“Our actions are for everybody, unlike this government of Canada,” said Rueben George, to a small but passionate crowd gathered on the steps of the Alberta Legislature on Sept. 5.

George, of the Tsleil Waututh Nation, is head of the Kinder Morgan Sacred Trust, which is leading the battle against the oil company’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Former Northwest Territories Premier Stephen Kakfwi was “moved by the energy” of Idle No More; quietly worked behind the scenes asking former prime ministers Joe Clark and Paul Martin, and former Nunavut premier Paul Okalik to visit Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence during her hunger strike; and asked by his children to do something more.

Kakfwi responded.

“I’m 63 and I spent my whole life doing this and I feel like I can do more,” he said. “I can’t change the past, but I can start fresh today.”

Group works to dredge Red River

The Six Nations Chiefs are now the two-time defending Mann Cup champions. The Chiefs captured their second consecutive national senior men’s lacrosse crown on Sept. 12.

The Six Nations side hosted this year’s Canadian finals. The Chiefs wrapped up the best-of-seven national championship with a 9-4 victory over the Victoria Shamrocks in Game 6.

Six Nations also defeated the Shamrocks in the 2013 Mann Cup final, which was staged in Victoria and also lasted six games.

Defenceman accepts university scholarship

Though he will have to cross the Canada/U.S. border, Owen Headrick will not be travelling that far to continue his hockey career. Headrick, who is from the Garden River First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario, recently accepted a scholarship offer from Lake Superior State University.

Nunavut suicide rate well above Canadian rate

Reprinted with permission from the First Nations Health Authority

Ready to Quit?

First Nation’s Health Benefits covers three treatment courses for Nicotine Replacement Therapy of 12 weeks each within a 12-month period. This includes two courses of NRT patches and one course of other NRT products such as gums, lozenges, and inhalers, used on an as-needed basis. 

An increase in Aboriginal attendance at post-secondary schools across the country is reason to celebrate, but the challenge to hold on to those students still remains.

Last of codetalkers fought war of words

Code talker Chester Nez’s Navajo (Diné) tongue helped pave the way to an allied win in the Second World War. Though unmistakably proud of his ability to serve the United States in such a unique way, he was cognizant of the irony in what his wartime work involved.

“All those years, telling you not to speak Navajo, and then asking for help with that same language … it still kind of bothers me,” he told USA Today in 2002.

Just recently, several sportscasters in the United States have voluntarily opted to stop using the name of the National Football League’s Washington team in their broadcasts.

Of all the Aboriginally-named teams that populate the American sports pantheon—the Braves, the Indians, Blackhawks etc. —few have been more problematic then the Redskins. It seems only the team owner still thinks it’s a great and fabulous name.