Indigenous

The National Centre for Indigenous Laws at the University of Victoria is expected to open in 2024. (Black Press Media file photo)

Construction starts on B.C.’s $27 million National Centre for Indigenous Laws

University of Victoria home to first joint degree in Indigenous legal orders and Canadian common law

 

A memorial totem pole is shown in this handout image provided by National Museums Scotland. The museum says it will return to the Nisga’a Nation in British Columbia a memorial pole taken nearly a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-National Museums Scotland

B.C. Nisga’a totem on display at Scotland museum since 1930 is heading home

Delegation of Nisga’a leaders travelled to Edinburgh last August to ask that the pole be returned

 

cə̓q̓cq̓am (Thunder) Ryan Oliverius of Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) and Shayla Raine, a nehiyaw iskwew from Louis Bull Tribe, have created a docu-series together called Decolonizing Wellness. (Submitted photo)

B.C. documentary series explores couple’s journey to decolonize wellness

Couple experiments with cutting out phones and TV, meditating in nature and making hand drums

  • Dec 1, 2022

 

In this image taken from video, Canadian law enforcement personnel surrounded a residence on the James Smith Cree First Nation reservation in Saskatchewan on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, as they search for a suspect in a series of stabbings. The federal government is to spend $1.2 million to repair and replace houses damaged during the stabbings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Robert Bumsted

Ottawa to spend $1.2 million to replace and repair homes after mass stabbing

Houses became crime scenes after 11 people died and 18 were injured

In this image taken from video, Canadian law enforcement personnel surrounded a residence on the James Smith Cree First Nation reservation in Saskatchewan on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, as they search for a suspect in a series of stabbings. The federal government is to spend $1.2 million to repair and replace houses damaged during the stabbings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Robert Bumsted
$662,433 has been set aside for a Kelowna program aimed at Indigenous harm reduction. (File photo)

Federal funding supports Indigenous harm reduction program in Kelowna

The city has received $662,433 through Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program

$662,433 has been set aside for a Kelowna program aimed at Indigenous harm reduction. (File photo)
Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux, 17, was found dead in a closet of an Abbotsford group home in September 2020 after being reported missing four days earlier. His mother testified on the first day of a coroners’ inquest into his death on Nov. 28, 2022. (Credit: GoFundMe)

Mother of Cree teen who died in B.C. group home testifies at coroners’ inquest

Traevon Desjarlais found four days after reported missing in 2020

Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux, 17, was found dead in a closet of an Abbotsford group home in September 2020 after being reported missing four days earlier. His mother testified on the first day of a coroners’ inquest into his death on Nov. 28, 2022. (Credit: GoFundMe)
Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Canada’s auditor general says Ottawa cannot pin its lack of action on fixing emergency management on First Nations to how it first needs to hear from communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

Feds must deliver ‘concrete actions’ to fix emergency response on First Nations: AG

Canada spending 3.5 times more money helping First Nations recover than helping them prepare

Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Canada’s auditor general says Ottawa cannot pin its lack of action on fixing emergency management on First Nations to how it first needs to hear from communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lays tobacco in front of a grave of one of the victims of a mass stabbing at James Smith Cree Nation, Sask., on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

Trudeau visits First Nation in Saskatchewan rocked by stabbings that killed 11

PM scheduled to spend part of the day in meetings with leaders and community members

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lays tobacco in front of a grave of one of the victims of a mass stabbing at James Smith Cree Nation, Sask., on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
British Columbia’s provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. A British Columbia coroner’s jury will begin hearing evidence today into the death of an Indigenous teenager at a group home in the Fraser Valley. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Coroner’s inquest starts into death of Cree teen who died in B.C. group home

Body of Traevon Desjarlais found in the closet of his Abbotsford group home

British Columbia’s provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. A British Columbia coroner’s jury will begin hearing evidence today into the death of an Indigenous teenager at a group home in the Fraser Valley. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
TJ Watt stands beside a giant red cedar tree, left, before (in September of 2021) and after (in May of 2022) it was cut in an old-growth forest in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht First Nation territory on Vancouver Island, B.C. in this combination handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, TJ Watt

Giant trees still fall amid old-growth funding lag for B.C. First Nations

Funding is intended to give First Nations a means of pursuing revenue sources outside of forestry

TJ Watt stands beside a giant red cedar tree, left, before (in September of 2021) and after (in May of 2022) it was cut in an old-growth forest in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht First Nation territory on Vancouver Island, B.C. in this combination handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, TJ Watt
An artist’s concept image is seen in an undated handout composition. A new project from the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library is creating 3D digital records of some Alberta residential schools. In consultation with Indigenous communities the library has created accurate virtual and physical models of three former residential schools in Alberta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Taylor Family Digital Library

‘Witnesses to history’: University makes 3D virtual replicas of residential schools

Project officials say it is important to preserve this dark part of Canada’s history

An artist’s concept image is seen in an undated handout composition. A new project from the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library is creating 3D digital records of some Alberta residential schools. In consultation with Indigenous communities the library has created accurate virtual and physical models of three former residential schools in Alberta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Taylor Family Digital Library
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller participates in a news conference regarding the order from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to compensate Indigenous children and their families, in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Feds file judicial review of $40B Indigenous child-welfare settlement

Tribunal’s finding threw the landmark settlement — the largest in Canadian history — into question

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller participates in a news conference regarding the order from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to compensate Indigenous children and their families, in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A bison is shown at sunrise on Nov. 2022, on Antelope Island, Utah. This year, about 750 bison were pushed into corrals during the Bison roundup. The animals are rounded up each fall so they can receive health checkups and vaccinations and be affixed with a small external computer chip that stores health information. They are then released back on the island or sold at a public auction to keep the herd at a manageable level of about 500. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Bison’s relocation to Native lands revives a spiritual bond

Resurgence of Indigenous people seeking to reconnect with vanished plains way of life

A bison is shown at sunrise on Nov. 2022, on Antelope Island, Utah. This year, about 750 bison were pushed into corrals during the Bison roundup. The animals are rounded up each fall so they can receive health checkups and vaccinations and be affixed with a small external computer chip that stores health information. They are then released back on the island or sold at a public auction to keep the herd at a manageable level of about 500. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
University of British Columbia post-doctoral fellow Yeling Zhu shows samples of biofoam, a biodegradable packing foam made from wood waste, in a Nov. 5, 2022, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-UBC, Lou Bosshart

B.C. scientists and First Nation create decomposing ‘biofoam’ packaging from wood

Biodegradable material could replace Styrofoam, which currently fills up to 30 per cent of landfills

University of British Columbia post-doctoral fellow Yeling Zhu shows samples of biofoam, a biodegradable packing foam made from wood waste, in a Nov. 5, 2022, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-UBC, Lou Bosshart
Singer Teagan Littlechief stands for a photograph in front of Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. Littlechief will be singing the national anthem in the languages of Cree, English, and French at the 109th Grey Cup game. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

‘Break a barrier’: Indigenous artist to sing part of O Canada in Cree at Grey Cup

Teagan Littlechief to perform national anthem in three languages — English, French and Cree

Singer Teagan Littlechief stands for a photograph in front of Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. Littlechief will be singing the national anthem in the languages of Cree, English, and French at the 109th Grey Cup game. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
B.C. Premier John Horgan addresses the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, in Whistler, B.C., on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. Indigenous leaders thank John Horgan for leadership on premier’s last full day

An organization of British Columbia Indigenous leaders is thanking the outgoing premier…

B.C. Premier John Horgan addresses the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, in Whistler, B.C., on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Ryan Oliverius has produced a docu-series called Decolonizing Wellness thanks to a $10,000 sponsorship from Telus Storyhive Voices. (Decolonizing Wellness image)

Okanagan Indian Band councillor decolonizes Indigenous health in docu-series

Ryan Oliverius’ Decolonizing Wellness series now available to view

Ryan Oliverius has produced a docu-series called Decolonizing Wellness thanks to a $10,000 sponsorship from Telus Storyhive Voices. (Decolonizing Wellness image)
The Timber Licence in question was located up Loughborough Inlet. Photo courtesy Google Maps

Fine for illegal cedar harvesting in Great Bear Rainforest increased more than tenfold

Penalty increased to $131,000 to act as deterrent, prevent profit from proceeds of a crime

The Timber Licence in question was located up Loughborough Inlet. Photo courtesy Google Maps
Discrimination is a near ubiquitous experience for status First Nations in B.C. when they use their status cards, a Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs-commissioned study found. (Screenshot/They Sigh or Give You the Look: Discrimination and Status Card Usage report)

Racism when using First Nations status cards a ‘near-universal experience’: UBCIC study

All but 4 survey respondents reported discrimination when using status card in B.C.

Discrimination is a near ubiquitous experience for status First Nations in B.C. when they use their status cards, a Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs-commissioned study found. (Screenshot/They Sigh or Give You the Look: Discrimination and Status Card Usage report)
Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan holds a press conference following the tabling of the AG report in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Auditor general says Canada failing First Nations in response to wildfires, floods

Report says department too reactive, instead of spending on infrastructure to mitigate damages

Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan holds a press conference following the tabling of the AG report in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick