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In August 2018, the federal government announced it would declare a federal statutory holiday to mark the legacy of the residential school system. The date and name of the proposed holiday to be chosen in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples.

In declaring a federal statutory holiday to honour the survivors, their families, and communities the federal government will be fulfilling #80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 calls to action:

Contributed by: Wedlidi Speck

Edwin Cook was born in Alert Bay, the home of the Namgis First Nations in 1897. He was the fifth of 16 children born to Jane and Stephen Cook. Jane was a noble woman from the Kwaguł tribe and Stephen was thunderbird clan from the Namgis.

It has been over three years (June 2, 2015) now since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada released its summary report and 94 calls to action for reconciliation. Testimony gathered during a six-year period from over 7,000 survivors of the residential school system, forms the basis of the report.The calls to action (CTAs) targeted key institutionsincluding child welfare, health, justice, education, and business.

There are more and more articles in the news about the value of Indigenous traditional knowledge being taken into account in climate change studies, environmental assessments, wildlife management, plant species’ studies. That has not always been the case. Historically, traditional ecological knowledge was largely ignored by western ecological science practitioners.

In this article, we take a look at the many factors that had to be in place to support recognition of Indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) from obscurity to being considered a valuable asset in environmental studies. At the time of this writing, May 2018, it is still not mandatory in the environmental assessment process.

“There used to be millions of us. Although there were no population counts, best estimates suggest that there were at least 40 million of us in the Western Hemisphere in 1491. In 1542, Las Casa, the first Spaniard to make a population guess said, “it looked as if God had placed all of or the greater part of humanity in these countries.”

To celebrate National Aboriginal Day on June 21 we have compiled a list of 21+ important Indigenous people from all walks of life. It is a random list of inspirational Indigenous leaders, artists, activists, journalists, veterans, musicians, comedians, authors, documentarians, athletes and “just plain folk” whose determination, and commitment to their passion and beliefs have, and continue to, improve Canada’s culture and social wellness. This is by no means a complete list - that would take a lifetime to compile - it is however a compilation of names that should, in this era of reconciliation, be familiar household names.

“The Bostonian Robert Kemp, on the brig Otter just north of the Queen Charlotte Islands in December 1810, reported that "the Natives are all infected with the Land Scurvy which Renders them Completely Incapable of Hunting[.] this Coast is as Silent and Solitary as the House of death and I wish that I was Clear from it." [1]

Throughout the Americas, Indigenous contact with Europeans was soon followed with drastic declines in Indigenous populations. With no natural immunity to diseases introduced by the Europeans, Indigenous Peoples were decimated by waves of epidemics of smallpox, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, influenza and measles. [2] The smallpox virus, which came not so much as waves but as tsunamis, decimated the coastal First Nation population not once, but at least twice. Smallpox devastated Indigenous populations in other regions of the country as well but here we focus on the impact of smallpox on First Nations on the West coast.

As Canadians from coast to coast to coast prepare to mark Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, 2017 I wanted to revisit and reflect on the late Chief Dan George’s speech “Lament for Confederation” made on the occasion of Canada’s 100th birthday. I thought it would make a good measuring stick to see how things have changed for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Following every training session we ask learners if they would kindly take the time to fill in a survey about the training. We find these surveys invaluable as they help us ensure the training fulfills our on-site and public workshop clients’ needs, provides insight to what learners are interested in, and provides ideas for new training modules, blog articles and ebooks. A survey from a recent training session included requests for more information regarding stereotypes about Indigenous Peoples.

Did you know November 8 is National Aboriginal Veterans Day? If you are new to the knowledge of the significant contributions of Indigenous veterans during the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War, here are some facts to pique your interest and build your knowledge.