One northern Manitoba First Nation has cancelled the remainder of its school year, while others face barriers to educating students while classroom learning is suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the province of Manitoba suspended classes a week before the scheduled spring break, with schools to remain closed until at least April 10.…

A torched traditional house and belongings at an anti-pipeline camp located near farmers fields in southern Manitoba is being investigated as arson, according to RCMP. Some camp supporters and observers on social media are calling on police to investigate it as a hate crime. “It felt like my whole world was gone,” said Geraldine McManus, a Dakota two-spirit person who has…

One of the most hotly anticipated Canadian horror films of the year will be available to watch online starting Tuesday, after its theatrical release was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Blood Quantum features a near all-Indigenous cast and is a gory, fast-paced movie about a fictional Mi’kmaq reserve facing a zombie outbreak. “In qualified…

On Jan. 28, weeks before the World Health Organization would declare COVID-19 a pandemic, a nascent federal network for First Nations emergency management met in Ottawa and began discussing how to respond to the threat posed by novel coronavirus to Indigenous communities.  “It was very good timing for us to be able to start to gather the international…

Intergenerational relationships. Friendships. Mentorships. Kinships. These are some of the themes Indigenous artists are exploring, recognizing and appreciating in the fifth edition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial (Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone — BACA) in Montreal​​​​​. BACA is aimed at supporting contemporary Indigenous art through exhibitions every two years. This year’s edition is called Kahwatsiretátie: Teionkwariwaienna Tekariwaiennawahkòntie/ Honouring Kinship and…

Hundreds of people in Kashechewan are heading into the wilderness to avoid spring flooding in the James Bay community. The annual evacuation of the First Nation— that seese all 2,000 people flown out to wait out the melt in hotel rooms in places like Kapuskasing and Timmins— has been called off, with fears of COVID-19 in…