Canada and the provinces are, “waging a war against Aboriginal oral tradition in the courts,” said lawyer Paul Williams, “and it’s part of the larger war and, yes, it’s part of land and resources and survival. It always is.”

Williams spoke on the state of oral tradition in Canadian law at an event organized by the University of Toronto Aboriginal Law Program on Jan. 8. Described as a “great warrior of the law”, Williams has represented Indigenous nations and communities, including the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinaabeg, for the last 40 years.

Two exciting initiatives came together on Dec. 10 for an event in Ottawa, marking the one-year anniversary of the initial Idle No More National Day of Action and the start of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike.

The federal Conservative government is carving close to the bone in its efforts to eliminate the deficit in advance of the next election in 2015, and this certainly does not bode well for First Nations and Aboriginal groups, which are historically the first on the chopping block when government sings from the cut and slash song book. “We are doing this without raising taxes, we are doing it without cutting transfers to hospitals, to social services, to education in the provinces…” Flaherty said. So where is it all going to come from?

Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations,

On Feb. 4, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business

The Omushkegowuk Walkers, Danny Metatawabin and

Membertou First Nation and Eskasoni First Nation have launched the Memski Project Inc., a company that they hope will increase employment rates, identify opportunities with new and emerging industries and identify gaps in the labor force. “By combining our resources, our communities are ready to meet the needs of major projects by providing companies with access to a diverse and capable aboriginal workforce,” said Eskasoni chief Leroy Denny. Community sessions will be held to explain to members how the project will work.

Nuu-chah-nulth territory on the west coast of Vancouver Island is being plagued by elk poaching so the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and its 14 member nations, with some help from the BC Guide Outfitters Association and local business, have committed a $31,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the illegal elk kills. It is one of the largest conservation rewards in Canadian history. The Roosevelt Elk population had just begun to rebound after many years of protection, including transplanting elk to replenish the herds.

A hashtag tweeted by the pro-oil group Ethical Oil has been deemed racist by many Aboriginal people and caused the group into damage-control mode. In its attempts to discredit singer/songwriter Neil Young’s public views on the environment and the tar sands during his Honour the Treaties tour, Ethical Oil tweeted the hashtag #IndianIgnorant while sharing a news story from the Sun News Network. Response was swift, with one tweet calling the hashtag contemptible.  Ethical Oil spokesperson Amanda Achtman said she had posted the tweet, which she described as careless.

Native Americans are protesting a Michigan Republican official for offensive comments he made in an article in The New Yorker titled “Down with Detroit?”  Oakland County Executive L.