The Legacy Pole is considered by the Haida Nation as a significant creation, but it is personal for carver Jaalen Edenshaw and Haida Nation President Peter Lantin.

Edenshaw, whose design and story was chosen by a committee to commemorate 20 years of the Haida Nation and Canada working together, recalled attending meetings with his father leading up to the Lyell Island logging blockades of 1985.

“But also in my design I was recognizing those who stood on the line for Gwaii Hanaas back in 1985. That was really important to me,” he said.

A week-long trip to southern Alberta and participation at the annual Feast to Remember the Children of the Red Deer Industrial School netted four more pieces to add to a unique Witness Blanket.

For Rosy Steinhauer, project coordinator for western Canada, the sandstone block from the industrial school’s foundation and the brick from the boys’ residence are particularly poignant.

Creative Subversions: Whiteness, Indigeneity and the National Imaginary
Written By Margot Francis
Published By UBC Press
224 Pages

When you think of Canada and the nationalist image it presents to the world, are there certain images that come to mind? And with these images have you ever thought of where they came from, and the secrecy that lies behind them? Have you ever been challenged to rethink these images you have come to know as a part of Canada’s image?

The president of the University of Lethbridge believes several universities in Canada and Mexico will have considerably increased relationships thanks to an Aboriginal partnership they have.

Dr. Mike Mahon, the president of the Lethbridge university, is confident numerous initiatives will result from a meeting held at his school in late June.

The meeting, which included officials from nine Canadian universities and eight Indigenous universities in Mexico, was staged to help improve Aboriginal educational experiences and research collaborations.

Jeff Baker, a Métis educator and scholar, is the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education’s first ever chair in Aboriginal Education. As chair, Baker will teach both graduate and undergraduate classes with a focus on kindergarten to Grade 12 education, particularly for the Indian Teacher Education Program, which is designed for First Nations students interested in teaching.

At the end of July, Saskatoon lawyer Dan Shapiro began as the new chief adjudicator of the Independent Assessment Process, which provides compensation to former students for abuse they suffered at Indian Residential Schools. Shapiro replaced Dan Ish, who announced in February that he would be stepping down. Shapiro has been a deputy chief adjudicator for the Indian Residential School Adjudication Secretariat since 2007. As of May 31, 2013, IRSAS had received 37,797 applications for compensation under the IAP.

The City of Regina has set as a priority the development of a First Nation and Métis recruitment and retention strategy. According to the latest statistics, of 1,164 city employees—not including seasonal—129, or 7.8 per cent, are self-declared as Aboriginal, falling below the city’s 15.2-per-cent target set by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Most Aboriginal employees work as labourers, bus operators or in clerical positions for the city; none are employed at the executive or management levels.

A new communication agreement between Sturgeon Lake Child and Family Services and the Ministry of Social Services will see the agency notified every time one of their children is put in foster care off-reserve and if a child is seriously hurt or dies while in foster care. The service had been meeting with Social Services about a better communication protocol since 2010, but the ministry did not sign the agreement until July. Eleanor Brazeau, executive director for SLCFS, said the new agreement is “working with families, preserving families, keeping families together.”

Beleaguered Métis Nation-Saskatchewan President Robert Doucette is fighting off another call for his resignation. Dubbed Métis Revolution 2013, 12 of the 17-member Provincial Métis Council have revolted against Doucette’s leadership and are lobbying Premier Brad Wall and the federal government to denounce him. Darlene McKay, area director for western region 2, is among those accusing Doucette of ignoring the constitution and centralizing control. Prior to the 2012 election, which saw Doucette returned as president, Doucette fought against calls to relieve him of the position.

Brenda Butterworth-Carr has become the first Aboriginal woman ever promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent within the RCMP. Butterworth-Carr has been appointed to the position of Saskatchewan RCMP Commanding Officer, “F” Division. A member of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation, Butterworth-Carr began her career in 1987 as a special constable in her hometown of Dawson. From there she went to Regina to train as a regular officer and began her climb up Canada’s national police force.