FIVE STORIES ON TURTLE ISLAND
1. The controversial Bill C-5 is now passed, with Canadian prime minister promising “summer consultations with Indigenous leadership.”
Now, as Canada searches for ways to get resource development projects “in the national interest” off the ground, more and more attention is being paid to the Nanticoke Solar project – a 44-megawatt solar facility developed by the Ontario Power Generation in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, who own approximately 15 per cent of the initiative.
Located on the site of the former Nanticoke Generating Station, once Ontario’s largest coal-fired plant, the project was completed in March 2019. It has 192,431 solar panels over 260 acres, creating enough energy to power a small town.
This week, the Toronto Star called the initiative proof “Canada could become an energy superpower.”
Speaking of recycling, Canada’s National Observer this week had an incredible story about how B.C. First Nations are repurposing dumps and garbage, inspiring a “waste revolution.”
2. For weeks now, massive layoffs have been happening at schools and family centres across the country due to widescale federal changes to the Jordan’s Principle program earlier this year.
Stories about the cuts and layoffs, alongside the outrage this has produced, are numerous.
In Manitoba’s Hanover School Division, 93 educational assistants were cut, while in Swan Valley School Division, the change has translated into a $2.2 million loss in funding and the cutting of 28 full-time positions intended to support First Nations children.
3. Governor Mary Simon, Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General, entered her final year of her three-year appointment this week with several media interviews in which she made some provocative statements.
In a CTV interview, Simon called on the Hudson’s Bay Company to return artifacts to Indigenous communities, characterized Canada’s movement to adopt the TRC 94 calls to action as “slow,” and stated she “struggles” to support the Canadian government’s agenda sometimes.
Simon also spoke with Mi’kmaq scholar and activist Pam Palmater for her Warrior Life Podcast; she talked about how she handles criticism (including from those in the Indigenous community) and how she wants to build relationships between Indigenous peoples and Canadians. First Nations leaders called on Simon for weeks to delay the passage of Bill C-5, which passed last week.
4. A long piece in The Walrus this weekend has the social-media world buzzing over recent court cases of slander and libel when it comes to accusing those with controversial claims to Indigenous identity.
(In the interests of transparency, I am quoted in one of the cases.)
I’ve written about the intricacies surrounding Indigenous identity more times than I can remember, in pieces like this, this, and this.
Some great primers for the debates on what constitutes Indigenous identity and the consequences for those who claim it fraudulently is in this piece from The Walrus by Michelle Cyca and this CBC documentary by the Anishinaabe writer Drew Hayden Taylor.
5. In the United States, a fascinating class-action lawsuit has been launched by Indigenous leaders against the U.S. federal government in Pennsylvania, alleging that the government “stuck tribes with a bill for Indian boarding schools.”
Launched by the Washoe Tribe and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, the suit identifies that much of the $23.3 billion the U.S. government paid for Indian boarding schools between 1871 and 1969 — institutions similar to Canada’s residential school system, which forced Indigenous children to attend assimilative schooling — came from money raised from the sale of Indian lands that were supposed to be held “in trust” for communities.
The law firm that partnered with the tribes is asking for a “full accounting” of the funds used for the schools.
In essence, and if found true, this would mean Native Americans paid for violence against their own children, their own cultural assimilation, and in some cases the death of their own people.
IN PICTURES
The Binesi Ikwéwag Singers lead the second annual Gilbert Park Smudge Walk down Gilbert Avenue on June 17. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Dancers perform at a powwow demonstration at the Indigenous Day activities at The Leaf in Assiniboine Park on June 22. (John Woods / Free Press)
RECONCILI-ACTION OF THE WEEK
Every week I highlight an action, moment, or milestone forwarding reconciliation, illustrating how far Canada has come — and how far the country has yet to go.
This week’s reconcili-action of the week is how the country — and particularly Manitoba — responded to National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD).
Since the founding of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2021, there has been considerably less interest in the NIPD, founded in 1996.
This year, however, was different. Our province and city were, of course, the centre as usual and, despite the rain, held great events at Assiniboine Park, The Forks, and a Goldeyes game.
Canada went all-in for NIPD this year and it was nice to see. Check out these pieces, which covered events happening in across the country – and more specifically in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and Yellowknife. The day was event highlighted at the Vatican (!).
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