Graduates far from home ‘grateful’ for honour at school powwow

Grade 12 Tataskweyak Cree Nation student Jonah Wavey was among several wildfire evacuees honoured Monday during a special celebration of Indigenous graduates at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre.

How the humble water gun became the symbol of Barcelona’s anti-tourism movement

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A group of tourists were sitting at an outdoor table in the Spanish city of Barcelona, trying to enjoy their drinks, when a woman raised a cheap plastic water gun and shot an arc of water at them.

Her weapon of choice — the cheap, squirt-squirt variety — is an increasingly common fixture at anti-tourism protests in the southern European country, where many locals fear that an overload of visitors is driving them from their cherished neighborhoods.

How did the humble water gun become a symbol of discontent?

From refreshing to revolutionary

Community disappointed after teepee stolen from school lawn

Parents were upset to discover a teepee that had been erected on the lawn of an East Kildonan elementary school had been stolen.

Staff at Angus McKay School, at 850 Woodvale St., reported the theft on Monday, a Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson said Thursday.

The teepee was part of a two-week installation for National Indigenous History Month in which land-based learning was to be highlighted, principal Jean-Paul Rochon said in a statement.

Chelsea Dyck, whose nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old son attend the school, was shocked when she learned about the theft.

Ottawa, Manitoba decided jointly to send evacuees to Niagara Falls

The Manitoba government confirmed Friday the decision to send some of the 18,000 wildfire evacuees to southern Ontario was made jointly with the federal government.

“Manitoba, in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada, worked quickly to ensure evacuees secured shelter and lodging in Ontario, much like Manitoba housed over 1,000 evacuees from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations (in northwestern Ontario) in May,” a spokesperson said in an email.

The province said it requested assistance from Ottawa — via Public Safety Canada’s Government Operations Centre — that emphasized the need for federal help to ensure a successful emergency response, including evacuation logistics.

“Support measures remain in place for affected on-reserve and eligible First Nation communities, with resources available for both immediate and long-term recovery,” ISC said in an emailed statement.

MMF command centre gives evacuees ‘retail therapy’

When it became clear the MMF wouldn’t have trouble soliciting donations or ensuring the needs of their membership were met, they began to strategize on how best to ensure people were getting the highest standard of care they could, with an Indigenous-led focus.

Saskatchewan lays charges in wildfires while 1,000 more flee in Manitoba

Prairie wildfires developed on two fronts Friday, as 1,000 more Manitoba residents were forced to flee their homes and Saskatchewan RCMP charged two people with starting blazes.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference that one charge relates to starting a fire near La Ronge, which has forced 7,000 people from the area.

“The RCMP have informed us that they have now charged a couple of individuals,” Moe said.

An 18-year-old woman from Montreal Lake Cree Nation and a 36-year-old man from Pelican Narrows each face one count of arson, said RCMP.

Nova Scotia NDP says province too secretive, must release environmental racism report

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia’s Opposition NDP called on Premier Tim Houston's government Friday to release a report about the province's long history of environmental racism, saying it’s a matter of accountability.

An eight-member panel was expected to submit its report to Houston's government in December 2023.

Justice Minister Becky Druhan, who is also responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism, did not answer Thursday when pressed by reporters to explain why the government is sitting on the report.

Druhan also wouldn’t answer when asked whether she had seen the panel’s recommendations, saying its work predated her appointment as minister.

Chief says infrastructure drive could trigger another Idle No More protest movement

OTTAWA - A First Nations chief is warning that Canada is "staring down the barrel" of another wave of protests like the Idle No More movement if governments pursue "national interest" projects without their input and consent.

Anishinabek Nation Regional Chief Scott McLeod has joined Indigenous leaders from across the country who say they're alarmed by government efforts to accelerate infrastructure development.

The federal government is developing a "national interest" bill to fast-track nation-building projects with a streamlined regulatory approval process as a substitute for reviews under the Impact Assessment Act.

A handful of First Nations leaders told The Canadian Press Friday they were sent a letter Monday outlining the federal government's plans.

Flin Flon, Man., virtually deserted, thousands more evacuees expected as fires rage

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says thousands more evacuees are expected and the city of Flin Flon is virtually deserted as wildfires continue to rage in his province.

Kinew told a Friday news conference that the mayor, councillors, health-care staff and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon.

"The only folks remaining on the ground are firefighters and folks in the office of the fire commissioner and RCMP, who are there to battle the blaze," Kinew said.

"We do expect some very, very challenging conditions in Flin Flon and in the surrounding community."

Residents, advocates say trust issues, strict rules, red tape keep encampments up

Tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters line the beaten path along the Assiniboine River near Balmoral Street in West Broadway — a community hidden in plain sight.

Rupert’s Land inhabitants blindsided by Canada’s purchase of their homeland in 1869

When the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) reached an agreement to sell Rupert’s Land to Canada in the spring of 1869, it came as a complete surprise to the people living in what is today Western Canada. They were neither consulted on the proposed annexation nor given any details about how it would affect their lives.

Mountain of Skibicki news coverage has irreparably biased jurors, U.S. researcher tells trial judge

Extensive pre-trial media coverage in the case of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki has biased the jury pool beyond the court’s ability to correct the damage, a judge was told Tuesday.

“We know that when (jurors) have been exposed to a certain amount of pre-trial publicity, even for a well-intentioned juror it is going to be very, very difficult for them to (remain unbiased),” testified Florida University psychology professor Dr. Christine Ruva, who has extensively researched the area of juror bias and its impact on jury decision-making. “It’s unconscious and out of their control.”

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth as-of-yet unidentified woman killed in March 2022, who Indigenous leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

A trial jury was selected last week and is set to begin hearing evidence May 8.

Puncturing the shield of ‘implicit bias’

A leaked internal report this week into the conduct of four Winnipeg firefighters showed evidence of “implicit racial bias” against an Indigenous woman and “racial animus” towards a paramedic (also a person of colour) on a call in October 2020.

The report is clear: identifying the actions of the firefighters put the woman’s health at risk, delayed her journey to the hospital, and showed callous disregard for her safety. One firefighter riding in the ambulance refused to help the paramedic, forcing the injured woman to hold the dressing to the stab wound on her own neck.

Later, one of them called it: “Just another call in the North End.”

According to the report, it was part of “retaliation” against the paramedic, who previously alleged racist conduct by members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service — including one of the firefighters involved, who called him a “sand n-----.”

Claims of Indigenous ancestry by non-Indigenous Canadians on the rise

Writing about identity politics is fraught with political landmines. People tend to be highly sensitive to any challenge to how they identify themselves. It’s personal.

It is therefore intriguing that author Darryl Leroux has walked purposely right into the minefield. It’s political.

In Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity, Leroux describes the obsessive search by some heretofore non-Indigenous Canadians for long-ago Indigenous ancestors who can justify them identifying as Métis. According to Leroux, an associate professor of social justice and community studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, the popularity of genealogical websites and online forums has created communities where race-shifters can organize. The motive, he warns, is not benign.

Leroux makes it clear that he is not talking about people who are seeking to reunite with their kin after being forcibly disconnected from their Indigenous identity through Indian residential schools, the Sixties Scoop or Indian Act policies.

Justice system unfairly punishes and rewards

Almost half of the people in Manitoba agree there is a problem with the Canadian justice system when it comes to treatment of Indigenous peoples, according to a recent report in the Winnipeg Free Press (”Manitobans divided on justice system,” April 16, 2018). Like many problems, it’s complex and the way to resolution starts with understanding the many issues.

Here at the John Howard Society, we work with men in conflict with the law, and the vast majority of the people we work with are Indigenous. We see first-hand that the system doesn’t treat everyone fairly for at least three reasons: economic, cultural and prejudicial.

High rates of unemployment and an inability to secure stable housing lead to greater rates of incarceration for those awaiting trial. When a person is charged with a crime, they are often released on their own recognizance. But, if they can’t provide an address for where they will live, they are more likely to be taken into custody. And once someone is in custody, it’s much harder to get out.

By this point, you need a lawyer to represent you at a bail hearing, you still need an address where you will live and there is a legal principle that the accused has to be able to assist in their own defence. I have seen a homeless individual held in custody for almost three weeks for shoplifting less than five dollars’ worth of merchandise, unable to get bail or go to trial because he could not properly instruct his lawyer due to addictions and mental-health issues.

While our 150th birthday party is a big, 'Dominion Day' began with respectful restraint

It’s safe to say what is now called Canada Day had modest beginnings in these parts.As far back as 1869 — two years after Confederation and one year before Manitoba was born — the July 3 issue of the Nor’Wester, the paper of record for the “Colony of Assiniboia,” dutifully reported that celebrations on July 1 were muted.

“Dominion Day was kept in our little town by the raising of the ‘Canadian’ flag upon the now celebrated staff — said to be 70 feet, be the same 20 feet more or less — which flag was liberal sainted during the day by an ‘Anvil Chorus’ adapted to ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Hurrah! for the New Dominion,” the paper noted. “The affair was wound up by a large bonfire in the evening.

“Not a gun was heard, or a funeral note or anything else,” the account added, “but then you see the H.B.C. (Hudson Bay Company) is keeping her patriotism like champagne, well bottled and wired down, for a future occasion, when we may expect to see it burst forth in a manner calculated to astonish the natives.”

Of course, these were the days of the Riel Rebellion in the Red River Colony. Not exactly the time to be popping that “champagne” in public. Besides, the majority of the less than 1,000 colony settlers considered themselves British. And a vast majority of residents, the Métis under Riel, were literally at war with the new Canada.

Saint-Laurent la télé en 2017

Les pêcheurs, chasseurs et trappeurs métis de Saint-Laurent seront bient¥t connus au Québec gr¢ce une série documentaire produite pour le Canal D. De plus, la caméra se posera sur la culture métisse. Bienvenue Au pays des Michifs.

Ce qui étonne Jules Desjarlais n'est pas que Manito Média, l'entreprise de production bonifacienne fondée par Charles et Patrick Clément, ait réussi convaincre le Canal D commander une série documentaire portant sur les Métis de Saint-Laurent. C'est que les Métis se soient laissés photographier par les caméras télé!

Jules Desjarlais en est persuadé: "Nous, les Métis, on est pas mal gêné. Notre vie privée, on y tient. Mais tranquillement, dans les dernières décennies, le public respecte pas mal plus notre culture. Chez nous, c'est l'exposition sur les Métis présentée entre 2004 et juillet 2015 (au National Museum of the American Indian, un des musées du Smithsonian Institution de Washington), qui a fait une différence énorme. On est plus portés dire "oui" quand on nous propose des projets comme la série Au pays des Michifs. On s'intéresse faire connaître notre culture, la faire respecter, pour que les gens nous connaissent plus."

Résultat: Gerry Bruce et Roland Bruce, Norbert Langellier et son fils, Charles et Langellier, ainsi que Laurent Dumont, figureront parmi les chasseurs, pêcheurs et trappeurs présentés dans l'émission, en tournage depuis l'automne 2015. Le natif de Saint-Laurent, vétéran de plusieurs productions hollywoodiennes, notamment la série Docteur Quinn, femme médecin et le film Terrain miné (On Deadly Ground) sera le narrateur et présentateur de la série.

‘Mais rien ne dépasse la paix’: une collaboration inédite

La salle est pleine de femmes d’un certain âge. Elles discutent, se servent du café, échangent des nouvelles autour d’une bonne soupe. Quand Marie-Catherine Lemoto se met à chanter, elles se taisent. Elle chante une plainte en Sangö, sa langue natale, une langue de la République centrafricaine.

La chanson raconte l’histoire d’un homme africain qui part à la recherche d’une vie plus stable, laissant sa famille derrière lui. C’est une histoire qui résonne profondément pour plusieurs femmes autour de la table. Quand la chanson prend fin, la voisine de Marie-Catherine la remercie en langue ojibwa : “Migwetch.”

Marie-Catherine Lemoto fait partie du projet Autour de l’arbre de vie, un échange culturel et artistique entre sept grands-mères métisses de la région de Winnipeg et sept grand-mères africaines, pour la plupart des réfugiées originaires de la République démocratique du Congo, de Centrafrique et du Burundi. Il s’agit d’une initiative de l’Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba avec l’appui de Patrimoine canadien et le soutien logistique de l’Accueil francophone.

Chaque semaine, les femmes se réunissent pour une session de partage qui aboutit souvent sur un projet d’art visuel. Dolorès Contré-Migwams, l’animatrice, ouvre la session en battant un tambour en cuir. Les sessions débutent avec un tour de table où les participantes partagent des chansons, des récits ou des anecdotes sur leur adaptation au Manitoba.

Histoire et culture autochtone

Professeure de droit l'Université du Manitoba, experte en droit autochtone, Aimée Craft est désormais directrice de la recherche pour le nouveau Centre national de vérité et de réconciliation, le premier au Canada.

Le Centre est situé sur le campus de l'Université du Manitoba, et recevra toutes les archives de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation (CVR) ainsi que les archives du Canada sur les pensionnats indiens.

´Mon r¥le sera d'encourager et d'appuyer la recherche sur les pensionnats indiens. Cette recherche sera, bien sªr, entamée par des chercheurs universitaires. Mais aussi par les communautés autochtones et même les individus. Ce travail se fera dans l'esprit de la CVR, qui est d'accueillir la vérité des faits, mais aussi d'encourager la réconciliation. Encourager la réconciliation, ce ne sera pas une facette secondaire des travaux du Centre national de vérité et de réconciliation. C'est un élément essentiel. La seule vérité ne conduit pas toujours ou forcément la réconciliation. D'autres efforts sont requis.ª

Entre autres des activités et exercices de réconciliation que les communautés autochtones partout au Canada pourront entreprendre.

Li waiyage d’enne langue

A FAMILY Journey, le nouveau livre signé Sherry Dangerfield, raconte le périple d’une famille se rendant à pied au Lower Fort Garry en 1845.

Bien que fictif, ses personnages connaissent les défis réels que les Manitobains d’autrefois devaient relever lorsqu’ils voyageaient d’une communauté de la rivière Rouge à une autre. Et, pour ajouter une saveur encore plus authentique au livre, ses producteurs, Corridor Rivière Rouge, ont choisi de le faire traduire en français, en ojibway et, en michif. (1) “Lorsqu’on m’a demandé de traduire A Family Journey, j’étais profondément touché,” déclare Jules Chartrand. “Je n’avais jamais auparavant traduit un livre, mais l’exercice s’est avéré fort intéressant. Et c’était une façon de faire valoir ma langue maternelle, qui est toujours une langue vivante. Le michif est parlé en région, dans mon village natal de Saint-Laurent, ainsi qu’à Saint-Ambroise, à Saint-Eustache et à Russell, sans parler de Winnipeg où habitent un grand nombre d’anciens résidants de ces communautés. Il est aussi parlé dans l’Ouest canadien.”

Or, comme le rappelle Jules Chartrand, le michif passe souvent inaperçu. D’une part, parce que les Métis, après la création du Manitoba, en 1870, et encore davantage après la pendaison de Louis Riel, en 1885, ont été dévalorisés comme peuple.

“Le michif originel, ou michif mère, était parlé par les Métis de la rivière Rouge avant l’arrivée des Canadiens-Français venus du Québec et la Nouvelle-Angleterre,” relate Jules Chartrand. “Quand les francophones sont devenus majoritaires dans les villages métis, ils ont cherché à assimiler les Métis.”

Nommé directeur

BIEN connu à Winnipeg pour ses activités de rappeur et aussi de producteuranimateur à CBC Radio, Wab Kinew occupe désormais le poste de directeur de l’inclusion autochtone à l’Université de Winnipeg.

En octobre dernier, l’Université de Winnipeg a en effet décidé de créer cette nouvelle fonction à l’attention de l’Ojibwé francophile qui, depuis le début de l’année 2012, offre un programme d’immersion en langue ojibwé aux jeunes autochtones au centre d’apprentissage Wii Chiiwaakanak de l’Université de Winnipeg.

“Je travaillais bénévolement depuis plusieurs mois pour l’Université,” explique Wab Kinew. “Et puis, l’été dernier, les responsables de l’institution sont venus à moi pour me demander quel nouveau projet mériterait d’être mis en place au profit des communautés autochtones. C’est dans ce cadre qu’est née l’idée d’un nouveau programme universitaire à leur attention.”

Le programme académique tel qu’il a été imaginé par Wab Kinew a pour objectif d’encourager les jeunes autochtones à suivre des études dans le domaine économique afin de comprendre le monde des affaires et s’y faire une place.