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WINNIPEG, MB-Following Canada's recent federal election, there are signs that things are beginning to change in the relationship between First Nations and the federal government. No one seems to recognize that more so than distinguished author and advocate for Aboriginal rights John Ralston Saul. Recently Saul gave an interview to the Winnipeg Free Press to talk about "how Indigenous people are rebuilding their communities and how that process will influence Canada." Reporter...
Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail was born on the Crow Indian Reservation near Pryor, Montana to Walking Bear (Crow Tribe) and Jane White Horse (Sioux). When she graduated from Boston City Hospital School of Nursing (1923), Susie Walking Bear became the first American Indian graduate registered nurse. Walking Bear returned to serve on the Crow Reservation and married Tom Yellowtail, a Crow religious leader (1929). She was appointed to Indian Health Services and worked in the...
My wife and I were in Oregon sitting around a campfire with some fabulous people. They asked what's the difference between Canadians and Americans? I said that Canadians are always apologizing and that I'm very sorry we apologize so much. Canadians are sort of like the people living above a tavern, I said. Americans are making a lot of noise down below and every once in awhile we poke our heads out windows and say, "Hey! Keep it down!" They laughed. One handed me a laser...
How can we find healing for our broken hearts? I want to tell my life story briefly, and reflect on all that God has done for me and my family. By doing this I want to continue to heal my heart that is still healing from the past. I also want to encourage you to reflect on all that God has done for you and let those thoughts push out any struggles you are going through. November 11 is Remembrance Day in Canada; Veterans Day in the United States and then in December we have Chr...
Have you ever listened to people pray on TV or maybe even at church? Sometimes the prayer is all about asking God to give them what they want to make them happy or “blessed”. As shocking as it may sound, this is not true prayer. True prayer is about praying for Creator God’s will to be done. How do we know His will? We need to read His Word! When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, one of the first things He said was, “pray for God’s will to be done here in o...
Isn’t it amazing that leaves turn brilliant yellows, oranges and reds before leaving (or as my funny husband would say, “leafing”) to prepare branches for heavy winter snows? Our Creator even paints dark northern skies with colorful light. I remember nights in northern Alberta when I shivered outside in sub-zero temperatures to watch what looked like red and purple waterfalls plunging to the ground. One night I stood beneath a herringbone-patterned dome pulsating outwa...
Most of us will say we don’t really care about getting gifts for Christmas and that gifts aren’t important and aren’t the true meaning of Christmas. However, I think most of us would like to receive something special. Children are more honest and have long lists of toys and games they are hoping to find under the tree Christmas morning. If we adults were as honest as children and made a long list of things we’d really like, we might ask for a new house, a better car, a big s...
When we grow our own vegetables we cook and store enough of them to get us well into winter, I’m sure you do the same. One year we had a super crop of butternut squash that lasted into late March. That never happened again, but whenever I look at a bushel basket of corn, tomatoes or squash I feel rich, then I snap out of it and remember I’m at a farmer’s market! Some years have been great, others not so much. Even if you process, can or freeze just a few vegetables, they...
Between "Everest," and the "The Martian," the movie-plex this fall seems to be full of films about places where the tiniest mistake can result in almost certain death. If Hollywood is trying to convince me to never leave my couch again, they're doing a pretty solid job. The two films also give us an opportunity to meditate on the human spirit, and our place in the vast universe where we live. "The Martian" is set in an apparently not-that-distant future, where everything is...
My hometown village wasn't much to brag about-no roads, no cars, no airport, no fast food restaurants or movie theatre. All we had was an outdoor toilet, a cozy home with family and friends and nothing but time to spend with each other. But it was my best-ever hometown village. The houses sat on the top of the round bank in a neat row along the bay. The homes along the path ran along the top of the bank like clothes pins on a line linking us one to another. A log church sat...
Once upon a time, there was a young Neechee who thought he knew it all. He would boast about his good grades in school and how he made the honor roll many times for his great achievements. Then Creator saw his ways and took pity on him. Because of his bigheadedness, Creator brought devastation to his life to teach him about Humilty. But this young Neechee continued his conceited ways and thought he was better than everyone. Little respect he paid to the elders and he cast sham...
"The doctor who came from the valley into our log cabin in the hills looked at me, threw up his hands, and whispered to my father, 'You send him away. He doesn't belong in the valley community. He'll never learn like other children. He'll never speak like other children. You send him away.'" Those were some of the first words spoken over a newborn Chippewa infant in 1939. Don Bartlette was born into the world in rural North Dakota with fetal alcohol syndrome, resulting in a...
DK: You're a true role model! Please tell us about yourself. KM: Yá'át'ééh, my name is Kahlaya Rose Mckinney. I am born for the Owens Valley Paiute Tribe of Bishop, California. My father is Muskogee Creek from Tulsa, Oklahoma. My paternal grandfather is Red Running into Water Clan from Beclabito, New Mexico, and my paternal grandfather is Muskogee Creek, again from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am 19 years old and I'm majoring in Nursing at San Juan College. I am originally from Bec...
TISHOMINGO, OK-In 1307, William Tell used a crossbow bolt to halve an apple balanced atop his son's head...or so legend has it. Chickasaw world-class archer Shiloh Butts could probably do it, too, but thankfully it is not one of the competition shots he must make when shooting a Chickasaw long bow. It is his preferred weapon to win first-place medals in archery competitions throughout the nation. For the 28-year-old pharmacist, targets are the size of pie plates, softballs...
Just one day before a crazed young gunman killed nine people in Oregon last week, police arrested four males who planned to go on a bloody rampage at their high school in central California. Fortunately those four juveniles are now in custody-but it doesn't lessen the pain of the families who lost loved ones in the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon. What is happening? Why are so many disturbed young men in the United States carrying out massacres? Consider these...
The handwritten sign on the wall caught my eye: "Baby gophers for trade; $2 in Top Ramen; Beef-flavored only; See Big Chato." My cell mate had already told me about the sign, but I just could not believe Big Chato was selling his baby gophers. "I think it would be fun to have a baby pet gopher in the cell," my cell mate shared with me as we both saw a sad pet adoption commercial on our TVs. I didn't answer because I didn't think he was serious. Plus, the sad commercial filled...
The political ground shook in Canada on October 19, 2015, when the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was resoundingly defeated by the Liberal Party. It was kind of a David and Goliath story of biblical proportions. Political commentators said that it was a combination of anger over the former government along with a great desire for change that brought about this landslide victory. When you read this, Justin Trudeau, 43, will have been sworn in as the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history (Joe Clark is...
VICTOR, NY-In late-October, the Seneca Art & Culture Center opened its new facility, designed by FdM:Arch, on the Ganondagan State Historic Site, just southeast of Rochester, New York. The Seneca Art & Culture Center will explore the histories, traditions, and cultures of the Seneca and Iroquois people, and highlight the significance of the site as a major 17th-century Seneca town. The new building, which takes design inspiration from important symbols of unity within the...
BUFFALO, NY-Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) faculty member and researcher Rodney Haring, PhD, MSW, has been named to a federal advisory panel that makes recommendations on ways to reduce health disparities among federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Dr. Haring, a member of the Seneca Nation, was appointed as an at-large delegate to the American Indian and Alaska Native Health Research Advisory Council (HRAC), which works with tribal leaders...
ORLANDO, FL-Imagine this with me. A New Testament in English, translated by the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, that reflects the beauty and profound simplicity of our traditional way of thinking and speaking. This dream is becoming a reality with the support, expertise, and experience of the Bible translation organizations of OneBook of Canada and Wycliffe Associates of the U.S. In September 2015, a group of ten Native American/First Nations people from Turtle Island,...
LONDON, ENGLAND—Award-winning actor Mark Rylance launched a new campaign to save the Kawahiva—a small uncontacted hunter-gatherer tribe in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. The Kawahiva are one of the most vulnerable peoples on the planet. Their forest is being invaded by armed loggers, miners and powerful ranchers in a region of Brazil’s Mato Grosso state known for its violence, rampant illegal logging and land grabs. The uncontacted Indians are forced to live constantly on the run from invaders. Many of their relatives have be...
MADISON, WI-Two Wisconsin tribes received a prestigious award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Wednesday. The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Menominee Nation were selected for the Culture of Health Prize. They will each receive $25,000 in recognition of their efforts to promote longer, healthier and more productive lives in their communities. "This year's RWJF Culture of Health Prize winners are inspiring examples of communities that are weavi...
WINNIPEG, MB-On Wednesday, September 2, 2015, Sheila North Wilson became the first woman Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO). A former television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the CTV Network, she defeated not only incumbent MKO Grand Chief David Harper but also William Elvis Thomas from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. North Wilson is a member of the Bunibonibee First Nation. She is married to Rob Wilson, whose known...
OTTAWA, ON—Prior to the October 19 federal election which brought in the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the leaders of Canada’s three major political parties all promised to negotiate a massive settlement on a land-claim with the Manitoba Métis Federation. This is a deal that is estimated to cost the Canadian government billions of dollars. With a new government just installed in Ottawa, it remains to be seen what will transpire. This discussion began as the result of a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2013...
WINNIPEG, MB - The "Sleeping Giant" has awakened according to First Nations leaders following Canada's election on October 19, which elected Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, 43, in a landslide victory allowing them to form a majority government. The Conservative Party's government went down to a resounding defeat which returned former prime minister Stephen Harper to form the Official Opposition Party. Ten First Nations candidates were elected, highlighted by the election...
