April 19, 2016.

Metis Nation of Alberta President Audrey Poitras says everything is open for discussion as executive and membership move forward on a new governance structure for the MNA.

The existing governing structure has been in place since 1984. Poitras says changes are necessary as the MNA pushes negotiations for self-government with the province and now the federal government, in wake of last week’s Daniels’ decision that says Metis and non-status Indians fall under federal jurisdiction.

After a year of operating on the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, the monthly diabetes clinic has a steadily growing number of patients. That success, says Enoch Cree member Joanne McDonald, who also serves as community health representative at the local health centre, is due to the visiting physician’s no-nonsense attitude and understanding.

What’s in a name, really? Nothing most of the time, unless you’re talking about Gladue Reports in Canada.

For some people, the name alone sparks controversy and mixed emotions, and it’s sometimes even misinterpreted as a “get out of jail free card” by people who don’t understand, or just don’t agree with, their purpose.

Work inspired by artist’s identity as young Cree woman

Paul sentenced to 10 years for brutal sexual assault on girl

Partial evacuation of Paul First Nation

A gathering of First Nations families and non-Aboriginal activists occupied the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada office in Vancouver on Monday morning April 18.

The Vancouver protest was part of a series of actions nationwide. The immediate goal was to demand action on the ongoing suicide crisis in Attawapiskat, but the conditions that have sparked the crisis are systemic across Canada, according to organizer Chrissie Oleman.

“We have parents and children and we have allies here,” Oleman told Windspeaker.

“Reckoning”, the latest production by Indigenous theatre-company Article 11, offers an intense experience with their offering of three 30-minute plays dealing with residential schools.

In a post on social media, veteran actor Monique Mojica called it a “Kick ass show. Skillfully crafted & performed. This is what our stories told by us looks like.”

Playwright Tara Beagan, co-founder of Article 11 and co-director of “Reckoning”, said she was initially inspired by her Ntlaka’pamux mother.

April 14, 2016.

The provincial budget tabled Thursday in the Alberta Legislature offered little for Indigenous people.

Finance Minister Joe Ceci presented a budget that “includes a plan to carefully control government spending to achieve more than $600 million in savings over the next two years.”

Part of that savings comes in the budget for the Indigenous relations ministry, which was cut from $195 million the previous year to $186 million. The majority of that shortfall will be realized through capital grants, which drop from $11 million to $3 million.

The only Métis body that enjoys a nation-to-nation relationship with the federal and provincial governments is the Métis National Council, and as such, in wake of the Daniels’ decision, it is the MNC that will be conducting negotiations with the other two levels of government on behalf of the Métis people, says MNC President Clement Chartier.