mediaINDIGENA

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  • In the midst of ‘truth’ and ‘reconciliation,’ Canada fails to bring child abusers to justice

    Alois Brunner, Dr. Aribert Heim, Ivan Demjanjuk — names of but a few of the most wanted war criminals named by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based human rights advocacy group and well-known Nazi-hunting organization.

    According to the CBC, just this week, former Nazi death camp guard Samuel Kunz (3rd most wanted on the list) was charged in the deaths of 430,000 Jews.

    And he’s not alone. Nearly 70 years after the Holocaust, perpetrators are still being hunted, arrested, charged and convicted for their crimes.

    Canada would do well to emulate such persistence in bringing perpetrators to justice. That’s because it too harbours individuals complicit in genocide, specifically, Article 2(e) of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: “Forcibly transferring children of [one] group to another group,” with intent to “destroy, in whole or in part,” another national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

    Such forcible transfer was what Canada’s Indian residential school system was all about. Operated over a 130-year span, the schools officially ended only in 1996. Thousands upon thousands of Aboriginal children were physically taken from their families and placed in church- and government-run schools, where many suffered the additional trauma and indignity of sexual and physical abuse. Some never returned home.

    The federal government and some churches have since apologized for their roles in operating these schools and in 2007, survivors of the schools began to receive financial compensation.

    But compensation is one thing: justice is quite another.

    A handful of former employees of Indian residential schools have since been charged and sentenced for their wrong-doings, but what of the potentially hundreds of criminal acts committed by priests, nuns, dormitory supervisors, teachers, janitors or other school staff? Why do their deeds still go unpunished?

    At the first hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — meant to examine the residential school legacy — survivors who testified publicly were told not to name their abusers or they would be asked to leave.

    Seven decades after the Holocaust, Nazis are still being hunted. Why are abusers at Indian residential schools allowed to live out their days in peace?

    Martha Troian (Lac Seul Ojibway) is an Ottawa-based journalist.  This is her second contribution to mediaINDIGENA.

    [ Top image via rememberingthechildren.ca; bottom via wherearethechildren.ca ]

  • Why do most health and social services fail Aboriginal people?

    An Australian research team will receive AUD$2.5 million (or apx CAD$2.3 million) over 5 years to explore the depressing question of why most health and social services continually fail to improve Aboriginal health.

    The research will take place under the auspices of the Perth Telethon Institute for Child Health Research project in Western Australia. It will attempt “to get to the core of why these programs aren’t working and find out what it is about those that do deliver that makes them effective.”

    One associate said they “won’t just be comparing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal outcomes, [they]’ll focus on the disparity between Aboriginal communities in the hope that we can identify why some programs and services are more effective than others.”

    Refreshingly, “eight post-doctoral and doctoral Aboriginal researchers will be undertaking these important studies.”

    Given the broad similarities to the Indigenous context here in North America, we await with interest any fresh, innovative insights the study might provide.

    (With thanks to George Lessard for tip, via Twitter)

    [ Image via hreoc.gov.au ]

  • New stats on Aboriginal youth sport and culture activity

    Earlier this month, StatsCan released a study entitled “Participation in sports and cultural activities among Aboriginal children and youth.” Based on the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, the report drew on a total of 11,940 respondents, representing nearly 170,000 children.

    First, the overall picture:

    • over 65% of Aboriginal children participated in sports at least once a week
    • about 40% participated in cultural activities

    There are three common associations underlying Aboriginal children’s participation in sports and cultural activities:

    • higher level of parental education
    • weekly contact with Elders
    • involvement in additional extracurricular activities

    The report points to key identifiers for increased participation in sports:

    • being a boy
    • being between 9-11 years of age
    • being of very good to excellent health
    • living in a household with higher income levels
    • spending less than 4 hours a day in front of the TV or playing on the computer and video games.

    Strong associations related to participation in cultural activities include:

    • having four or more siblings
    • having knowledge of an Aboriginal language

    [ Image via adamwedlake.com ]

  • mediaINDIGENA on STREETZ-FM’s “THE WORD”: July 27, 2010

    Hot off the presses, here is Week 2 of mediaINDIGENA‘s weekly sit-down with ‘THE WORD’ on Winnipeg’s urban music station STREETZ 104.7 FM, heard live world-wide via their online webstream every Tuesday at 1 pm est, 10 am pst.

    Hosted by Lady V, THE WORD will feature a weekly discussion about the latest news and views on MI with one or more of its contributors.

    This week, we discussed our poll about the fairness of employment equity and the recently-announced review of the policy by the Conservative government: Are federal Aboriginal-only youth job programs safe?

    mediaINDIGENA on STREETZ: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
    [audio:https://mediaindigena.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/MI-StreetzFM-July27-2010.mp3|titles=MI-StreetzFM-July27-2010]

  • mediaINDIGENA on CBC Radio re: Indian Act Repeal Poll

    On July 22, mediaINDIGENA’s Rick Harp sat down with CBC Radio’s “Up to Speed” to discuss that much-hated piece of legislation, the Indian Act.

    In particular, AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo’s pledge to repeal and replace the Indian Act by 2015.

    Rick also shared some insights gleaned from our poll, “Should the Indian Act be gone by 2015?”

    Have a listen.