Yesterday around 3:30 am, an Ottawa branch of the Royal Bank of Canada was torched in the name of “aboriginal peoples, workers and the poor” of British Columbia. It then appears the people responsible posted a video of the fire-bombing. The brief video of the actual incident is followed by a message (full text here) […]
The following piece originally appeared in somewhat different forms in guest editorials/commentaries for Kanata (Vol. 1) and Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review in its Winter 2009 (#203) issue. I’ve always hated pencils and erasers. I was first forced in grade two to use them, in handwriting class. My teacher said, “We use pencils […]
The always interesting Blue Corn Comics by Rob Schmidt has recently come across a TV ad for Koff “Indian” Beer (a Carlsberg product) that Schmidt believes “emphasizes the uncomfortable connection between Indians and alcohol.” See for yourself: Huh. You don’t see that very often: teepee-as-nightclub. Here’s another spot in the series, which I believe came […]
During our recent sit-down with outgoing Chief Marcel Balfour, it wasn’t long before the discussion turned to Canada’s infamous ‘2% funding cap.’ That’s the cap Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) places on annual increases to First Nations’ budgets. According to a report hosted on the department’s own website, this “2 per cent funding cap […]
A May 5, 2010 article in Indian Country Today, ‘Arizona law draws widespread indigenous opposition,’ is itself drawing a lot of comments. The piece quotes Inter Tribal Council of Arizona director John Lewis: “This impacts all indigenous people, and the lawmakers need to know it,” Lewis said. “America’s boundaries are not tribal boundaries. Our tribes […]
