CBC News – January 31, 2018
“All he wanted to do was to go home, to run away from the environment he was forced into,” said Wenjack’s sister, Pearl Achneepineskum of Marten Falls First Nation. She was accompanied at the gathering by her son William, and said nephew and uncle share much in common. “If Chanie had lived, he would be like William. If you talk to William for a couple of minutes, he’s all about happiness,” she said. But Wenjack ran away because he, like his sister, was lonely. “When I was there, at the school, I could not learn, I was too busy being lonely. Loneliness, now, is part of my life. It has stayed with me because I had to accept it when I was six years old.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-nan-wenjack-education-1.4511266
Sask. First Nation Kids Head to New Zealand to Learn about Treaty of Waitangi
CBC Indigenous – January 31, 2018
The idea to travel to New Zealand came when Oksasikewiyin was in Brazil for the World Indigenous Games and met Maoris from New Zealand. “That’s how we started a connection,” he said. “After talking with them for a while I noticed we have a lot of similarities between our histories.”Oksasikewiyin said some of those similarities stemmed from having to deal with colonization.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/little-pine-first-nation-trip-new-zealand-waitangi-day-1.4511210
NAN Celebrates Education Milestones
Nishnawbe Aski Nation – January 30, 2018
“I am pleased to celebrate the renaming of Oshki-Pimache-O-Win to ‘Oshki-Pimache-O-Win: The Wenjack Education Institute’ in honour of Chanie Wenjack,” said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. “This is a fitting and lasting tribute to Chanie and all of our youth who were lost during the Indian Residential School era. We are especially pleased that Pearl Achneepineskum and Mike Downie were able to join us today and I thank them for their continued work with Oshki.” Delegates and educators also celebrated the recognition of the Institute under recently passed provincial legislation. Through the Indigenous Intuitions Act, Aboriginal Institutions will be able to issue post-secondary education credentials independently. This will allow First Nation students to earn diplomas, degrees or certificates directly through Oshki and similar institutions. Students will have access to culturally rich programs closer to home.
http://www.nan.on.ca/article/january-30-2018-22541.asp
Residential School Survivor Working to Raise Awareness
The Observer – January 30, 2018
An 82-year-old residential school survivor who has worked for years to help other survivors heal, while also educating Canadians on the legacy of residential schools, Robertson was one of 23 new members of the province’s highest honour announced this week by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell.“It’s just very humbling,” Robertson said. Born at Aamjiwnaang, next to Sarnia, she was taken at age 11 to residential schools for a period of four years she has described as “living in hell.”
http://www.theobserver.ca/2018/01/30/residential-school-survivor-working-to-raise-awareness
Moose Tracking App Brings Indigenous Knowledge and Modern Technology Together
CBC News – January 29, 2018
In an effort to merge traditional Anishinaabe hunting knowledge with modern technology, a Sudbury biologist is working with First Nations to equip them with a new smartphone app to help monitor Ontario’s declining moose population. “That will allow land users to go out and record moose sightings and harvest and other additional information — Indigenous knowledge — so that they can record population trends through time,” said Jesse Popp, wildlife specialist with the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre and biology professor at Laurentian University.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/moose-monitoring-app-first-nations-1.4506052
Elementary School Students Build Lego Robots to Solve Water Problems
CBC News – January 29, 2018
Prior to Sunday, elementary school students, age 9 to 14, from across the province, spent five months designing Lego robots to solve some of the world’s water problems. Srijay Mundler, 14, is a member of the team Unresolved, made up of 10 students from Mississauga. “The name was pretty much found based on the fact that when we tried to pick a name, we kept on disagreeing,” he said. Mundler and his team designed a robot to solve the issue of water contamination in First Nations communities.
Popularity Growing for Concordia University’s Indigenous Spirituality Course
APTN – January 27, 2018
“It is really recognizing that connection that we have with all living things and that includes, you know, the insects, the plants, non-human animals, the fish, the water, the sky, the moon, the earth,” said Jamieson, an associate professor. Part of the class includes a trip to the longhouse in Kahnawake where students meet Elder Kevin Deer. “Basically I just give them an overview about who we are. So I talk a little bit about the creation story and what does that mean, how it gives us an understandingabout how we understand the world,” said Deer.
Restoration of Old Residential School Uncovers Things Students Left Behind
APTN – January 26, 2018
Hidden under a stairwell were signatures and writings of young girls. Dawn Hill first saw the writings in a virtual tour of the building last year. She immediately noticed her mom’s name, Hazel Vanevry. “My family knew that she was there. Two of my an aunts were there as well. So seeing that on the wall was pretty tough … it was hard,” said Hill. Her mom came to school in 1934 at the age of nine. She left when she was 16. The writings have been carefully removed from their original location for preservation and will be part of the building’s future as the Woodland Culture Centre in Brantford, Ont. “We can’t ever forget what that history was, and we can’t ever deny what that history was because that historical trauma that was visited upon this First Nation community has really impacted not just that person, it has filtered down to generation after generation,” said Hill.
Canadian First Nation School Group to Take Part in Waitangi Day
The Northern Advocate – January 26, 2018
Indigenous Canadian schoolchildren studying the Treaty of Waitangi as part of their curriculum will learn about it first-hand when they take part in Waitangi Day celebrations in Northland. The group of 19 children and seven adults from Chief Little Pine School, on a Cree reservation in central Canada’s Saskatchewan province, will spend a week in New Zealand with the highlight a visit to Waitangi on February 6.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11981877
Indigenous Speaker Series Aims to Tell Untold History of Edmonton
CBC News – January 26, 2018
“We need to understand Indigenous history as lived and told by the people,” said Larisa Kreider, a social worker with the City of Edmonton, which is a partner with the history series. “I feel that many times, we don’t even know the history of the land we stand on.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/indigenous-amiskwaciy-history-series-1.4504886
Senator Kim Pate Tours Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School
CBC News – January 26, 2018
Kim Pate told CBC she didn’t intentionally time her trip in response to controversial comments about residential schools made by fellow senator Lynn Beyak, but she said many in the senate are concerned about Beyak’s remarks. “What it shows is, at one level, ignorance and misunderstanding of Indigenous peoples and their lived experience and intergenerational experiences that is not uncommon in the population but that absolutely needs to be corrected,” Pate said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/senator-tours-dfc-1.4504334
From Here to the Arctic: Indigenous Students Take Advantage of Learning Opportunities with Travel Award
U of T News – January 25, 2018
Although graduate students can find funding to present a paper at a conference, it’s much harder to get support to learn from Elders at an Indigenous workshop, says University Professor Keren Rice,who served as interim director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies between 2015 and 2017. “It opens the door to opportunities that are really important for graduate education in these Indigenous areas,” she says. “If you put this in context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we’re recognizing the wide range of things that are important for our students.”
Cree School Board asks Quebec Inquiry to Look at Overcrowded Housing
CBC News – January 25, 2018
The head of the Cree School Board is urging Quebec to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation commission, particularly the ones relating to housing — saying overcrowded housing is a key obstacle in the way of Cree students succeeding. Chairperson of the board Kathleen J. Wootton appeared Wednesday before the provincial commission that’s looking into how certain public services treat Indigenous people — including police, justice, correctional services, youth protection and healthcare.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/cree-school-board-quebec-inquiry-1.4503468
Summit Creates ‘Made in the North’ Strategies to Strengthen the Physician Workforce in the North says School of Medicine Bay
Today – January 25, 2018
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine, HealthForceOntario and the North East and North West Local Health Integration Networks joined forces to host Summit North: Building a Flourishing Physician Workforce on January 24 says a news release. With more than 130 health system partners in attendance, the summit focused on solutions in the short and long-term to help build a sustainable physician workforce, with a focus on family physicians in rural and remote communities.
Giipkinaagewin! Bingo Held to Promote Anishinaabemowin
Anishinabek News – January 25, 2018
The game was part of a series of activities to engage people in the community to “kick off the new year in a good way”. That from Laureen Linklater-Pizzale, the Family and Well-Being Coordinator for Anishinabek Nation. “Language is important to our culture to make our community well. The connectivity with the language is actually yourself connecting with the creator. When more people are connected that way, the community is more well.“
http://anishinabeknews.ca/2018/01/25/giipkinaagewin-bingo-held-to-promote-anishinaabemowin/
New Federal Ministry Aims to Improve Quality of Life for Indigenous People in Canada
The Toronto Star – January 23, 2018
Indigenous Canadians have a life expectancy that is 15 years shorter than non-Indigenous Canadians, while the infant mortality rate is two to three times as big. High school graduation rates on reserve are half of that off reserve, rates of diabetes are four times as high, overdose deaths in B.C. and Alberta are three times as high for First Nations and for the Inuit, tuberculosis rates are 270 times higher.
New Indigenous Services Ministry Takes Over Responsibility for Infrastructure, Healthcare, and Education in Indigenous Communities
The Hill Times – January 23, 2018
The newly created Indigenous Services Ministry has been handed the responsibility for improving physical and social infrastructure in First Nation communities across the country, including an expanded number of water systems, and health and education services. The announcement was made Tuesday as part of a briefing on the priorities and mandate of the department, which was borne out of a split of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) last summer.
Feds Announce Funding for Digital Education of N.S. Indigenous Children
CTV News – January 23, 2018
HALIFAX — Indigenous children in Nova Scotia are set to learn coding and other digital skills, in an initiative one business leader says he hopes will “open up doors” beyond the reserve for Mi’kmaq students. “Jobs on reserves are very limited. I want these children to look beyond and to explore opportunities,” said Chris Googoo, chief operating officer of Ulnooweg Development Group. “If they’re thinking they want to be an engineer or in animation, they can look for jobs everywhere and not just on reserves.”
Wynne Shuffling Cabinet to add New Blood and Replace Retiring Ministers
The Toronto Star – January 17, 2018
To replace Matthews — who was also deputy premier, though that largely ceremonial post will not be filled — Mitzie Hunter graduates from education minister to minister of advanced education and skills development. Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) will be responsible for selling thegovernment’splan that enables students from low- and middle-income families to attend university or college without paying any tuition fees. That financial aid program, which is helping more than 210,000 Ontario students this year, is a cornerstone of the Liberals’ re-election platform.
