Cultural Foundation Native Expressions

Charest boosts protected areas in northern Quebec | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:38:58 +1700

Charest boosts protected areas in northern Quebec

Quebec Premier Jean Charest speaks of tourism for the Plan Nord, a northern Quebec development plan, Wednesday, November 23, 2011 in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

The Canadian Press

Date: Sunday Feb. 5, 2012 1:48 PM ET

MONTREAL — Quebec Premier Jean Charest has promised to boost the number of protected areas in the province's north.

Charest says 20 per cent of the land included in the government's northern development plan will be protected from any development by 2020.

That's up from the 12 per cent announced earlier.

The Plan Nord was originally announced last May and aims for a variety of mining, forestry, hydroelectric and tourism projects spread over a huge stretch of Quebec's north.

In all, Charest says the goal is for half the area to be protected from major industrial development.

Charest has taken heat from some environmental and First Nations group over the scope of the project.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/2012 ... ted-120205/#ixzz1lXPmNXb3
CTV News

Chiefs want to electrify their communities | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:30:25 +1700

Chiefs want to electrify their communities

By: Northern Ontario Business staff

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) said it's time for their northern communities to be connected to Ontario's power grid.

In a Feb. 2 statement, NAN chiefs said their communities' continued reliance on diesel generation and inadequate transmission is “neither acceptable nor sustainable” for their people.

First Nation leaders from the NAN territory huddled in Thunder Bay in early February to map out an energy strategy for the Far North.

Chiefs are frustrated by what has become an annual crisis in supplying diesel fuel to many of the 49 communities in the Far North.

“We have serious issues regarding sustainable and affordable electrical energy in our communities,” said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy in a release. “While we are making strides in planning for the future of generation and transmission, we must deal on a daily basis with our current needs and challenges.”

NAN said the communities use about 8 million litres of diesel fuel annually at a cost of $9 million, a price that's costly for many communities prohibitive to power homes and schools. Poor winter roads make the cost of flying fuel in only worse.

The chiefs are forming a task force with the expectation of connecting all NAN communities to the provincial grid by 2015.

They want planning, construction and future ownership to be in the hands of the First Nations, along with development of renewable power generation.

http://www.northernontariobusiness.co ... fy-their-communities.aspx
Northern Ontario Business

FSIN says province failed to consult | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:23:04 +1700

FSIN says province failed to consult

The StarPhoenix February 4, 2012

The commission representing Saskatchewan First Nations has declared its opposition to the province's new environmental code after the government failed to consult before the changes were made.

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations' lands and resources commission passed a motion Thursday saying that it does not support or approve Saskatchewan's new environmental code and that there has been no consultation with First Nations on this matter, said an FSIN news release.

On Jan. 11, Environment Minister Dustin Duncan announced a new "environmental code" that will regulate the natural resource development industry in Saskatchewan. The 19 chapters of the code cover a wide variety of topics regarding air, water, land, natural resources and industrial waste.

Despite repeated demands by the FSIN, the Ministry of Environment refused to engage in such consultations, the release said.

Rather than enter into a meaningful consultation process, the provincial government set aside three afternoons this week for "First Nation and Metis code information sessions." Those in attendance had one hour for questions and discussion, said the release.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that "standard public notices and open houses (are) not sufficient and that the (First Nations) are entitled to a distinct consultation process."
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/FSIN+sa ... /story.html#ixzz1lXLe3mTE
The StarPhoenix

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Supports International Call for Equitable and Sustainable Funding for First Nations in Canada | Posted February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:13:07 +1700

February 2, 2012 1:00 PM

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Supports International Call for Equitable and Sustainable Funding for First Nations in Canada

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/91515 ... ada#.TyrT2Na-QpA.facebook
CNW

Muskowekwan to vote on Encanto deal this month | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:06:37 +1700

Muskowekwan to vote on Encanto deal this month

By Kerry Benjoe, Leader-Post February 3, 2012

REGINA -- Before the month is over, members of the Muskowekwan First Nation will decide whether they will move ahead with a historic deal with the Encanto Potash Corp.

Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Mu ... /story.html#ixzz1lXGsRI6s
Leader-Post

Exploring the University of Vermont’s 2 campus museums | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:58:28 +1700

Exploring the University of Vermont’s 2 campus museums

Museums’ foundations spring from geology, art

By Dirk Van Susteren
| Globe correspondent

February 05, 2012

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(Dirk Van Susteren for the Boston Globe

Tony Hunt’s contemporary carved raven mask in the Native American Culture Gallery at the Fleming Museum of Art. Hunt is from a group of Canadian First Nations people in the Paciﬁc Northwest.

BURLINGTON - On an August day in 1849, a crew of Irish laborers, digging a railroad bed in Charlotte, Vt., just south of Burlington, unearthed a skull and a batch of bones that they no doubt first thought were remains of a horse or ox or some other large familiar creature.

It was, indeed, a large creature, but, of all things, it was a whale, and it was found, incongruously, in 8 feet of clay a mile from the shore of freshwater Lake Champlain. Someone wisely had the sense to turn the bones over to Zadock Thompson, the preeminent Vermont natural scientist, who with help from Harvard University, identified the skeleton as a 14-foot, 11,000-year-old beluga whale, a wonderful discovery that was confirming evidence that ocean waters had once lapped the area....

http://bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/trav ... B49vicnuiIBiOK/story.html
The Boston Globe

13 Year Old Philanthropist to Raise $500,000 To Aid Attawapiskat Housing Crisis | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:41:18 +1700

13 Year Old Philanthropist to Raise $500,000 To Aid Attawapiskat Housing Crisis

Written by: NNL Staff on February 5, 2012.

THUNDER BAY – The youth are starting to take leadership roles in spreading the message that help is needed. Six youth delegates from First Nations across Canada are in Europe, headed to Geneva and a United Nations Conference to share their stories.

Back home in Canada, Wes Prankard, a 13 year old philanthropist has announced a goal for his third annual March-break campout. Upon hearing the news that Attawapiskat Ontario, a remote First Nations reserve on James Bay, declared a state of emergency over their housing crisis, Wes knew he needed to do something.

First word of government aid announced $500,000 in funds to assist the community. The amount got Wes thinking. His past two March campouts raised over $5,000 each, so logically, if he could recruit 100 others to camp and each raise $5000, they would match the governments commitment to aid. And so, the #Campout2012 campaign was born.

This latest project involves recruiting 100 other kids (and adults) to camp for 50 hours March 14-16, either in their hometown or alongside him in the Falls. The goal is to have each child get 100 sponsors, each donating $1.00 per hour for a total of $5,000 per child – $500,000 total.....

netnewsledger
http://netnewsledger.com/2012/02/05/1 ... awapiskat-housing-crisis/

Visiting when arrows were flying: Dakelh people protest Enbridge pipeline | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:26:04 +1700

NORTHWEST NOTES

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Northwest Notes focuses on Indigenous-Canadian relations in northern British Columbia, particularly around the controversial proposed Enbridge oil pipeline. It is written by Tyler McCreary, a graduate student at York University.

Visiting when arrows were flying: Dakelh people protest Enbridge pipeline

By Tyler McCreary
February 4, 2012

At the terminus of Highway 27, far into the northern interior of British Columbia, Fort St. James seems to belong to a remote Canadian hinterland. But this town, mostly remembered for its history as an old fur-trading post, on February 2 found itself at the centre of political negotiations about the future of Canada.

Located on the southeastern shore of Stuart Lake, Fort St. James rests in the heart of the territory inhabited by Dakelh (or Carrier) people. The Dakelh have never signed treaty nor ceded their claim to their traditional territories. Nonetheless, the company Enbridge is proposing to build a pipeline through the heart of Dakelh territory to carry bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to port.

As the federally appointed panel reviewing the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline convened in Fort St. James, the Dakelh people joined with supporters to rally in opposition to the proposed project. Leading the protest were the people of Nak'azdli.

Adjacent to Fort St. James, the very name of the Dakelh community of Nak'azdli attests to the long history of the Dakelh people defending their lands. Nak'azdli translates to "when arrows were flying," a reference to a historic battle at the mouth of the river that flows out Stuart Lake. This lineage of fierce defence of Dakelh lands remained in evidence in the streets of Fort St James.....

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/tyler ... g-when-arrows-were-flying
rabble.ca

War and Peace: Illusions of partnership at Conservative-First Nations gathering | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:15:20 +1700

INDIGENOUS NATIONHOOD

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Dr. Pamela D. Palmater is a Mi'kmaw lawyer and member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. She teaches Indigenous law, politics and governance at Ryerson University and heads their Centre for Indigenous Governance.

War and Peace: Illusions of partnership at Conservative-First Nations gathering

By Pamela Palmater
February 5, 2012

War and Peace -- those were the two symbols that kept popping into my mind as I watched the Canada-First Nations Gathering in Ottawa on January 24, 2012. My father always told me to pay careful attention to my surroundings and that even the smallest of signs could be an indication of the real threat behind someone's words or actions. He was always curious about people, how their minds worked and how their actions often betrayed their real intentions. He felt it was important for me to always keep that in the back of my mind.

So, when I watched what was called the "Crown-First Nation Gathering" but was really a meeting between Harper, a few Conservative Cabinet Ministers, and too many bureaucrats on one side, and a very limited number of First Nation Chiefs on the other -- I knew my father was right. Liberal and NDP MPs were not allowed to attend, but instead had to sit in the media room where I was watching the events. Thus, unless someone has anointed Prime Minister Harper King of Canada, this was far from a "Crown" First Nation gathering -- but instead was a Conservative meeting with the AFN and selected Chiefs.

True to my father's advice, I decided that I would pay attention to all aspects of this "gathering". The first thing is how the meeting came about. The promise of this meeting had been made several times by the Harper Conservatives as part of their election campaigns. This promised meeting was not born of any interest in building partnerships between the Crown and First Nations, but was born instead of political aspirations, self-interest and self-promotion. Even once Harper was elected, many years went by and no meeting. It was not until the horrific conditions in Attawapiskat were highlighted by the media and Harper could not easily deflect the attention that the Conservatives were shamed into finally setting a date for his "election promise" meeting.

Government replies to mould study | February 05 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:03:04 +1700

Government replies to mould study

By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist February 5, 2012

The federal government is putting about $355 million a year into First Nations reserve housing, much of it earmarked for mould remediation, but it is up to chiefs and councils to administer those funds, an Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada spokeswoman says.

A University of Victoria study, published last month in the U.Sbased Journal of Environmental Health, found almost half the homes on reserves are mouldy and high levels of toxins are making people sick.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/life/Gov ... /story.html#ixzz1lX1WgmRx
Times Colonists