Media.Knet.Ca

Brian McCullagh travelled to Sioux Lookout on Thursday to meet with the K-Net team. One objective as to explore strategies about how Agilis Network can partner with the Kuhkenah Network to provide connectivity services in First Nations in the Sudbury region. 

For more information about Agilis visit http://www.agilisnet.com/. Agilis is a member of the new Ingo Network (http://ingonetwork.com/) providing connections to major centres across the southern part of Ontario.

See news story coverage of the police action below the COO press release along with how other nations are supporting the Six Nation protestors ...

Mohawks briefly block Mercier bridge in Montreal http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-mercier20060420.html

BC Chiefs called for an immediate "cooling off" period - http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?p=6856#6856

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060420/police_ontario_060420/20060420/

http://www.canada.com/chtv/hamilton/index.html#

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/

Native protesters react angrily as police clear building site JENNIFER GRAHAM 

CALEDONIA, Ont. (CP) - Police helicopters roared overhead as defiant native protesters climbed atop buildings and set tires ablaze Thursday in an escalating confrontation between police and Six Nations members occupying a southwestern Ontario construction site.

The angry protesters used a large dump truck and a massive tire fire to block a road leading to a housing project they say sits on native land, brazenly mocking police after a pre-dawn raid that was supposed to end the 52-day occupation.

One protester planted himself on top of the truck and yelled, "What big men they are" as he waved a red Mohawk flag. At the other end of the road, a massive pile of flaming tires sent thick plumes of smoke into the air.

Dozens of Six Nations protesters occupied the Douglas Creek Estates housing project southwest of Hamilton on Feb. 28.

A judge granted an injunction in March to remove the occupiers, and police had been negotiating to have the natives leave the land peacefully throughout the dispute. Tensions mounted earlier this week when talks broke down.

There was a report that at least nine people were arrested Thursday as police moved in with "overwhelming force" in a pre-dawn raid, but the occupiers called in reinforcements and police were quickly forced to retreat.

A spokeswoman for the protesters, Janie Jamieson, said the confrontation is far from over and occupiers were bracing for another visit by police.

"We're prepared . . . for however long it takes," said Jamieson, who noted that a few hundred protesters were already on the scene.

"It's time Canada better stand up and take notice," said another protester. "Everybody that is available is here."

Ontario police Sgt. Dave Rektor refused to confirm any arrests and said there would be no official comment until a news media briefing Thursday afternoon.

Police action against aboriginals is an especially sensitive issue in Ontario where a standoff in 1995 in Ipperwash Provincial Park resulted in the death of protester Dudley George.

Just before 5 a.m., police armed with Tasers, tear gas and pepper spray made their move on the occupation, "incredibly quickly with overwhelming force," protester Mike Desroches told Hamilton's CHCH television.

"The police just completely swarmed the territory," he said, adding that the officers entered the site with guns drawn.

"The police come in - without any warning, they come and raid our village - that's their tactic, they always come in when nobody's aware," Norma General, the mother of protester Chad General, tearfully told CHCH.

One unidentified protester said he was called about two hours after the initial raid and told to go to the scene.

"We got down and we all grouped together and started evicting them (police) - by the use of bodies, no weapons," he said.

Video from the scene Thursday showed a large crowd of police officers moving on foot toward some of the newly arrived protesters.

But about 65 protesters blocked the path of police and began walking toward the officers. Police then slowly retreated onto a dirt road.

After the confrontation, about two dozen police vehicles left the protest site and headed for the nearby town of Caledonia.

At least one Catholic school in the Caledonia area closed for the day at the request of police.

The protesters argued that the site was part of a large land grant back in 1784, but the provincial and federal governments say the land was surrendered in 1841 to help build a major highway.

The protest has irked local residents, 500 of whom turned out earlier this month for a rally to demand that authorities end the occupation.

A spokeswoman for federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has said the occupation is a provincial matter. The Ontario government said earlier this month that it wanted a negotiated end to the standoff.

On Wednesday, Premier Dalton McGuinty answered opposition questions about the occupation by saying the province and the authorities were committed to a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

The standoff was reminiscent of the aboriginal occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park, which resulted in the death of protester Dudley George from a police sniper's bullet.

The park was seized by First Nations protesters on Sept. 4, 1995, under the belief it was native territory that had never been properly surrendered.

Provincial police marched on the park two days later, and George was slain in the ensuing showdown.

George's death prompted accusations of police and government racism and an inquiry that is still ongoing. 

Keewaytinook Okimakanak's K-Net Coordinator will be co-presenting with Carl Seibel, FedNor Telecom Officer, at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APEC TEL) gathering that is happening next week in Calgary. Visit http://knet.ca/APEC for a copy of the presentation and links to this important international gathering. 

Industry Canada Press Release

CALGARY, Alberta, April 20, 2006 -- The 33rd meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APEC TEL) will be hosted in Calgary, Alberta, in April 2006. APEC TEL 33 is a forum that provides key dignitaries and business representatives from APEC's 21 member economies with the opportunity to discuss issues such as wireless security, spam and related threats, as well as advanced technologies for remote communities and persons with disabilities. More than 350 domestic and international delegates representing government and industry are expected to attend the event.

The media is invited to take part in the official opening ceremony on Wednesday, April 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. 

Date:   Sunday, April 23 to Friday, April 28, 2006

Location:

Hyatt Regency Calgary Hotel
700 Centre Street SE
Calgary, Alberta

For more information or for interview requests, please visit the APEC TEL 33 website (http://www.apectel33.ca) and/or contact:

Media Relations
Industry Canada
Tel.: (613) 943-2502

Anne Douglas, APR
Director of Communications
Alberta Innovation and Science
Tel.: (780) 422-1562
Cell: (780) 886-3372

Luiza Zorrilla
Director, Marketing and Communications
Calgary Economic Development
Tel.: (403) 221-7869
Cell: (403) 880-7040
luiza@calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com

From the Sioux Bulletin online at http://www.siouxbulletin.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/bulletinapr192006.pdf

First Step Women’s Shelter honours mothers through Mother’s Day card campaign

Tim Brody - STAFF WRITER - Sioux Bulletin, April 19, 2006

MAY 14 is fast approaching and with it, the day reserved specifically to honour our mothers.

To mark the occasion the First Step Women’s Shelter in Sioux Lookout has teamed up with well known local photographer Allan Morrison to produce a special line of Mother’s Day cards featuring local women. It’s entitled “Honouring Our Mothers.”

Money raised from the sale of the cards will be used to purchase new outdoor play equipment for the shelter.

The shelter is a fourteen bed facility which provides a safe and secure emergency shelter for women and their children who have been physically, emotionally and/or sexually abused.

The staff and volunteers of the shelter facilitate the selfempowerment process of women and children who are survivors of violence and/or abuse by providing support and advocacy services within a safe haven.

All contacts with the women are confidential and nonjudgmental. The shelter is safe and secure. A woman can stay for a few days to think things out, or to heal from injuries, or she can stay up to six weeks or longer while she decides what to do next.

The shelter offers such services as 24 hour support, counseling and crisis intervention from shelter staff, and referrals, support and advocacy to outside agencies, including counseling, child services, family services, hospitals, clinics, legal services, employment services, housing and other community resources.

Also offered are emergency clothing for women and children, follow up contact for the woman who chooses to maintain contact with the shelter through the transitional support/outreach program, which connects women to necessary community supports such as housing, counselling, parenting support, education upgrading, job training, income support, legal aid, and health and wellness services.

Other services offered by the shelter include therapeutic counseling services for women who have survived physical, sexual, emotional, mental or spiritual abuse recently or in the past, who are presently living in an abusive relationship, or are residents of First Step Women’s Shelter or clients of the transitional support program.

A part time child care worker is on staff to provide babysitting.

The shelter is a nonprofit organization, funded through the Ministry of Community and Social Services, which can be reached by e-mail at firststep@fsws.ca or by phone at 737-1438.

The crisis line is 1-800-465-3623. The shelter also has a web site, which can be viewed at www.fsws.ca.

From April 1, 2004 – March 31, 2005, the shelter provided emergency shelter services to 315 women and children and received 1108 crisis calls and had 126 admissions.

Statistics provided by the shelter state that one in four Canadian women suffers some form of abuse by a partner, approximately 40 per cent of wife assault incidents begin during a woman’s first pregnancy, and it is estimated that just 25 per cent of domestic violence incidents are reported.

Shelter Associate Director Charlene Greene said statistics such as these create the necessity for the shelter.

She said from April 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 the shelter operated at 100 per cent occupancy.

Greene said there is a need to provide additional outdoor playground equipment as the current equipment is for pre-school children. Funds raised through the Mother’s Day card campaign will be used to purchase such equipment as a swing set, slide, and basketball net for children staying at the shelter with their mothers.

Morrison, who operates his own photography business, Morrison Photography, said the card campaign is a brilliant idea and he is honoured to be asked to facilitate it.

Shelter board member Heather Mesich conceived the card campaign and contacted local women to set up appointments and Morrison took their pictures.

He then submitted a short list of photos from which board members picked their favorites.

Morrison, who began work on the project February 19, was full of praise for not just the attributes which have made the women selected community leaders, but also for their patience, some having to pose for an hour and half while he worked.

Peggy Sanders is one of the nine women who will be depicted in the Mother’s Day cards.

The grandmother said anything that raises money for such a good cause is a good idea.

The Order of Canada recipient is depicted sitting in front of her piano, which she is currently learning to play.

Virginia Head, originally from Sandy Lake, is a working mother of three who is depicted with her youngest son Walter-James Head.

Her thoughts on the card campaign were that she was surprised she was picked as one of the nine women who will grace the cards.

“It’s a good cause and I was actually glad I could help out in any way I could. I’m always for any type of fundraising for good causes.”

She said that cards commemorating mothers are a good idea. “It’s probably one of the most important jobs a woman can have.”

Mesich commented, “Celebrating the woman in our community can combat women abuse by erasing negative stereotypes about women in terms of sexism and racism… and by having cards that celebrate and honour women we’re hoping to sort of remind people that we need to honour the women in our community and in doing that you’re honouring the spirit of the women in the shelter.”

The cards span the spectrum of motherhood from pregnancy to being a grandmother.

“When I look at them I feel a huge sense of pride in these women. There are hundreds of women who belong on cards in this community. We really have a fantastic population of women and it wasn’t hard coming up with people …,” she said.

Due to the diversity of the community, Mesich said it is important to have the cards feature an equal representation of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal mothers.

The cards, which will sell for $5 each, will be available begining the last week of April.

They will be on sale at Bloomin’ Wild Flowers, Johnny’s Fresh Market and Rexall on Front Street. Bloomin’ Wild Flowers will reduce the price of flowers by $1 if a card is included in the purchase.

The G8 Supplementary Courses Program is a free online resource for First Nation elementary schools that have high speed Internet access.

The program allows grade 8 classrooms across Ontario to participate in an online learning program that aims to:

• Improve students’ computer, science, math and literacy skills
• Help prepare students for high school
• Promote awareness and pride in First Nations identity, events and issues
• Connect students and teachers from First Nations schools across Ontario

The G8 Program is designed to enrich – not replace – classroom learning. To participate in the program, students are required to access the Internet for three hours per week (scheduled according to your local preference). During this time, students work to complete short assignments written especially First Nation students. The online environment allows students to exchange messages with participants from other First Nation schools and view photo albums of people, places and events in First Nation communities. Over the last two years, hundreds of students and teachers from schools all over Ontario have taken part in this program. 

There are still a few spaces open for the upcoming Math course, which is scheduled to begin on April 24, 2006. We are excited to announce that this course will also introduce a number of upgrades and new features, such as the ability for teachers to create their own custom courses. Custom online courses are a great way to create activities and lessons in a format that can be used for years to come (please note that teachers will be responsible for marking all assignments within their custom courses).

Grade 8 teachers are invited to register their class by filling out a registration form on the G8 Program website: www.g8.firstnationschools.ca  

Click here to download a program poster.

NEWS RELEASE - MONDAY APRIL 17, 2006

SCO to rally in support of Indian residential school survivors’ compensation package 

WINNIPEG, MB - On Wednesday April 19, 2006, at 12:00 PM, the Manitoba Southern Chiefs’ Organization will rally in support of the Indian residential school survivors’ compensation package during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s luncheon speech at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

An Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) to compensate survivors was reached last November between the former Federal Liberal Government and the Assembly of First Nations. Included in this package was a lump-sum payment of $8,000.00 for every residential school survivor, an improved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process and a formal apology issued by the Prime Minister of Canada to survivors.

Since the 2006 Federal General Election, the new Conservative Government has remained silent on whether or not they will honour the November 2005 AIP package.

“We are calling upon Prime Minister Harper to uphold and honour the compensation package for our Indian residential school survivors,” stated Southern Grand Chief Chris Henderson. “As each day passes, our survivors are getting older, and some are passing on, without even seeing the possibility of this Agreement-in-Principle come to fruition. Aside from the financial compensation component, our survivors are also calling for a formal apology from the Prime Minister of Canada. This would begin the road to healing and reconciliation for our elders who were subjected to this gross and unjust social engineering of the worst kind.”

All nations are welcome to attend and participate in this call for justice and action for our Indian residential school survivors.

from http://66.244.236.251/article_5653.php

Transition school in the works
By CHEN CHEKKI - Apr 17, 2006

It’s something that happens all too often to the youth of Mishkeegogamang First Nation.

The Northwestern Ontario community, 30 kilometres from Pickle Lake, is forced to send its high school-aged students to schools in Thunder Bay, Ear Falls and Pelican Falls because it has no secondary school of its own.

Most of the other 49 reserves belonging to Nishnawbe Aski Nation are forced to do the same, as their schools usually go only as high as Grade 8 or Grade 10.

As a result of being put in a totally different environment, many of the students are exposed to things they are not normally exposed to and lack their ordinary support structure, said Connie Gray-McKay, chief of Mishkeegogamang.

Also, some of the teenagers are parents already, she said in an interview.

Many of the students are four or five years behind where they should be academically. Combined with the shock of their new surroundings, it makes for a recipe for dropping out of school.

“Many of them drop out and come back,” Gray-McKay said.

She said her community of about 1,500 is planning to have its own school, designed to teach basic trades skills along with the fundamentals of reading, math and life skills.

It is known as the Mish Tech Initiative and it has been in the works for the last two years. It could lead to the construction of a school by the end of summer.

The school would not be a substitute for urban high schools, but a transition point to prepare youth to go away to high school or enter the workforce. It may eventually offer accredited courses.

Courses in small motor repair, computers, woodworking and mining technology could be taught at the school.

Gray-McKay said when new homes are built in her area, plumbers, carpenters and electricians must be brought in from elsewhere to do the job.

“Why, when we can train our own young people?”

David Smith, an Ottawa-based entrepreneur who opened a trades school in his city nine years ago, said the new school will help satisfy the Northern demand for workers in mining and other industries.

As a member of the Mish Tech Initiative, he said the youth of Mishkeegogamang lack incentives, encouragement and motivation without their own high school.

“These young adults have to have some type of training,” Smith said.

Goyce Kakegamic, deputy grand chief of NAN, said to the best of his knowledge no other trade school exists in NAN territory.

Aboriginal teenagers tend to be “academically overwhelmed” when they arrive in urban centres such as Thunder Bay to complete high school, he said. Kakegamic said the new school in Mishkeegogamang would be “good for our people.”

However, Kakegamic said NAN has no money for the school, which could cost $2 million. Most of that cost would be for construction, with the rest used to run the school for its first year.

Funding will be sought from Ottawa, the province and the private sector, but the school would be run by the reserve, becoming part of Mishkeegogamang’s existing educational system.

© Copyright by Chronicle journal.com

The Red Lake Friendship Centre is receiving $637,952 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to train Aboriginal youth for Ontario Common Core Hard Rock Mining certification.  The centre, in partnership with Placer Dome Campbell Mine, will train up to 120 youth over a three-year period to supply the mining industry with a pool of skilled and trained workers to draw from, and help Aboriginal youth find jobs in the North.

from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund News Releases

Ontario Government Provides New Opportunities For Aboriginal Youth - #950005  - February 10, 2006

Training Program Will Teach Mining Skills

SUDBURY – The Ontario government is investing in a training program that will provide Aboriginal youth with the skills they need to find jobs in the mining sector, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced today.

“The McGuinty government is committed to stimulating economic development and creating job opportunities across the North,” said Bartolucci.  “Through this investment, we are ensuring that the mining industry has access to a number of skilled workers that will contribute to a more prosperous future.”

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) is providing the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre with $637,952 to train Aboriginal youth for Ontario Common Core Hard Rock Mining certification.  The centre, in partnership with Placer Dome Campbell Mine, will train up to 120 youth over a three-year period to supply the mining industry with a pool of skilled and trained workers to draw from, and help Aboriginal youth find jobs in the North.

“I am pleased that we are helping Aboriginal youth develop essential skills to work within one of Northern Ontario’s most robust sectors,” said David Ramsay, Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs.  “Program participants will learn the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain gainful employment in Ontario’s mining sector and have opportunities to seek rewarding employment closer to home.”

This NOHFC project is part of the government’s Northern Prosperity Plan for building stronger northern communities. The Northern Prosperity Plan has four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing Opportunities for All.

-30- 

from http://www.ucfv.ca/FT

- FEAST AND TRANSFORMATION FILM FESTIVAL -
..................................................................................
A Festival of First Nations films from the Pacific Northwest
..................................................................................
Date: 21-23 April, 2006    << >>    Location: Chilliwack, BC

Presented by the University College of the Fraser Valley and the British Museum, together with the Royal Anthropological Institute, and with the support of the City of Chilliwack.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
BACKGROUND:
 
Over the years, filmmakers from around the world have visited the Pacific Northwest to document the lives and cultures of its indigenous peoples. Their works are poignant journeys into the struggles of these people and have been of central importance in the renaissance of Aboriginal culture – expressing protest as well as recovery and revealing some of the anguish and loss still so much a part of life for First Nations groups. The Feast and Transformation film festival program showcases films by three directors who belong to Aboriginal communities, and other films made through close partnership between filmmakers and Aboriginal people. An example is David McIlwraith’s The Lynching of Louis Sam, a timely feature given Washington State’s recent official public acknowledgement of responsibility for the 1884 death of the 14-year-old Sto:lo youth. The weekend event will also include discussions with some of the filmmakers and elders from several of the communities where the films were made.
 
The driving force behind mirroring the London festival in Chilliwack is Hugh Brody, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies at UCFV. An internationally recognized scholar, anthropologist, land claims researcher, policy adviser, filmmaker and writer, Brody is drawing together threads of research and experience from a diversity of cultures in order to push land claims and rights research in new directions. His work in Aboriginal communities is helping to teach a new generation to do research for themselves and their communities – teaching them to tell their own stories and to discover for themselves what is important and necessary to create sustainable communities. He has authored nine books, published 16 essays and produced five documentary films, including Time Immemorial, which will be featured at the festival.
 
PROGRAM:

The City of Chilliwack will host a welcoming ceremony and reception, along with two film screenings, on Friday, April 21, at City Hall beginning at 6:15 p.m. The remaining films will be shown on Saturday, April 22 (beginning at 9 a.m.) and Sunday, April 23 (beginning at 10 a.m.) at the UCFV Theatre at 45635 Yale Rd. 

Download a film festival program here:
Download a Feast and Transformation Film Festival Program -in PDF format 

TICKETS:

The public is encouraged to attend this world-class event. Tickets are $10/adult per day ($20 for all three days) or $5/day for elders, seniors, or students ($10 for all three days). To book tickets, please call the UCFV box office at 604 795-2814. For more information about the event itself, please call 604 864-4639 or email deborah.block@ucfv.ca .

FILM SYNOPSES: View short overviews of the subject matter covered by each film
Download the Film Synopses (in PDF format)

Themes such as ...

• HERITAGE AND LOSS
• LAND CLAIMS
• CULTURAL REVIVAL / CHASING MUSEUMS
• FILMS FROM OUTSIDE
• THE CITY: THE LAND

FILMS TO BE SHOWN INCLUDE:

Friday evening,  21 April 2006

• In the Land of the War Canoes (Dir. E. Curtis, 1914/1972, 44 min.)
• Crooked Beak of Heaven (Dir. Michael MacIntyre, 1975, 50 min.)

Saturday  22 April 2006

• Potlatch: a Strict Law Bids Us Dance (Dir. Dennis Wheeler, 1975, 54 min.)
• Lynching of Louie Sam (Dir. David McIlwraith, 2004, 52 min.)
• Blockade (Dir. Nettie Wilde, 1993, 90 min.)
• Time Immemorial (Dir. Hugh Brody, 1991, 58 min.)
• The New Collectors - part 2 (from the Ravens and Eagles documentary series, 2003, 24 min.)
• Totem: the Return of the G’psgolex Pole (Dir. Gil Cardinal, 2003, 70 min.)
• Johnny Tootall (Dir. Shirley Cheechoo, 2005, 93 min.)

Sunday 23 April 2006

• Makah, the Whale Harvesters (dir. Ralf Marschalleck, 1999, 113 min.)
• Years From Here (part 2 of Changing Ground), (Dir. John Walker, 2000, 50 min.)
• On The Corner (Dir. Nathaniel Geary, 2003, 95 mins)
• Tlina: Rendering of Wealth (Dir. Barb Cranmer, 1999, 50 min.)

The "Dig Your Roots" web site is inviting everyone to listen to all the submissions and help select the tracks for a new CD of Aboriginal music. Everyone can win prizes as well.

from http://digyourroots.ca/

Let the listening begin! - Deadline for listening: April 30, 2006

We called for submissions, and they came in droves! And now the juries have chosen independent artists from all across the country to appear right here at DigYourRoots.ca!

"Dig Your Roots – Aboriginal"

Check out the Aboriginal artists that have been chosen to appear here at Dig Your Roots and you could win lots of cool stuff. All you have to do is listen to the artists and submit your comments. The more artists you listen to, the higher your chances are of winning something. Visit the Aboriginal Artists page for more details. Deadline for listening: April 30, 2006

Thank you to all of our jury members: Peter Adema, Elaine Bomberry, Andre Dudemaine, Rick Giguere, Jory Groberman, Alan Greyeyes, Jani Lauzon, Wayne Lavallee, Valerey Lavergne, David McLeod, and Christina Paul .

15 of these artists will now be chosen to appear on the "Dig Your Roots - Aboriginal" CD compilation. These artists will perform at 5 regional shows in the summer. And as with the other DYR projects, each of these shows will be broadcast on participating stations LIVE COAST-TO-COAST-COAST! “Dig Your Roots – Aboriginal” will be released in May 2006 with the shows to take place the end of the June.

Happy Listening!

We're hiring!

We are looking for two part-time Regional Coordinators: Prairie/North and Atlantic. All of our coordinators will be focused on organizing and promoting the live concerts in June 2006. Check out the job posting here (pdf): Atlantic and Prairie/North