Manitoba Pipestone - Aboriginal News Briefs - January 2014

MMF urges delay of Keeyask Project approval

The Manitoba Métis Federation is urging the Clean Environment Commission to delay approval of the Keeyask Project until a full assessment of its regional effects on the Manitoba Métis community has been carried out. Appropriate measures need to be designed to address the project’s environmental, socio-economic and cultural impacts. Keeyask is a potential 695-megawatt hydroelectric generating station to be located at Gull Rapids on the lower Nelson River in northern Manitoba and is supported by four northern First Nations and Manitoba Hydro. The MMF has already appealed the Minister of Conservation and Wildlife Service’s License for the Bipole III Transmission Line issued in August of this year. The MMF is still awaiting a response from the minister on this appeal. It cannot file a judicial review of the Bipole III License in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench until the appeal process under the Environment Act is exhausted.

Sioux Valley Dakota Nation moves a step closer to self-government

On Dec. 5, the House of Commons passed legislation for the first-ever self-government agreement on the prairies. This legislation will provide Sioux Valley Dakota Nation with the authority to make laws affecting its community in more than 50 subject areas. This includes governance, economic and social development, education, housing and more. “To me, it’s obviously about getting out from the Indian Act. It allows us now… to focus on the priorities set by the community,” said Chief Vincent Tacan in an earlier interview with Windspeaker. The tripartite agreement will allow more flexibility in areas that fall under provincial jurisdiction. Tacan said the community has established five areas of jurisdiction on which to focus and write its own laws:  health, children and family services, education, economic development, and lands.

Innovation in health recognized

Two Aboriginal organizations were recent winners of the Mino Bimaadiziwin Innovation Award for Healthy Living. The Gambler First Nation Health Centre was recognized for sharing the wisdom of its Elders, cultural traditions and experiences with families of all ages, and working with the chief and council, community members and other partners to learn about healthy eating, physical activity, smoking cessation and mental well-being; while the POW program of the Portage la Prairie Friendship Centre was recognized for connecting instructors and Elders with youth of all ages to offer positive activities and teach traditional Aboriginal dance. The award from Manitoba Health is for organizations that have enhanced healthy living activities among Manitobans.

Agreement will develop capacity

Chief Peguis Investment Corp., the economic development arm of the Peguis First Nation, has signed a relationship agreement with ATCO Sustainable Communities to work together to provide infrastructure solutions to communities throughout Manitoba. The agreement includes a commitment from both groups to pursue projects in the province ranging from community planning and development to building community infrastructure and housing to developing power generation solutions. “This agreement will support our efforts to develop capacity in training, jobs and construction opportunities which will give us a solid foundation for the future,” said Chief Glenn Hudson of Peguis First Nation, in a news release. Peguis is the largest First Nation community in Manitoba.

Brandon University prof wins Praxis award

Darrell Racine, chair of the Department of Native Studies with Brandon University, captured the 2013 Praxis Feature Film Screenplay Competition, awarded annually to Canadian writers. Racine’s story, Crow Nest, was one of eight selected by a jury of industry professionals. He is currently refining the script with American screenwriter Michael Miner, who wrote the 1987 sci-fi movie RoboCop. “I learned to tell stories from my father, who was a trapper and hunter,” said Racine, a Métis from the Turtle Mountains in southwestern Manitoba. “I have attempted to transfer the narrative structures from his stories into my writing.” Crow Nest chronicles a teenage Aboriginal girl returning to her northern reserve after the death of her father, where she takes up his fight to stop a hydro-electric development that threatens to flood their traditional lands. The screenplay employs Métis and Aboriginal storytelling styles.

Former boxer earns post-secondary scholarship

Crystal Brown is the 2013 recipient of the Waapshki Pinaysee Inini White Thunderbird Man bursary. The former boxer decided to go to university after experiencing a serious concussion while practicing in 2010. She is now a third-year student in the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Winnipeg. The bursary is valued at $2,000 annually and is awarded to a full-time Sagkeeng First Nation student pursuing undergraduate or graduate studies. This award is part of the Opportunity Fund, a UWinnipeg initiative that helps ensure economic circumstances are not a barrier to higher education and opportunities.

New director for MDP at UWinnipeg

Claire P. Reid has been appointed as the new director of the Master’s in Development Practice, a graduate program specializing in Indigenous Development, at the University of Winnipeg. Reid worked as a human rights consultant for a Peruvian non-governmental organization developing regional anti-discrimination programming. Her work with Quechua leaders resulted in the passing of the country’s first municipal and regional anti-discrimination laws. CN is a founding partner of the MDP program, which uniquely combines academic and practical aspects of development with a focus on Indigenous peoples and is supported by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation. Recently, the MDP received $50,000 from the supplier Foyston, Gordon & Payne Inc., representing one of the largest donations since the launch of the MDP program in 2011.