Topic: Today’s News

Le financement permettra de fournir un soutien culturellement approprié aux survivants des pensionnats indiens et à leurs familles.

TORONTO – Le gouvernement de l’Ontario accorde 812 500 $ à l’Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) pour aider à accroître leurs ressources et la capacité d’offrir aux survivants des pensionnats indiens, à leurs familles et à leurs communautés une gamme de services de santé mentale et de toxicomanie adaptés à la culture et fondés sur les traumatismes.

Le financement aidera l’ONWA à fournir des soutiens de sécurité, tels que l’accès à la thérapie traditionnelle basée sur la terre, les médecines traditionnelles, la navigation dans le système de traitement des dépendances, les soutiens au logement, les services de deuil et de perte et les méthodologies d’intervention culturelle.

Grâce à ce financement, l’ONWA pourra également poursuivre le développement et l’exploitation d’un système d’accueil téléphonique centralisé, à l’échelle de la province, afin de fournir à la fois un accès coordonné à la gamme de services de l’ONWA et un aiguillage vers d’autres organismes au service des femmes et des communautés autochtones. Ce financement s’ajoute aux fonds dédiés aux Premières Nations qui mènent des enquêtes sur les sépultures dans les anciens pensionnats de la province.

« Notre gouvernement soutient l’Ontario Native Women’s Association dans son important travail visant à fournir des services de guérison et de traitement traditionnels et adaptés à la culture des survivants des pensionnats, de leurs familles et des communautés de la province », a déclaré Greg Rickford, ministre des Affaires autochtones. « Il est essentiel que nous continuions à demander l’avis de nos partenaires autochtones sur la meilleure façon d’aborder les problèmes de santé mentale et de toxicomanie dus aux préjudices infligés par le système des pensionnats. »

L’Ontario reste déterminé à assurer l’accès au financement et au soutien des initiatives dirigées par des Autochtones pour les inhumations dans les pensionnats et les travaux connexes, et à s’attaquer aux répercussions continues du système des pensionnats sur la santé mentale des communautés autochtones de la province.

Funding will help provide culturally appropriate supports to Indian Residential School Survivors and families

TORONTO — The Ontario government is providing $812,500 to the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) to help increase their resources and capacity to deliver a range of culturally appropriate, trauma-based mental health and addictions supports to Indian Residential School Survivors, their families and communities.

The funding will help ONWA provide safety supports, such as access to traditional land-based therapy, traditional medicines, addiction treatment system navigation, housing supports, grief and loss services and cultural intervention methodologies.

With this funding, ONWA will also be able to continue developing and operating a centralized, provincewide, phone-based intake system to provide both coordinated access to ONWA’s range of services as well as referrals to other agencies serving Indigenous women and communities. This funding is in addition to dedicated funding being provided to First Nations leading burial investigations at former Residential Schools across the province.

“Our government is supporting the Ontario Native Women’s Association with its important work in providing culturally sensitive and traditional healing and treatment supports for Residential School Survivors, their families and communities across the province,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs. “It is critical that we continue to seek direction from Indigenous partners on how best to address the mental health and addictions challenges due to the harms inflicted by the Residential School system.”

Ontario remains committed to providing access to funding and supports for Indigenous-led initiatives for Residential School burials and related work, and to addressing the ongoing mental health impacts of the Residential School system on Indigenous communities across the province.

Organization says recent recognition of Indigenous Knowledge by White House is “long overdue”

Bozeman, MT—Spirit Aligned Leadership announced its selections today for its annual Indigenous Knowledge sharing program, which pairs Indigenous elders and young women to carry out projects and preserve cultural ceremonies and practices in their communities. 

The organization announced its selections in a video released today in celebration of Earth Day. 

Spirit Aligned Leadership is the only elder Indigenous women-led organization in the United States and Canada that focuses solely on the passing of knowledge between generations of Indigenous women. The nonprofit has been running the annual Intergenerational Indigenous Women’s Sisterhood program since 2019, which has allowed the organization to partner and invest in 57 Indigenous women dedicated to protecting Native traditions and ways of life. 

This year the organization will invest in the knowledge sharing between 10 pairs of Indigenous women, representing different Tribes and First Nations in the United States and Canada. Each group will develop projects ranging from Indigenous language revitalization to the reteaching of the true history of Indigenous peoples. 

“We are honored to work with another group of incredible women who ensure Indigenous cultural knowledge continues to be shared throughout our communities,” said Katsi Cook, executive director of Spirit Aligned Leadership and citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. “Their dedication and contributions to the field of ‘Indigenous Knowledge’ will have lasting impacts on our communities and the future health of our earth.” 

Indigenous Knowledge is being recognized as an important component to policy and decision making. In November 2021, President Joe Biden announced plans to strengthen tribal engagement and relations, in which he recognized “Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge” (ITEK) as a key contributor to scientific, technical, social, and economic advancements. On March 7, 2022, the White House announced a series of opportunities for tribal consultation and public engagement to discuss its efforts to elevate ITEK in federal decision making. 

Gail Small, program manager for Spirit Aligned Leadership, currently serves on the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Expert Group for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, along with two Indigenous women who participated in the organization’s knowledge sharing program. The expert group provides insight into how the integration of Indigenous Knowledge ultimately leads to better results for the environment.

“Our Indigenous cultural leaders have always incorporated traditional knowledge into all decision making,” said Gail Small, citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. “It’s long overdue, but an exciting time that others are starting to understand its value in the protection of our lands, waters, air, and resources.” 

Indigenous cultural leaders (grant recipients): 

• Kaylene Big Knife and Minnie Big Knife (Chippewa Cree, Rocky Boy Reservation)
• Medina Matonis and Sandra Frazier (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe)
• Shaquoyah Rae Silvas and Karma Tillahash Grayman (Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and Shivwits Band of Paiutes)
• Bonnie Ewing and Lucy Samuels (Nez Perce Tribe)
• Sylvia Weenie (Sweetgrass First Nation – Cree) and Kasey Atcheynum (Sweetgrass First Nation) 
• Sandra Fox and Karakwahawi Thomas (Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne)
• Caroline Recollet and Rosalee Raven Plante (Wahnapitae First Nation)
• Cheyenne Morgan Gwa’amuuk (Gitwangak) and Deborah Good (Gitanyow)
• Julia Trennert and Miranda Taureau (Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope) 
• Alice Kaquitts (Stoney Nakoda First Nations – Wesley Band) and Shalome Hope (Thunderchild First Nation – Cree)

Lakehead University and Confederation College have signed a joint admission  agreement that will facilitate the seamless transfer of students earning a college diploma  directly to undergraduate studies at university. 

Covering more than 30 distinct diploma to degree programs, this agreement will reduce  red tape and the time, costs, and barriers of higher education by encouraging students to  continue with post-secondary education after they complete their respective diploma  program.  

Through this agreement, students will experience improved and collaborative  recruitment, communication, transition, and academic advising. 

“It is important for eligible students to know in advance they have a place in both a  diploma and a degree program, which allows for long-term planning and greater  stability,” said Richard Gemmill, Confederation College’s Vice-President, Academic.  

“If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that access to post-secondary education and  the ability for individuals and families to plan long-term cannot be taken for granted,”  said David Barnett, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), Lakehead University. 

“As the only comprehensive university in Northern Ontario, this agreement will expand  post-secondary options to those throughout Northwestern Ontario,” said Moira  McPherson, President and Vice-Chancellor, Lakehead University.  

“In particular, it will provide students who begin their studies at any of Confederation College’s eight campuses the ability to seamlessly complete some, if not all, of certain  degree requirements in their home communities,” McPherson said.  

“Confederation College and Lakehead University have long worked together and been  committed to facilitating access to post-secondary education throughout Northwestern  Ontario,” said Kathleen Lynch, President, Confederation College. 

“This agreement builds on our individual institutional strengths, broadens our collective  commitment to the communities we serve, and paves the way for new and innovative  opportunities,” Lynch said.  

Taking care: We recognize this news release may contain information that is difficult for many and that our efforts to honour Survivors and families may act as an unwelcome reminder for those who have suffered hardships through generations of government policies that were harmful to Indigenous Peoples.

A National Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support to former residential school students who can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-Hour National Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.

Indigenous Peoples can also access the Hope for Wellness Help Line by phone at 1-855-242-3310 or via online chat through the website at www.hopeforwellness.ca.

April 20, 2022 — Sipekne’katik First Nation, Nova Scotia, Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

The locating of unmarked graves at former residential school sites across Canada is a tragic reminder of the abuse Indigenous children suffered in these institutions. The Government of Canada is working with Survivors, Indigenous leaders and affected families and communities as part of efforts to address historical wrongs and the lasting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual harms related to the legacy of residential schools. Part of this work includes efforts being made to locate and commemorate missing children who attended residential schools, as well as responding to Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 72 to 76.

Today, Chief Michael .P. Sack of Sipekne’katik First Nation; the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Parliamentary Secretary Jaime Battiste are announcing funding of $326,700 from the Residential School Children’s – Community Support Funding Program, in support of Sipekne’katik First Nation’s “Shubenacadie Residential School Support Project for Sipekne’katik.” This funding will assist with the research, knowledge gathering, commemoration, memorialization and fieldwork that will be undertaken by the First Nation on the grounds surrounding the former Shubenacadie residential school.

Sipekne’katik First Nation has already begun the difficult work. The project, titled “Shubenacadie Residential School Support Project for Sipekne’katik,” involves local research and knowledge gathering with Elders, and fieldwork investigation on the surrounding areas of the school that were not included in earlier fieldwork investigation supported by Parks Canada. It will also include commemorative events such as the installation of a plaque honouring the missing children who attended the residential school.

The Government of Canada will continue to be there to support communities as they respond to and heal from intergenerational trauma and the ongoing impact of residential schools. Budget 2022 proposes to provide $209.8 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to increase the support provided to communities to document, locate, and memorialize burial sites at former residential schools; to support the operations of and a new building for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; and to ensure the complete disclosure of federal documents related to residential schools.

Addressing the harms suffered by Survivors, their families and communities is at the heart of reconciliation and is essential to renewing and building relationships with Indigenous Peoples, governments, and all Canadians.

The team representing Lakehead Engineering has won first place overall at the Student  Steel Bridge Regional Competition held in Illinois April 7 to 9, organized by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the American Society of Civil  Engineers (ASCE) 

This year’s competition included eight categories: aesthetics, construction speed,  lightness, stiffness, construction economy, structural efficiency, cost estimation, and  overall performance. Lakehead’s team placed first in seven of the eight categories and  came second in the other category. 

Dr. Yanglin Gong and technologist Cory Hubbard supervised the team, comprised of  fourth-year Civil Engineering students Damien Grayda, Paul Graham, Philip Duke, Felix  Lasalle, and Matthew Scott. 

The Lakehead Engineering team won the competition for Western Great Lakes region,  hosted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They were the only Canadian  university in this regional competition that featured over 400 students from 13 American universities. 

Dr. Juan Pernia was faculty advisor for the ASCE student chapter. Technologists  Morgan Ellis, Kailash Bhatia and Stefanie Stangier also acted as machinist advisors to  the team. Josh Fiegehen, representing the student chapter, participated in symposiums  and presented a technical paper. 

“The whole Lakehead Engineering team has made us proud,” said Dr. Janusz Kozinski. Lakehead’s Dean of Engineering.  

“It is an extraordinary achievement that demonstrates the excellence of our students  with the support of all their supervisors. We will be cheering for them at the Nationals  next month,” Dr. Kozinski said.  

The annual Student Steel Bridge Competition, which began in 1987, challenges student  teams to develop a 20-foot-long steel bridge to fit a given hypothetical environment. 

Each team must determine how to design and fabricate a bridge and then plan for an  efficient assembly under timed construction at the competition. Bridges are then load tested and weighed. 

After triumphing in the regional competition, Lakehead’s team will go up against top  universities from across North America in the National Finals from May 27-28 at  Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The 23rd annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will welcome artists and audiences back to Toronto/Tkaronto for IN-PERSON screenings and events October 18 – 23, 2022. imagineNATIVE will then present the Festival ONLINE from October 24 – 30, 2022 to ensure they connect with those who aren’t yet able to attend in-person offerings.

The 2022 Festival will invite everyone to gather on the same ground in a celebration of current and contemporary Indigenous artistic works. Each year the Festival presents film, digital + interactive media, audio works, exhibitions, and live performances. imagineNATIVE is thrilled to congruently present a series of artist talks, keynotes, panels, pitches, and other timely conversations as part of the Festival’s Industry Days series, an accumulation of presentations and work by the imagineNATIVE Institute. The 2022 presentation of Industry Days will continue to build on imagineNATIVE’s efforts as an organization to focus on and bolster narrative sovereignty within the film and media arts industry.

“imagineNATIVE has always been well-loved and supported by filmmakers, artists, audiences, funders, sponsors and many others. It has been a tremendous couple of years full of challenges, adjustments, and opportunities, and we have felt that love and support, and have truly appreciated it,” said Naomi Johnson, Executive Director of imagineNATIVE. “For those able to attend in-person, I know I speak for our Festival 2022 team when I say we cannot wait to see you once more. For those who can’t make it just yet, we haven’t forgotten you. We’ll do our best to make sure you can have a piece of the Festival with you in your home.”

Programming and ticket details for the 23rd annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be announced in the coming months. Submissions for the Festival are now open until Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 11:59 PM ET. For further information on qualifiers for submitting to the Festival, please visit: imaginenative.org/call-for-submissions

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest Indigenous festival showcasing film, video, audio, and digital + interactive media made by Indigenous screen-content creators. The Festival presents compelling and distinctive works from Canada and around the globe, reflecting the diversity of Indigenous nations and illustrating the vitality and dynamism of Indigenous arts, perspectives, and cultures in contemporary media

Toronto, April 12, 2022  — Hollywood Suite is proud to present a full day of Indigenous-focussed programming April 20, 2022 to mark National Canadian Film Day. This showcase of Indigenous filmmakers, artists and stories will air on the Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies channel. 

The full-day lineup will feature writer-director Jeremy Torrie’s gripping horror film The Corruption of Divine Providence (2020); Indian Horse (2017), an adaptation of Ojibway writer Richard Wagamese’s award-winning novel, which sheds light on the dark history of residential schools; Stream Me (2020), which follows a teenage girl from rural Nova Scotia who overcomes her insecurities by thriving in the world of online streaming; After The Last River (2015), which spotlights a remote community lurching from crisis to crisis as their homeland transforms into a modern frontier; Shirley Cheechoo’s compelling drama Bearwalker(2001); and award-winning film The Snow Walker (2003), which sees a pilot and his passenger struggle for survival after crashing in the Arctic tundra.“With events that have recently unfolded and continue to be brought to light, Canada finds itself today at a new crossroads for Indigenous stories,” says Jeremy Torrie, writer-director of Corruption of Divine Providence and an Ojibwe from Treaty 3 territory. “My film brings an authentic, Indigenous approach to the horror genre, and I welcome the increased interest and respect for Indigenous stories across this nation.”Viewers can also catch four titles included in National Canadian Film Day’s 2022 Spotlight on Indigenous-made Cinema, curated in association with imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her (2018) follows a world-famous Anishinaabe musician (Tantoo Cardinal) who leaves everything behind to return to her reservation to live alone; The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw (2019) chronicles a woman who reluctantly returns to her isolated reserve to help her father care for her bitter mother; writer-director Jeff Barnaby’s critically acclaimed Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013), which inspired the Aila Test, a method of examining how Indigenous women are portrayed on film; and Canadian Screen Award-nominated Empire of Dirt (2013), which sees three generations of First Nations women struggle to deal with the demons of their past.

April 20

9:15 AM      Stream Me

10:40 AM    The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw

12:20 PM    Empire of Dirt

2:05 PM      The Snow Walker

4:00 PM      Indian Horse

5:45 PM      Falls Around Her

7:25 PM      After The Last River

9:00 PM      The Corruption of Divine Providence

10:40 PM    Rhymes for Young Ghouls

12:10 AM    Bearwalker

ABOUT HOLLYWOOD SUITE Hollywood Suite owns and operates four exclusive HD channels featuring the iconic movies that defined the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s, plus essential Hollywood classics from the Golden Age, always uncut and commercial-free. With hundreds of movies every month on four HD channels and Hollywood Suite On Demand, Hollywood Suite provides an unparalleled value to consumers. 

Hollywood Suite is available to over 10 million households across Canada, exclusively through Canadian television service providers and Amazon Prime Video Channels. Visit hollywoodsuite.ca for more information.

New type of post office, developed in partnership with local First Nation, offers expanded range of products and services to meet the needs of postal customers and local businesses

MEMBERTOU, N.S. – Canada Post opened today a new community hub post office to serve the local Mi’kmaq community in the Membertou First Nation. This is the second pilot location to open under our new community hub model.

Community hubs are intended to provide Indigenous, rural or northern communities access to important products and services, enabling local residents and businesses to better connect with others. The hubs reflect Canada Post’s ongoing effort to meet Canadians’ changing needs and expectations and build a stronger Canada.

The Membertou Community Hub is the first post office in this Mi’kmaq community. It offers an expanded range of postal services; among them:

• parcel lockers and self-serve contactless induction of items to be mailed;
• access to financial services, such as Canada Post MyMoney Loan™, remittance services, foreign currency exchange and cheque cashing, and an onsite automated teller machine (ATM).

The hub also offers small business support services that enable local businesses to connect with and serve their customers, for example:

• rentable meeting rooms, parcel packaging areas, and secure printing and shredding;
• public wireless Internet service and computers, as well as video conferencing capabilities;
• an interactive business directory, in support of the community’s economic development strategy.

Design elements were chosen in consultation with the community. They include electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle racks, water bottles refilling stations, accessible parking and automatic doors. The hub’s signage is in Mi’kmaq, French and English, and the space showcases local artwork.

The Membertou Community Hub serves about 1,700 residents living in and outside the community. It is staffed by two full-time employees from the Membertou First Nation, with the support of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. As of today, you can visit the hub at Unit 1 – 90 San’tele’sew Awti, Membertou, Nova Scotia.

Canada Post will continue to improve retail services as part of its strategy to help Canadians and businesses stay connected and succeed. It plans to open two more community hub pilot sites later this year.

Delegates from the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) return home after an audience with Pope Francis in Rome this week, where Survivors shared their truths and lived experiences about residential schools. They were also present when Pope Frances delivered this message: “For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church. I ask for God’s forgiveness, and I want to say with all my heart: I am very sorry.” 

“Actions speak louder than words. The Pope’s apology today is a first step to accountability, justice and most importantly, to healing,” said MN–S Vice-President Michelle LeClair, “We need the Pope to acknowledge the Church’s role in Residential schools for any apology to translate into true and meaningful reconciliation. In Saskatchewan, that process may begin when the Church, the federal and provincial governments formally acknowledge their roles in the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school before the survivors are gone.”

For the MN-S, the trip to the Vatican represented a chance for the world to learn the history of residential schools from the Métis perspective, which has largely been ignored or forgotten. Historic compensation agreements have often omitted Métis survivors and families. 

“For many years, we have struggled with the damage done by residential schools and the lack of support and healing for Métis, First Nations and Inuit. There are many Métis who have lost our distinct ways, principles, identity, culture, values and language. There has been a lot of broken families. An apology has to have substance and hopefully support a legacy for our future generations. Today’s apology must be followed by tangible and real action for our citizens,” said MN–S President Glen McCallum.

The MN–S is extremely proud of the courage and strength of Elders Emilien Janvier and Antoinette Lafleur, both Survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school in northern Saskatchewan, for representing Saskatchewan’s Métis survivors on this trip, and sharing their stories of survival and resiliency. 

During the private audience on Monday with Pope Francis and the Métis delegation, Elder Janvier delivered a prayer in his native Dene language and both Elders recounted their boarding school experiences.

Elder Lafleur, who has long advocated on behalf of the survivors, for the recognition of the experiences of the students of the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school, said she hoped this trip to the Vatican could help provide closure. “Young people I meet – they don’t know, they weren’t there – but they’re still hurting. It’s being passed down. It’s like a hatred being passed down from generation to generation.”

In operation for over 100 years, the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school housed children from across northern Saskatchewan, many of which were Métis. While Survivors and families of other residential schools were compensated through the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school was omitted. In 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Canada and a steering committee representing Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School survivors to begin discussion to resolve the legacy of the Boarding School. It is imperative that this process is finalized before more Survivors are lost. 

For the MN-S, the trip to the Vatican represents only one step in pursuing reconciliation and justice for our survivors, their families and our communities.