On Wednesday April 20, a class action lawsuit was filed in Winnipeg for Priscilla Meeches and Stewart Garnett against Canada. It’s the first step in what could be a lengthy legal process.

Meeches and Garnett represent Indian, non-status Indian and Métis children taken from their families in Manitoba and placed in non-Indigenous homes as part of the Sixties Scoop.

April 22, 2016.

For years, Brittney Bear Hat and her older sister Richelle Bear Hat have been exploring their identity in individual projects. But now they have come together for that exploration and the result is a show at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Right next door to the main feature 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. 

Canada is looking for a woman’s image to grace one of a series of bank notes to come out in 2018 and has called for nominations. The decision that faced the Native Women’s Association of Canada wasn’t who to nominate, but whether to participate at all.

A monument commemorating Shannen Koostachin, a young Cree activist from Attawapiskat First Nation, was unveiled on Oct. 24, 2015, at the New Liskeard waterfront. The bronze sculpture is the work of  Tyler Fauvelle.  (File photo)

Following a stellar hockey season in Austria, Colton Yellow Horn has signed on to compete in an even higher calibre overseas circuit next year.

Yellow Horn, a Blackfoot from Alberta’s Piikani Nation, spent the 2015-2016 season with a squad called Znojmo Orli in Austria’s pro circuit.

Yellow Horn finished third in league scoring, registering 55 points in 52 regular-season matches. He then racked up a record 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 18 playoff matches.

April 20, 2016.

Paul First Nation Councillor Myrna Rabbit credits the commitment of band members as the reason why only one home has been lost to date due to a wildfire.

On Monday evening, RCMP ordered a portion of the First Nation to be evacuated, but many residents stubbornly stayed behind.

“The fire came so close. The fire probably could have taken more homes,” said Rabbit. “But family members, they chose not to leave. They actually took whatever precautions they could to protect their homes.”

Off the hook

It’s the Catholic Entities—again—that have thrown a wrench into the reconciliation part of Truth and Reconciliation, walking away from a third of its legal responsibility under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, approved  by a government lawyer with a “miscommunication” that got the Catholics off the hook for $25 million.

Downtown Winnipeg BIZ's Aboriginal Peoples’ Advisory Committee launched an initiative April 18 that invites downtown businesses to install decals that welcome people in Indigenous languages. The initiative is symbolic and celebrates Indigenous arts and languages, reads a press statement.

It is also a challenge to downtown businesses to work towards greater reconciliation with the Indigenous community, fostering understanding, respect, and dignity.

The Government of Ontario announced April 18 funding for three research projects to support a more appropriate response from law enforcement authorities when dealing with incidents of sexual violence and harassment against Indigenous women, and to encourage more survivors to report sexual violence. The announcement was made at the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres.

Gustafsen Lake warrior showed bravery under fire

The key figure in the 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff – which saw more gunfire than 1990’s Oka crisis – was a warrior who liked nothing better than to grow squash, beans and corn in his organic garden in later life.

“It was a lot of hard work for an Elder to do, but he would get out there into the field every day,” said Kanahus Manuel, who travelled extensively with Wolverine after Gustafsen Lake to support Indigenous warriors around the world.