CBC News – January 22, 2018
The doctor in charge of educational programs at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine says its students are doing well amid increased competition for residencies. So far, only one NOSM graduate has failed to land a residency since the school opened in 2005, said Dr. Catherine Cervin, the school’s vice president, academic. Graduating MDs must complete residencies—two to six year periods of hands-on training, depending on the specialty—in order to practice as physicians. But last year, nearly 70 students who had completed med school failed to land one, and students and medical schools have been raising concerns lately about the growing number of students vying for fewer placements.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nosm-increase-residency-competition-1.4494997
I Journeyed Deep into Indigenous Knowledge to Seek the Human Spirit
Huffington Post – January 22, 2018
On this journey I started seeing the value in beliefs and teachings, such as creation stories — something I was always skeptical of. It is said all creation stories are true. I learned about the importance of reconciliation and the ceremony of the Sacred Pipe. Grandfather William Commanda taught me about the special place known as Akikpautik, now called Chaudière Falls, where the Creator placed the First Pipe within the land and waterscape of Algonquin Anishinaabeg territory, just upstream from Canada’s Parliament buildings.
Indigenous Author Blown Away by Success of First Novel
APTN – January 22, 2018
A Blackfoot/Dene author says his first novel has been more successful than he could have ever imagined. The book, Secret of the Stars, made Amazon’s Top 10 best sellers in Native American literature.
http://aptnnews.ca/2018/01/22/indigenous-author-blown-away-by-success-of-first-novel/
Students Focus on Mental Health with Fitness, Art, Dancing and Drumming
Vancouver Sun – January 22, 2018
On Jan. 18, 2018, hundreds of classmates gathered in classrooms across their school in groups during a mental health symposium organized with their teachers and administrators. Activities included a drum circle, a messy art station, dancing, an Aboriginal cultural class and a music and drum-stick exercise called Pound.
New Children’s Book Explores what Sockeye Salmon Mean to the Gitxsan People
CBC Radio – January 21, 2018
“Our people basically shaped our existence around the life cycle of the sockeye salmon,” he said. “We celebrated the seasons, we celebrated the time when the salmon would come and return to the ocean.” “It was a momentous occasion for us [when they spawned], because we got to restock on the salmon that we had throughout the winter … we were part of distributing the nutrients that salmon bring to the land.” The nutrient that salmon redistributes to the land is nitrogen, said Huson, which helps everything in the forest grow.
Tomson Highway’s Account of Residential School ‘Not the Whole Story,’ says Brother
CBC Indigenous – January 20, 2018
Daniel Highway says his brother Tomson’s words about the “benefits” of Indian Residential Schools are being “cherry picked” by racists and they don’t tell the whole story. Daniel Highway, 70, went to Guy Hill Residential School in The Pas, Man., four years ahead of his brother Tomson. While their experiences were similar, Highway says, they talk about them in very different ways. “He doesn’t tell the whole story,” Daniel Highway says, adding that he cannot speak to his brother’s opinion on the matter. Tomson Highway was not available for comment. “The positive stuff that my brother talks about would never outweigh all the abuse, the sexual abuse, of all those kids separated from their family … all the bullying, the sexual abuse between the students.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tomson-highway-daniel-highway-residential-school-account-1.4493732
Moving Indigenous Literature to the Front in 2018
CBC News – January 19, 2018
“My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” My spirits are aglow with what is to come from Indigenous literature this year — we are witnessing the great wake of an NDN renaissance that is brimming with glitter, sex, sexuality, trans creators and a whole lot of traditional love. In thinking futuristically, let’s look back briefly on that amazing literature that was produced in 2017 and hear from the authors, in their own words, about how and what Indigenous literature is, feels like, looks like, loves like.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/mawacinikan-moving-indigenous-literature-to-the-front-in-2018-1.4493517
Full-day Kindergarten Satellite to Open in Fort William First Nation
CBC News – January 19, 2018
“For us, it means an exciting time and an exciting journey that we’re about to embark on,” Fort William Chief Peter Collins told reporters. “This is only a step in the right direction and … maybe a long-term opportunity for … schools in our community.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/fort-william-catholic-board-1.4493382
‘There is no Reconciliation in Canada Unless There’s Justice for St. Anne’s Survivors’
The Toronto Star – January 19, 2018
OTTAWA—A lawyer representing former residential school students says a judicial ruling this week will make it harder for people with “valid claims” to get fair compensation for the hardships they suffered. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown ruled on Wednesday that former students’ compensation claims that have already been closed can’t be reopened if new evidence of abuse comes to light. “A new hearing may be ordered only where a palpable and overriding error is found,” Brown wrote.
Nipissing University President to Shape National Reconciliation Council
Anishinabek News – January 19, 2018
The summary report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) called the Indian Residential School system, “…An integral part of a conscious policy of cultural genocide.” Many Indigenous people continue to suffer as a result of intergenerational trauma. DeGagné says the TRC was not the first one to come up with recommendations on reconciliation. “If we go back to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People twenty years ago, that was essentially a call to action around a new way of thinking between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. And now the TRC did a lot of reinforcing.”
Small Acts of Reconciliation: Durham Teachers Create Indigenous Literature Course
Durham Region – January 18, 2018
DURHAM — Two Durham high school English classes are doing “small acts of reconciliation every day” through a new Indigenous literature pilot project. The pilot course, which is being offered in partnership with the Durham District School Board’s (DDSB’s) Indigenous education department, is a first for the school board. “Most of my students had not had much background information about the treatment of Indigenous people,” Henderson says. “The goal, I think, is to get to the truth of what’s happened in Canada with Indigenous populations, and then to build mutual respect. We are performing small acts of reconciliation on a daily basis in our class.”
Ontario Judge Rules Fort William Sanatorium not a Residential School
CBC News – January 17, 2018
“Though the applicant urges me to accept that placement of Aboriginal children at Fort William was merely an extension of the education provided to them, in light of the aforementioned evidence, I cannot,” Perell wrote. “Though I accept that at least some Aboriginal children received education while residing at Fort William, I do not accept that Canada placed them there ‘for the purposes of education.’
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/fort-william-sanitorium-decision-1.4490000
NAN Supports St. Anne’s Survivors
Nishnawbe Aski Nation – January 15, 2018
“After suffering unimaginable horrors as children, these brave survivors have been blocked at every opportunity in their efforts to be recognized in these proceedings. Instead of having their voices heard, they are being bullied into silence,” said Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum during a press conference in Ottawa today. “We are extremely disappointed that the legal action taken by the Government of Canada does not match this government’s mandate on reconciliation. This is shameful, and we are no closer to reconciliation without justice for the St. Anne’s survivors.”
http://www.nan.on.ca/article/january-15-2018-22538.asp
St. Anne’s Residential School Survivors Want Mediation, say Ottawa Keeps Fighting Claims
CBC News – January 15, 2018
The survivors accused the federal government’s lawyers of suppressing and denying evidence of widespread abuse at the school which operated in Fort Albany, Ont., along the James Bay coast. They said the government has played legal hardball during hearings under the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), which was created by the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement to determine compensation amounts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/st-anne-residential-school-iap-call-for-mediation-1.4488353
Contact North and Manitoulin Lodge Partner in Online PSW Learning
Manitoulin Expositor – January 12, 2018
MANITOULIN—Contact North is working with the Manitoulin Lodge Nursing Home in Gore Bay on a new online learning initiative to bring more potential personal support workers (PSW) to the Lodge; and the initiative has seen a good response. “It’s not to the point where services are not being provided, but we do need to increase our PSW complement,” stated Sue Farren, administrator of the Manitoulin Lodge. “We need to prepare with the support of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care we will be able to provide more hours of care for our residents, so we need more staff. This new program is proactive,” she said noting Contact North had approached the Lodge in regards to their initiative to help bring more PSWs to the area. http://www.manitoulin.ca/2018/01/12/contact-north-manitoulin-lodge-partner-online-psw-learning/?utm_source=Academica+Top+Ten&utm_campaign=ee4ae03719-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b4928536cf-ee4ae03719-51954037
