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I just wanted to offer my condolences to the families that are going through the tragic losses felt across North America. My love, thoughts and prayers to everyone from Mowachaht/Muchalaht to Ahousaht. And to also to the people of Uclulathaht and the recent loss also in the past couple of days, to my dear friends Vi and Bob Mundy. Please know I am thinking of my extended family and the families of the four tragically taken away from us. And want to offer a few words if I may....
I love to win. I imagine you do too. I don’t meet many who say, “Some of my fondest memories involve being clobbered in checkers and belted at backgammon.” You don’t hear sports fans chanting, “We’re number two! We’re number two!” We prefer to win. For one thing, it’s easier to brag when you win. Baseball great Ted Williams said, “I can’t stand it, I’m so good.” Major League Pitcher Bo Belinski said, “My only regret is that I can’t sit in the stands and watch myself pitch...
EDMONTON, AB-My People International invites fellow travelers to take another step in the journey toward right relationships. They held the first in Victoria, British Columbia, April 28-29. The second event will be in Edmonton, Alberta, on May 13. Both these events are a follow-through on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action to churches. Come and participate in Indigenous-led sessions that seek to catalyze action and understanding around the United Nations...
A beautiful young Native American girl sat alone deep in prayer about a choice she would have to make that would affect the rest of her life. She was a slender fifteen-year-old with dark eyes like pools of soft love and long shining wavy dark hair glistening in the sunlight. She was a good, quiet, gentle and loving girl who could make the university track if she wanted to. As she sat praying outside the worship center, she saw an eagle. The eagle was high in the sky, far from...
"Hey, Pastor. Can you pray for me? Hey … hey, Pastor! Over here.” My first cell mate had just been released from the hole and back to a regular yard. I had been alone for about 15 minutes. My inner self was praising God and my outer self was singing out loud. Since no one was watching, I decided to praise God in dance. But due to the small cell (and my horrible dancing skills) I knew my praise dance was looking very silly. I didn’t care though, I was happy and full of joy,...
Recently, a woman who had recovered from breast cancer spoke with a group of women and praised her husband saying: "Richard is my blessing!" Then she shared a deeply moving story about him. The woman explained this was a second marriage for both of them; that they were deeply in love; that their blended family worked beautifully. Richard was a widower when they met. His first wife suffered a lengthy, difficult death from cancer. She told her friends that twelve months into...
KAMLOOPS, BC-Author and journalist Richard Wagamese died in Kamloops, British Columbia on March 9. His death came just one week after he was nominated for a B.C. Book Prize for Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations. The author of several non-fiction and fiction books, Wagamese is perhaps best known for Indian Horse, the story of a residential school student who finds his escape through his love of hockey. The book was a finalist in CBC's Canada Reads 2013 contest and is going to...
WINNIPEG, MB-The writing community gathered at the historic Fort Garry Hotel in downtown Winnipeg on April 22, to celebrate writing and honor excellence among its writers and artists. This year Indigenous authors and illustrators won many of the awards. Among them was Katerena Vermette who was the big winner of the night. She won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award for her novel The...
Book Review: Osage murders explored in Killers of Flower Moon Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by writer David Grann details the murders of dozens-if not hundreds-of Osage Nation citizens who were targeted because of their oil royalty payments. New York Times literary critic Dwight Garner offers a review: Killers of the Flower Moon describes how the Osage people were driven from their lands in Kansas onto a rocky portion of northwestern...
The Shack Starring Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Graham Greene, Avraham Aviv Alush, Sumire Matsubara In The Shack, Sam Worthington plays a guy named Mack, who, after a family tragedy, is angry at God while also not sure if God exists. I think plenty of people can identify with that feeling. When things happen to us that are hard to bear or don't make sense, our first reaction is to blame God. And God rarely comes to His own defense. But this time God does show up. Mack...
North American Native Beadwork is an art form which evolved to mostly use glass beads imported from Europe and recently Asia. Glass beads have been in use for almost 500 years in the Americas. Today a wide range of beading styles flourish. Alongside the widespread popularity of glass beads, bead artists continue incorporating natural items such as dyed porcupine quills, shell such as wampum and dendrite. Wampum shell beads are ceremonially and politically important to a range...
Summer is fast approaching and with it come fun activities and events as well as opportunities for service. There are Native day camps, week-long camps, jamborees, powwows, etc. Here is a handful of events that you may be interested in. Check them out. ON EAGLES' WINGS SUMMER OF HOPE 2017 is OEW's 25th summer. For 24 years, teams of Native youth have traveled thousands of miles, visiting several reservations to bring the message of hope to youth. Here's an example of what...
I have spent a lot of time recently thinking about honesty and I still struggle because even within the past day, there is still a degree of a lack of honesty. And discernment through reading someone is a gift but it's also a hindrance and then one wonders why there is no trust when through discernment it's obvious there is no honesty and then a lack of trust follows. Honesty is a huge part of self-improvement and overcoming delusional thinking. If we aren't honest with...
WILD HOGS Thank you so much for the Bible. It’s so much easier for me to understand. Now as for wild hogs, they’re all over Florida. I’ve been hunting them since a very young age, not much deer meat even though I’ve learned to track them at a young age as well and only hunt one if the elders ask me. I’m Mississippi Choctaw of the Rattlesnake People, representing the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake and born and raised in Florida and Mississippi. Now I just live on the Choctaw reservation in the Pearl River community where I’ll...
Our world is a mess. Nations are warring against nations, our leaders don’t seem to know which direction to go, some of our communities are ransacked by violence and terrorist acts, families are broken, and people are searching, longing for elusive solutions to their problems. Since the beginning of the human race, people have asked “where did we come from?” “Why are we here?” “Who am I?” or “Why am I different?” While some may not agree, what everyone is searching for—whether it is children, adults, communities, leader...
The old adage "the more things change, the more they remain the same" has rarely been truer. So many ways to prepare things, all trying to be so different. Okay, so we give this a try and that a try yet somehow come back to the original way we had it the first time. Spring is always good for showing us what is good and classic. Asparagus, for example, is just fine and delicious as is, but even better with a new sauce. We try it and sometimes the 'new' is better and sometimes n...
I was in the gym recently and noticed that I'm looking a little more muscular than I have in a long time. I was like "Hmm, I look good! Selfie time!" Like most gym dwellers, I take photos of my progress. Sometimes it's hard to notice the gains when you're your own worst critic. A few moments after taking this pic I was strangely reminded of a conversation I had with a high school teacher. I was 17 and a pretty healthy guy but then I started smoking. When that teacher found...
I am a 54-year-old First Nations man living in the suburbs of an affluent, multi-cultural community just north of Toronto, Ontario. My father was a Potawatomi and my mother a Chippewa, so I call myself a Potato-Chip. I tell this to most people I meet and I had one Mohawk elder laughing for hours after I greeted her this way. Our people love to laugh. I sit and reflect on the past and I remember the good, bad, and sometimes ugly moments, and hope for all the best in the...
I once dreamt that I was standing on cold concrete surrounded by men with nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. I was scared. In my dream I could fly away and hover in midair. I could see the stars I was so high! The sky was pitch black and the ocean was purple. With the wind blowing on my face, I could hear the ocean roar as I soared over the ocean at night. I woke up to find myself still in prison in British Columbia. But there was a sense of freedom in that dream. I felt that...
Five students graduated from the Master of Arts in International Studies from George Fox University under the NAIITS program. Congratulations to Jim Sequeira, Linda Rae Coon, Joshua Grace, Shawn Hostler Jones and Donnie Begay (absent from the photo). "On behalf of the rest of the NAIITS faculty and students, 'Well done!'" stated Dr. Terry LeBlanc, NAIITS Director. Maarten Gerritsen graduated with a Masters in Biblical Languages from Providence Theological Seminary, in Otterbur...
Here are eight amazing ways in which tribal peoples are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world: 1. The Baka "Pygmies" have over 15 words for elephant The Baka people know so much about elephants, they have different words for them according to their sex, age and even temperament. Studies have shown how the Baka in many areas live alongside high densities of endangered species. One Baka man told Survival International: "We know when and where the poachers...
WINNIPEG, MB-Member of the Legislature (MLA) Wab Kinew has thrown his hat in the ring to become the leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP). Joined by family, friends, and supporters at the Manitoba Legislature, Kinew announced he's a candidate for the NDP leadership. Kinew said he's running "for people whose voices aren't often heard" and he gave the example of an inmate at the Manitoba Youth Centre. "I want to say directly to that young person, 'I am you, and you...
WASHINGTON, DC-The United States Department of the Interior has hit a crucial milestone. It has transferred a total of $60 million to the Cobell Scholarship Fund, which was established by the historic Cobell settlement. The figure is significant because it's the maximum that can be placed in the fund under the terms of settlement. The amount also points to the success of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, another component of the settlement. A portion of every land...
OTTAWA, ON-The Canadian government announced it is increasing its spending on post-secondary education, community infrastructure and the health of Indigenous people in the most recent federal budget. Observers say this is a clear attempt to slow criticism over its handling of crises that plague First Nations and Inuit communities. The 2017 budget adds $3.4 billion additional over five years for areas of "critical need," in addition to the $8.4 billion already committed in...
Five students graduated from the Master of Arts in International Studies from George Fox University under the NAIITS program. Congratulations to Jim Sequeira, Linda Rae Coon, Joshua Grace, Shawn Hostler Jones and Donnie Begay (absent from the photo). "On behalf of the rest of the NAIITS faculty and students, 'Well done!'" stated Dr. Terry LeBlanc, NAIITS Director. See story on page 14....
