The CEO of an organization that represents several fly-in communities in northern Ontario says the COVID-19 virus poses a potentially “devastating” threat to First Nations that are already dealing with a bad flu year and face overcrowded conditions due to housing shortages.  David Paul Achneepineskum, CEO of Matawa First Nations, said his organization has already implemented…

Recent controversial comments made by Cathy Towtongie, MLA for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet, about the two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (2SLGBTQ) community, have prompted a conversation that spans Inuit generations, old and new worldviews, and language barriers.  “In no way did I intend to hurt anyone. I was expressing our own worldview and our own terms,” Towtongie told…

When Jed Mitchell found out that the Arctic Winter Games were cancelled, he worried that his hard work over the last six months was for nothing. The games would have been this upcoming weekend, but on Saturday officials announced the games were off due to concerns over the novel coronavirus. The 15-year-old snowshoe biathlete said he…

Six Wolastoqey First Nations are suing the province for not recognizing their treaty rights to Crown timber. Oromocto, Woodstock, Saint Mary’s, Kingsclear, Tobique and Madawaska First Nations allege the province is infringing on their Peace and Friendship Treaty rights by “wrongfully” limiting their ability to sell and trade timber to gain a “moderate livelihood.” In a lawsuit filed…

On the second floor of an empty school in Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood, sewing machines hum, women chatter in Inuktitut and the scent of seal meat stew wafts from a slow cooker. These classrooms at the former Rideau High School are now home to Odawa Native Friendship Centre and the Isaruit Inuit Women’s Sewing Centre. Isaruit, which means…

With time ticking down to the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s decision on whether to accept a proposed arrangement on rights and title, questions surfaced during a House of Commons committee meeting in Ottawa today about the legitimacy of the process and the exclusion of elected band leadership. Conservative MPs at the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs…