2011 is just a month old and already the world is a changed place. I refer to dramatic developments in two stories I looked at last year: the fight of Elouise Cobell, and the financial mismanagement trial of 5 men on the Grizzly Bear Head Mosquito First Nation. Cobell, you’ll recall, is the Blackfeet warrior […]
The numbers are so off the charts I almost wondered whether they’re typos. A recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald puts Australian rates of Aboriginal incarceration at incredible levels. According to Herald columnist Cynthia Banham: Indigenous incarceration rates “are 19 times higher than for the rest of the population” 1 in 5 Indigenous children […]
Centretown News reports that embattled artist Pamela Masik, fresh off the abrupt cancellation in Vancouver of her exhibition of paintings of missing/murdered women, may soon seek a more positive reception in the nation’s capital: “As the cornerstone of Canada’s decision-making process, Masik has expressed interest in bringing the show to Ottawa.” The CN piece cites […]
Barely two days after MEDIA INDIGENA wrote about possible efforts by Indian & Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) to oversee the process of verifying Métis identity, leaders from the affected groups have come out swinging. CBC News writes that Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand is “furious” and “determined to fight,” and quotes his description of […]
A few days ago, we discussed how the government of Alberta overlooked affected Aboriginal communities when deciding on the composition of an advisory panel charged with reviewing conflicting water-monitoring data from the province’s Oil Sands. I called it a stunning oversight at the time and it now appears I am not alone in thinking so. […]
