Apitisawin President Mary Jane Archibald (left) and Cambrian College President Sylvia Barnard sign a four-year agreement which will see Apitisawin Employment and Training collaborate with Cambrian College to provide Aboriginal students with new options to pursue certificate post-secondary programs that support their needs and the needs of their employers, industry and entrepreneurs. The partnership will serve learners from Taykwa Tagamou Nation and the surrounding region.

Book Review by Christine Smith
The Strength of Women: Ahkameyimowak
By Priscilla Settee
Published by Coteau Books
121 pages

“The Strength of Women” celebrates women’s spirit as the backbone of Native communities, and the stories within are about 15 incredible Native women who show vision, inspiration and leadership despite the challenges facing them throughout their lives.

A recent report by Canada’s auditor general comes on the heels of an Ontario Superior Court decision, providing confirmation of what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission already knew. The federal government needs to produce the records that the TRC considers relevant on Indian residential schools.

“I don’t think any government department likes to be criticized twice for the same thing, so we’re hoping that the government will be moving,” said TRC Chair Justice Murray Sinclair.

Brave New River, a film by Nicolas Renaud, Métis from Quebec, was screened at the Hot Docs international documentary film festival held April 25 to May 5 in Toronto. Hot Docs is the largest of its kind in the world.

Chief Barry Kennedy “still (has) faith in our processes” that when chiefs gather at the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations legislative assembly June 5 and June 6 to discuss the position of First Vice Chief, “better minds” will prevail and the decision will be made to comply with an appeals tribunal report.

The chief of Carry the Kettle First Nation was speaking about the re-appointment of Kimberly Jonathon to the First Vice Chief’s position, despite a tribunal ruling that said the Oct. 25, 2012 election of Jonathon was null and void.

Improved health care in Ontario

Olympian passes away

The Idle No More movement isn’t like anything we’ve seen before. It’s not like movements that have happened in the 60s, 70s or even the 80s. However, what all of the movements have in common is the fact that they’ve all been grassroots driven from local perspectives to national and even international ones.

Spirituality is integral to healing, says an Elder, a healer and a medical doctor who spoke with Windspeaker.

Bobby Woods, Gitsan Elder and founder of Native Spiritual Voices’ Society, didn’t always have his culture. He was forced to go to residential school and later ended up in prison. Woods saw that he needed something.

 “I wouldn’t be doing the things (I am) today if I hadn’t have learned about it. I tried all the religions you can imagine: Catholic, Muslim, Protestant… you name them, but I couldn’t understand them.”

The law is about “telling incredibly important stories,” said Dean Lorne Sossin of Osgoode Hall Law School.

The stories about Aboriginal people and the law have not been particularly good ones for Aboriginal people, but Osgoode is working to change that under Sossin’s leadership.

On May 1, at Toronto’s historic Campbell House at Queen and University, Sossin announced they have commissioned world-renowned B.C. artist Ya’Ya Heit to create an art work for Osgoode’s new building at York University.