Showing posts with label Aboriginals. Show all posts

11 September 2014

APTN.ca: Harper, Atleo signed secret agreement on FN education bill: document

Source for article:
http://aptn.ca/news/2014/09/11/harper-atleo-signed-secret-agreement-fn-education-bill-document/

Harper, Atleo signed secret agreement on FN education bill: document

Featured, National News | 11. Sep, 2014 by Jorge Barrera | 0 Comments

By Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo came to a secret agreement outlining the broad framework and name of the now shelved First Nation education bill months before it was tabled in Parliament, according to a document filed in Federal Court.
The document, signed by Harper, Atleo, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt and former Clerk of the Privy Council Wayne Wouters was filed in court by federal Justice Canada lawyers Wednesday.
The undated four-page document was titled “Bill C/S-X, First Nation Control of First Nations Education Act.” The document lists the sections of the new education bill and itemizes which parts would differ from a previous incarnation rejected by First Nation chiefs in the fall of 2013. The document was signed on Feb. 3, APTN National News has learned, over two months before a bill under the same name was tabled in the House of Commons on April 10.
“This document identifies the substantive amendments to the Oct. 2013 draft of the First Nations education legislative proposal,” states the document. “This does not preclude minor adjustments or tone.”
The document was signed after a meeting between Harper, Valcourt and Atleo at the request of Wouters who wanted the signatures for the historical record. The Monday meeting followed a contentious phone conversation on education between Harper and Atleo held the previous Friday, Jan. 31.
Document

Download (PDF, 690KB)

The emergence of the document casts Harper and Atleo’s Feb. 7 press conference on the Blood Tribe reserve in a new light. Harper and Atleo stepped onto the stage and announced they had reached a “historic agreement” on education knowing they had a signed document in their back pocket outlining what the new bill would eventually look like.
Atleo’s own executive however, was completely in the dark about the details on the day of that announcement. The AFN regional chiefs for Quebec and Ontario, Ghislain Picard and Stan Beardy, e-mailed Atleo that day saying they wouldn’t attend the announcement because of the lack of details.
The document also explains Valcourt’s office persistent talking-point use of the claim it had an agreement with the AFN on education. APTN National News has without success repeatedly asked Valcourt’s office for proof of an agreement.
In reality, however, the agreement was only with Atleo and not the AFN. Atleo never told chiefs about the document or that he knew the outline of the education bill the Harper government planned to table.
Nova Scotia AFN regional Chief Morley Googoo, who held the education portfolio on the chiefs executive, told APTN National News Thursday he didn’t know the document existed.
“I didn’t know about it, this is the first time I hear about it now,” said Googoo.
Justice Canada lawyers handling a court challenge of the education bill launched by the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) also didn’t know the document existed. In its Federal Court filing, the AFNQL requested Ottawa turn over any documents mentioning an education agreement between the Harper government and the AFN. Justice Canada initially responded saying none existed. Then, on Wednesday, Eric Gingras, senior counsel for Justice Canada, filed the document.
The First Nation Control of First Nation Education Act now sits in limbo, along with the $1.9 billion in new funding tied to the proposed bill. AFN-member chiefs voted to reject the Act arguing Ottawa failed to consult them adequately on the bill and that it threatened to undermine advances made in education by some First Nation communities.
Atleo resigned from his position on May 2 saying he had become a lightning rod on the education debate that had been raging since the Feb. 7 press conference.
jbarrera@aptn.ca
@JorgeBarrera

12 February 2014

CBC News: Blue dots becoming symbol for First Nations Education Act resistance

Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/blue-dots-becoming-symbol-for-first-nations-education-act-resistance-1.2534518

Blue dots becoming symbol for First Nations Education Act resistance

Meme meant to represent those not included or considered in current FNEA legislation

By angela sterritt, CBC NewsPosted: Feb 12, 2014 6:09 PM ETLast Updated: Feb 12, 2014 8:04 PM ET

Historical photos like this one of the American Indian Movement are showing up with blue dots. Christi Belcourt is using old photos of vocal figures to make a point with the blue dot campaign. (@christibelcourt/Twitter)

A “blue dot” movement has taken the Twittersphere and Facebook by storm. Photographs of Indigenous people with a blue dot on their chest are being posted on social media.
It follows what happened at a joint announcement on the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act (FNEA).
The proposed legislation was announced in the Kainai First Nation on the Blood Tribe Reserve in Alberta. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt held a ceremony in the community to “seal the deal”.

Twila Singer and her two children attended the event.

Twila Singer was given a blue dot to wear, which distinguished her from invited guests wearing yellow dots at the FNEA announcement on Friday. (Twila Singer)

“We were separated at the door and given either a blue dot or a yellow dot. The blue dots were uninvited guests and were ushered to the gymnasium, and the invited guests were the yellow dots and they were brought to the auditorium where the dignitaries were.”
Along with about 40 others in the gym, Singer and her seven and 17-year-old daughters viewed what was happening in the auditorium on LCD monitors. At the end, the invited guests were directed to go to the gym for a feast.
That’s when Twila was kicked out - for tweeting.

Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is embracing the blue dot campaign, which he says appears to be catching on. (Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair)

A few days later, a “sacred blue dot” meme appeared on social media. Today, more and more people are posting a blue dot on photographs of themselves, and on historical and current people on photographs lifted from the internet.
Niigaan Sinclair is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba.
“It's not only in solidarity of those removed or of the "uninvited guests" but a symbol of those who are not included or considered in current FNEA legislation,” he said during a telephone interview.
Christi Belcourt says she began posting the blue dot photographs as a gut reaction.
"One of the blue dot people was kicked out for "tweeting" when she didn't have a phone with her. She had previously protested in INM [Idle No More],” Belcourt said over a Facebook exchange with CBC.

'I'm claiming the blue dot for us as a mark of pride. We are the "uninvited" and I reject the essence of what that means in its entirety within my being.'- Christi Belcourt

“I'm disgusted,"she said. “That is why I started that blue dot series. For all of us who disagree, who want change, who stand up for change."
"I'm claiming the blue dot for us as a mark of pride. We are the "uninvited" and I reject the essence of what that means in its entirety within my being.”
Belcourt, an acclaimed and influential Métis Artist, said she began to see the blue dots as “representing the people who the government would arrest first, or would harass first, or doesn't care about, or throughout history has considered the "rebels" for protecting land speaking out.”

Artist Christi Belcourt says she started the blue dot campaign as a way for grassroots people reclaim their right to speak out after Friday's events at the FNEA got people talking. (Christi Belcourt)

“Or even further," she said, "the blue dots are our people, the masses of people who are not able to influence decisions. It signifies all of us who do this despite not being at a table with Atleo or the Prime Minister or anyone else who has the power to mark their "X" and sign away our rights.”
As for Twila Singer, she says, she never excepted any of this would happen. "It's touching, I never realized how many people care and feel the same way".

04 February 2014

CBCNews: All-female indigenous talk show takes off in Regina

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/all-female-indigenous-talk-show-takes-off-in-regina-1.2522053

All-female indigenous talk show takes off in Regina

When First Nation and Métis women get together, what don't they talk about?

By Geraldine Carriere, CBC NewsPosted: Feb 03, 2014 7:57 PM ETLast Updated: Feb 04, 2014 10:17 AM ET

The Four is the new all-female indigenous talk show where four women share their unique perspectives. From left: Shauneen Pete, Robyn Morin, Shannon Fayant. Front row: Bevann Fox. (The Four)

They sit comfortably in their new black bucket seats, armed with a star blanket in front of them.
The four women are nestling into their newest roles as talk show personalities. The Four is the all-female indigenous talk show where they share their unique perspectives.
“We can talk about anything we want and by doing that we’re not saying we’re right. We don’t have to agree. My voice is there and so is theirs,” said co-host Beavann Fox, when asked if there is any topic off limits when it comes to the show.

Visit cbc.ca Aboriginal

Fox is originally from the Piapot First Nation and also from The Pasqua First Nation; she is the author of a book called Abstract Love and she facilitates career development and workforce planning.

'We are all indigenous woman, and on the show, we talk about real things. We want to make sure people hear a different story, an authentic one.' - Dr. Shauneen Pete, co-host of The Four

The ladies got their idea for the show sitting around a backyard having a wiener roast. After a lot of brainstorming, they pitched the idea to Access Communications, a Regina and surrounding area cable company.
When the show launched a few weeks ago, they realized they had a show unlike any other.
“We are all indigenous woman, and on the show, we talk about real things. We want to make sure people hear a different story, an authentic one,” said Dr. Shauneen Pete, co-producer and co-host of The Four.
Pete is from the Little Pine Nation. She is an assistant professor in Aboriginal education at the University of Regina.
Fox and Pete are joined by Robyn Morin and Shannon Fayant. Morin is Métis and works as a mentor co-ordinator for a non-profit organization. Fayant is also Métis and works in education.
Some of the topics the four Regina women have discussed on the talk show include gratitude and fears, what if women ruled the world, successful parenting, personal well-being, sexual well-being, online dating and lateral violence.
With the objective to educate, inspire and empower, The Four gives a voice to the concerns of Aboriginal women in Canada. Fuelled with passion and humor, each brings their own unique values and beliefs to the weekly table for discussion.
The Four premiered Jan. 21, 2014, and airs on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. on Access Communications.
Access Communications is submitting the talk show to the Yorkton Film Festival and also to the Red Nation Film Festival in the United States.

02 February 2014

CBC News: 18-year quest brings 1957 film home to N.W.T. Dene

Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/18-year-quest-brings-1957-film-home-to-n-w-t-dene-1.2519736

18-year quest brings 1957 film home to N.W.T. Dene

'I saw my uncle,' says Frank Andrew, Grand Chief of the Sahtu Dene Council, after sneak preview

CBC NewsPosted: Feb 01, 2014 10:52 AM CTLast Updated: Feb 02, 2014 6:53 AM CT

Tom Andrews first learned that a French anthropologist had visited the Sahtu region of the N.W.T. in the 1950s when he was doing an oral history project in 1995. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
Mountain Dene elders told Andrews about the footage that had been shot, and asked him to find it. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
'I honestly expected in 1996 I’d have this film under my arm,' Andrews says. It took almost two decades. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
The 25-minute silent film includes footage of people who will be recognized by their grandchildren today. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
'The fact that there are still people living today who are in the film is what makes it special,' says Andrews. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
Jean Michéa's film includes some intense industrial scenes of the gas wells at Norman Well. 'In fact, as an anthropologist, that’s what he was interested in,' says Andrews. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
But Michéa met an Oblate missionary in Tulita who persuaded him to meet several Mountain Dene families. He traveled with them into the mountains. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)
Three screenings of the 25-minute film are scheduled in Tulita, Norman Wells and Yellowknife this month. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)

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Anthropologist Tom Andrews speaks to Trail's End 11:29

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Anthropologist Tom Andrews speaks to Trail's End 11:29

People in the Northwest Territories will get a chance this week to see some real life historical footage of their Mountain Dene elders.
Three screenings are scheduled for a 25-minute silent film shot in the Sahtu region in 1957 by a French anthropologist.
It’s the first time the film will be viewed publicly in Canada, and it’s thanks to an 18-year quest by territorial archaeologist Tom Andrews.

Click the link on the left to hear a full interview with Andrews

Andrews first heard about the film while working on an oral history project at Drum Lake, N.W.T. in 1995.
He was talking with a group of Mountain Dene elders when the conversation turned to a French anthropologist who had visited the area in the 1950s and captured some of the experience on a 16 mm camera.
“They asked me to search for it,” Andrews says. “I honestly expected in 1996 I’d have this film under my arm.”
Instead, it took almost two decades.

Trail runs cold at Farley Mowat

Jean Michéa came to the North to study the oil and gas industry at Norman Wells, but got sidetracked by an Oblate Missionary who introduced him to the Mountain Dene and a unique way of life. (Courtesy Tom Andrews)

Andrews took advantage of the new innovation of email, which the Northwest Territories government had made available to staff the year before, to reach out to anthropologists who might have clues about the man’s identity.
He soon learned about a French anthropologist named Jean Michéa who had spent time in the Keewatin district of Nunavut shortly after World War Two. Michéa had become friends with Farley Mowat, who was then doing research for what would become Never Cry Wolf.
Mowat confirmed that the two had exchanged Christmas cards for many years afterwards, but the cards stopped abruptly in 1964.
Andrews picked up the trail again in 2007 when a Tulita woman passed his quest on to another anthropologist, Chris Fletcher, then at the University of Alberta, now at Laval University.
Fletcher took up the project with enthusiasm, eventually making contact with a former Laval professor living in Paris who was the missing link. Not only did she know Michéa; he was a former teacher and distant relative.
Andrews and Fletcher drafted a letter in French to pass on to Michéa. Then they waited.
The response was lovely, but haunting.
Jean Michéa had spent much of his life as a professor at the Sorbonne. He was now 95, mostly deaf and living in Paris. He wrote that he did have some materials from his expedition, but that it was in his summer home in southeast France, which he did not plan to visit until May. “I hope I last long enough to get to it,” he wrote.
So did Andrews.

The DVD arrives in Canada

Andrews got the call on Christmas Eve. Fletcher had received a DVD from France in the mail.
“I have to say, it was quite moving,” Andrews says about first seeing the footage. “To have spent 18 years looking for this film and then to actually see it, it’s truly remarkable.”

'The fact that there are still people living today who are in the film is what makes it special.'- Tom Andrews, anthropologist

The film is a 25-minute documentary.
The first half shows the fledgling city of Yellowknife, including local landmarks and residential streets.
“All the houses had vegetable gardens,” Andrews says. “I’m sure it must have been more difficult to get vegetables in Yellowknife in those days. There was no highway then, of course.”
Next are some intense industrial scenes of the gas wells at Norman Well. “In fact, as an anthropologist, that’s what he was interested in. He was actually coming to Norman Wells to see that and to study that.”
But Michéa’s journey didn’t go as planned. While in Tulita, he met an Oblate missionary, who persuaded him to meet the Mountain Dene and see their mooseskin boats.
Michéa agreed, and wound up documenting a journey into the mountains with several Shúhtagot'ine families, including people who are still alive today.

Screenings in Tulita, Norman Wells, Yellowknife

“I saw my uncle,” says Frank Andrew, Grand Chief of the Sahtu Dene Council, who grew up in Tulita and got a sneak preview of the film. “It was wonderful to see what our elders were actually doing back then. Everything was done just by traveling on the land.”

'I saw my uncle.'- Chief Frank Andrew

The film offers a rare example of traditional life at the time.
“For the young people today it’ll probably mean that our elders meant what they talk about,” Andrew says.
Andrews, the archaeologist, says he’s pleased that the film wasn’t shot in the 1910s or 1920s.
“The fact that there are still people living today who are in the film are what makes it special,” he says. “It’s almost like home movies for the people in Tulita.”
Screenings are scheduled for Tulita on Monday, in Norman Wells on Wednesday and in Yellowknife of Feb. 19 at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
Along with the film, Michéa also took many photographs, which Andrews is still gathering.
“There’s still more to come and we’re excited about that as well.”

Corrections

The original version of this story incorrectly identified Tom Andrews. He is the territorial archaeologist.

Feb 02, 2014 6:53 AM CT

16 January 2014

Dr. Sharon Venne will be presenting on "What does life long learning mean to Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge versus the state system" - Friday, 17 January 2014 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Source: http://indigenous.mcmaster.ca/events/indigenous-studies-speakers-series-speaker-sharon-venne

Indigenous Studies Speakers Series Speaker: Sharon Venne

— filed under: Indigenous Speakers Series

Dr. Sharon Venne will be presenting on "What does life long learning mean to Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge versus the state system"

What	Indigenous Speakers Series
When	Jan 17, 2014 from11:00 AMto12:30 PM
Where	Hamilton Hall (HH) 217

An Analysis of National Security Models: Canada, Israel & UK