August 12, 2020
The Government of Canada has announced a $13M FedNor investment for 22 projects supporting new jobs and growth for Indigenous communities, businesses, and organizations across Northern Ontario. The funded projects include the funds for equipment for the Seven Generations Education Institute’s main campus and satellite campuses, development of a central multiplex that will be used for cultural events and training at Ojibway Nation of Saugeen, and development of a business plan for the Weengushk Film Institute. “We are pleased to partner with the Government of Canada, through FedNor, to enable our communities to effectively plan and strengthen their economies and help a new generation of entrepreneurs take root and flourish right here in the North,” said Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund Chair Arlene Meekis.
The Sudbury Star |
Canada |
Canada (National)
Tsay Keh Dene families will have access to 28 new licensed child care spaces at a new modular facility that is expected to open in Fall 2020, thanks to Childcare BC’s New Spaces Fund. The new facility will host the Aboriginal Infant Development program and the Little Eagles program, as well as space to host culturally significant early years events such as Elders story time, Baby Blessing Ceremonies, and cultural teachings. “We are very excited for this space,” said Deeanna Izony, director of health and wellness, Tsay Keh Dene Nation. “It will be a place where our children can grow, play and learn – creating a stronger foundation for our children in a positive, safe, cultural learning space that promotes growth, participation and well-being.”
Nation Talk (BC)
The Government of Alberta has announced that it will provide $500K in COVID-19 support funding to the province’s five First Nations colleges. Each college will receive $100K for improving technology and access to Wi-Fi, as well as supporting the development and delivery of online programming. It will also go towards ensuring cleaning protocols are in line with new COVID-19 standards. “Like our fellow post-secondary institutions, we have been working to provide our students with a learning environment that's safe and that also allows them to keep making progress toward their diplomas and degrees,” said Rachel Hertz Cobb, chief administrative officer at Yellowhead Tribal College. “This enhancement of the First Nations College Grant recognizes that PSE delivery under pandemic conditions asks extraordinary feats of small institutions like ours and goes a long way toward making it possible for us to meet our goals."
AB (AB)
Queen’s University has posted guards at the Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre and announced that it will be installing additional security measures after a tipi was damaged. “I am tired. We are tired at 4D,” wrote Four Directions director Kandice Baptiste in a statement. “I cannot find words that are eloquent or articulate enough to express our deep anger, frustration, and sadness.” The damage to the tipi comes less than a month after five flags hanging outside of the Centre were vandalized. Baptiste added that the ongoing acts of hatred demonstrate that the centre is being targeted for its position on protecting Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities: “When we do this work, it comes with great responsibility and risk – it is time the Queen’s community begins to understand this risk.”
Queen’s Journal (ON)
School officials have stated that planning a safe opening in September is complicated by the fact that Saskatchewan First Nations have faced overcrowding and underfunding for several years. In an interview with CBC reporter Jason Warick, University of Saskatchewan ITEP Director Chris Scribe explained that there are still substantial questions around funding for buses, masks, cleaning supplies, and other necessities for schools in the province. However, Scribe added that some schools are taking advantage of the situation to reset their approach to education: “A lot of the schools are working to re-establish their relationship with the land, taking education outside the four walls of the classroom, and really connecting to what it means to educate for Indigenous people.” Scribe discusses some of the different approaches First Nations across the province are taking to education during the pandemic.
CBC (SK)
Memorial University has launched a new Indigenous research policy as part of their
ongoing, interconnected work of truth, reconciliation, and renewed relationships with Indigenous peoples. The policy is designed to ensure MUN researchers are accountable to the existing research, priorities, and ethics processes of Indigenous groups, and requires researchers to engage with Indigenous groups at the very start of the research process in order to put them on a good path as projects develop. “This policy formalizes the importance that Memorial University places in creating a reciprocally beneficial partnership that is strengthened through early dialogue and relationship building – one that is designed to create inclusive, responsive and mutually useful research,” said Michele Wood, a community member in Labrador who is Inuk.
MUN |
CBC (NL)
Memorial University has launched a new Indigenous research policy as part of their
ongoing, interconnected work of truth, reconciliation, and renewed relationships with Indigenous peoples. The policy is designed to ensure MUN researchers are accountable to the existing research, priorities, and ethics processes of Indigenous groups, and requires researchers to engage with Indigenous groups at the very start of the research process in order to put them on a good path as projects develop. “This policy formalizes the importance that Memorial University places in creating a reciprocally beneficial partnership that is strengthened through early dialogue and relationship building – one that is designed to create inclusive, responsive and mutually useful research,” said Michele Wood, a community member in Labrador who is Inuk.
MUN |
CBC (NL)
The University of Victoria’s Students’ Society (UVSS) has successfully negotiated for increased transparency and training for the university’s Campus Security (CSEC). In terms of accountability, the UVSS is having ongoing discussions about what those measures will look like and is advocating for transparency within CSEC. The UVSS was also successful in campaigning for additional CSEC training that includes Indigenous Cultural Acumen Training (ICAT), which will be completed by the end of the summer by all CSEC staff. “It just took us bringing it up for them [CSEC] to be totally willing to take on the asks,” explained UVSS Director of Student Affairs Dalal Tubeishat. “One of the big gaps was the ICAT that was neither mandatory nor encouraged really. We recommended assistance in ICAT and they immediately said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it, we’ll have it done by the end of the summer.’ So that was great to see on UVic’s end of things.”
Martlet (BC)
Kelly Boutsalis describes how educators such as Manitoba First Nations Education Centre (MFNEC) science facilitator Wilfred Buck and University of Toronto Professor Hilding Neilson have taken on efforts to preserve Indigenous stories about the stars and develop science and astronomy curricula for local schools. The Walrus describes how Buck has used the knowledge shared with him by Opaskwayak Elders and others to create an educational program with more than twenty Indigenous constellations. “People are hungry for this stuff, hungry for another perspective,” he says, “and they’re beginning to realize that every culture on the face of this Earth knows about the stars.” Boutsalis describes the future opportunities and events coming to Indigenous astronomy, concluding that the future is “as bright as Sirius” for the field.
The Walrus (National)
The University of Alberta has announced $2.9M in financial awards and supports for Indigenous students, thanks to a partnership with Indspire and CIBC. 36 Indigenous students are receiving funds through the partnership. “People don’t think about the emotional aspect of education. To be stressed out, to have your mind in financials and wondering what you’re going to do the next month … it’s hard on a student. Receiving [this award] did me well emotionally, mentally and spiritually,” said UAlberta Aboriginal Education Program student Carmen Poitras. “In the past, education was forced on Indigenous Peoples as a way to assimilate them. Today, we can use education as an empowerment tool, one teacher at a time.”
Folio (AB)
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