in the university women’s hockey ranks.

Lahonen, who is Metis, is a goaltender with the Queen’s University Gaels women’s squad. She entered the 2015-16 campaign as one of three netminders on the roster of the club, based in Kingston, Ont.

Gaels’ head…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Sam Laskaris

Haitian Native banned from tournament

A 20-year-old who was raised by a family in British Columbia’s Heiltsuk First Nation is disappointed he was banned from participating in a recent All Native Basketball Tournament.

Organizers of the event, which concluded on Feb. 13 in Prince Rupert, B.C., would not allow Josiah Wilson to compete.

That’s because Wilson…

  • February 23, 2016
  • Compiled by Shari Narine

Inuit healing centre slated to close

 Lack of funding will force the closure in March of Mamisarvik Healing Centre, one of only two Inuit-specific treatment centres in the country. The centre, located in Ottawa’s east end, has treated 723 people since opening in 2003 and is said to have been instrumental in preventing dozens of suicides.

Jason…