Sweetgrass and CFWE news briefs - Jan. 14, 2016

Harnett to speak at exhibition

January 14, 2016. Artist Tanya Harnett will deliver an address Thursday at 6 p.m. at the SNAP Community Gallery in downtown Edmonton where her latest work is being exhibited. The Lebret Residential Petroglyphs was originally curated and presented by Todd Schaber at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Traveling Exhibition Program. This series of photographic prints help confront and explore the devastating impacts of the Canadian residential school system. Documenting and presenting images of the remaining brick gates from the Lebret Residential School, Harnett’s photos act as memorial and reminder and signal the work of healing and reconciliation yet to come. In the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations, Harnett will be developing a new project in the SNAP Community Gallery. The new work will reference Joane Cardinal-Schubert’s The Lesson and investigate the rhetoric of an apology. Harnett is a member of the Carry-The-Kettle First Nations in Saskatchewan. She is an artist and a professor at the University of Alberta in a joint appointment in the department of art and design and the faculty of Native studies. The Lebret Residential Petroglyphs exhibit runs until Feb. 20.

Work underway for Treaties 1-11 gathering

January 13, 2016. Chiefs from Treaties 1-11 will be gathering on the Enoch Cree Nation at the River Cree Resort on Jan 20-21.On the two-day draft agenda is a report from the United Nations climate change conference in Paris; a roundtable discussion on government-to-government discussions; and a report from the oversight committee on treaty enforcement and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The theme of the gathering is, "As Long as the Sun Shines, the Grass Grows and the Rivers Flow: A Livelihood for a Livelihood." The event is hosted by the Cold Lake First Nation.

Mountain Cree does not support Trans Mountain pipeline expansion

January 13, 2016. Mountain Cree Traditional Band will not be supporting Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. In a letter sent to the National Energy Board on Monday, the band said as Kinder Morgan had not consulted with or discussed compensation with the band and had also failed to demonstrate that the project would not have negative impacts or that it would be beneficial to the band or other First Nations, Mountain Cree would not be giving its support. In the 32-page document, the band states, “in short, the project has made no attempt to enter into any of the mandated obligations …. In light of these failures of the project to meet or even attempt to meet these obligations, it must be said that the developer has failed to act in good faith.”