Indigenous

Researchers say First Nations patients are more likely to leave Alberta emergency departments before receiving care than non-Indigenous patients. Treatment rooms in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital are pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

First Nations ER patients more likely to leave without care: study

Alberta study shows 6.8% left emergency departments before being seen, or against medical advice

Researchers say First Nations patients are more likely to leave Alberta emergency departments before receiving care than non-Indigenous patients. Treatment rooms in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital are pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Bear skins, drums and other traditional items are placed in the centre of the room where residents gather for healing circles at Waseskun Healing Centre, an Indigenous-run facility that is is the equivalent of a minimum-security penitentiary, in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Que., on March 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ally Lemieux Fanset

Indigenous healing lodges face chronic underfunding in Canada, critics say

Lodges provide alternative to conventional prisons and potential solution to overincarceration

Bear skins, drums and other traditional items are placed in the centre of the room where residents gather for healing circles at Waseskun Healing Centre, an Indigenous-run facility that is is the equivalent of a minimum-security penitentiary, in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Que., on March 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ally Lemieux Fanset
The Ulkatcho First Nation hosted a signing ceremony Friday, April 19. (MLA Lorne Doerkson photo)

B.C. First Nation to house largest off-grid solar project in Canada

The clean energy project is worth more than $15 million

The Ulkatcho First Nation hosted a signing ceremony Friday, April 19. (MLA Lorne Doerkson photo)
The BC Sports Hall of Fame unveiled a new Indigenous sports gallery on April 15. Alex Nelson was one of the athletes whose accomplishments were on display. (Courtsey of BC Sports Hall of Fame)

‘It was freedom’: Victoria man features in new B.C. Indigenous Sport Gallery

He started playing when he was 5 years old

The BC Sports Hall of Fame unveiled a new Indigenous sports gallery on April 15. Alex Nelson was one of the athletes whose accomplishments were on display. (Courtsey of BC Sports Hall of Fame)
A roll of film from the Royal BC Museum, one of the items to be digitized for the Indigenous archives. (Courtesy Royal BC Museum)

Royal BC Museum gets $250K donation to digitize Indigenous AV collection

Landmark donation from Wesik Family Foundation fuels museum’s audio-visual digitization project

A roll of film from the Royal BC Museum, one of the items to be digitized for the Indigenous archives. (Courtesy Royal BC Museum)
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Monday, April 15, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Budget 2024: $5B in Indigenous loan guarantees won’t bridge infrastructure gap

Guarantees in 2024 budget allow communities to decide which projects to invest in

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Monday, April 15, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Premier David Eby, Haida Nation Council President Gaagwiis (Jason Alsop), Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin and Haida Nation Council Vice-President Stephen Grosse (not pictured) signed the “Gaayhllxid/Gíihlagalgang ‘Rising Tide’ Haida Title Lands Agreement” in Haida Gwaii on April 14, 2024. (Government of B.C./YouTube)

B.C. signs agreement recognizing Haida Nation’s title over Haida Gwaii

First-of-its-kind agreement affirms Nation’s right over region, but not power over private land

Premier David Eby, Haida Nation Council President Gaagwiis (Jason Alsop), Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin and Haida Nation Council Vice-President Stephen Grosse (not pictured) signed the “Gaayhllxid/Gíihlagalgang ‘Rising Tide’ Haida Title Lands Agreement” in Haida Gwaii on April 14, 2024. (Government of B.C./YouTube)
The RCMP logo is seen on the shoulder of a superintendent during a news conference, Saturday, June 24, 2023 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Homeless Indigenous women in the North do not feel well-protected by the RCMP and instead face violence and discrimination by police, a new report from the Yellowknife Women’s Society has found. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Report slams RCMP treatment of homeless Indigenous women in the north

Violence and discrimination common thread to their experience in Northwest Territories survey

The RCMP logo is seen on the shoulder of a superintendent during a news conference, Saturday, June 24, 2023 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Homeless Indigenous women in the North do not feel well-protected by the RCMP and instead face violence and discrimination by police, a new report from the Yellowknife Women’s Society has found. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A sign of an orange shirt is attached to a fence during a Truth and Reconciliation walk in Saskatoon, Sask., on Friday, September 30, 2022. In B.C., residential school survivors and their family members will no longer have mental health care covered as of April 15, 2024, unless they have official First Nations status. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

Free counselling cut for non-status residential school survivors in B.C.

Health authority says mental health care only offered to those with First Nations status going forward

A sign of an orange shirt is attached to a fence during a Truth and Reconciliation walk in Saskatoon, Sask., on Friday, September 30, 2022. In B.C., residential school survivors and their family members will no longer have mental health care covered as of April 15, 2024, unless they have official First Nations status. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
Panelists at the third annual First Nations Justice Council forum discuss the launch of the Indigenous Women Justice Panel with 507 attendees present at the conference in Vancouver on April 8. (Alexandra Mehl photo)

‘Still at the margins’: Roadmap for justice for B.C. Indigenous women unveiled

Indigenous women remain far more likely to be jailed or murdered than national average

  • Apr 9, 2024
Panelists at the third annual First Nations Justice Council forum discuss the launch of the Indigenous Women Justice Panel with 507 attendees present at the conference in Vancouver on April 8. (Alexandra Mehl photo)
A scene from the documentary, “Tea Creek”, about Jacob Beaton’s initiative toward Indigenous-centric agriculture sovereignty, is shot last year in Kitwanga, B.C. (Ryan Dickie)

Reclaiming sovereignty: Northwest B.C. Indigenous food project focus of film

Documentary ‘Tea Creek’ to premier in May at Vancouver ‘s Doxa Film Festival

  • Apr 9, 2024
A scene from the documentary, “Tea Creek”, about Jacob Beaton’s initiative toward Indigenous-centric agriculture sovereignty, is shot last year in Kitwanga, B.C. (Ryan Dickie)
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak during a media event in Saskatoon on February 1, 2024. The AFN says decades of underfunding and failed fiduciary duties have created a $349-billion infrastructure gap, and it needs Ottawa’s help to close it. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

Canada’s First Nations say federal neglect has created a $349B gap

Assembly of First Nations wants that infrastructure shortfall closed by 2030

National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak during a media event in Saskatoon on February 1, 2024. The AFN says decades of underfunding and failed fiduciary duties have created a $349-billion infrastructure gap, and it needs Ottawa’s help to close it. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
Matilda Atleo, an Indigenous educator in diabetes for the First Nations Health Authority, shares diabetes information with attendees at Ahousaht’s Food Sovereignty Event in late March. (Alexandra Mehl photo)

High rates of Indigenous diabetes spark push for better B.C. services

On-reserve rates of diabetes are considerably higher than the national rate

  • Apr 8, 2024
Matilda Atleo, an Indigenous educator in diabetes for the First Nations Health Authority, shares diabetes information with attendees at Ahousaht’s Food Sovereignty Event in late March. (Alexandra Mehl photo)
The provincial government announced Roy Henry Vickers as BC Arts Council’s inaugural Elder-in Residence on Wednesday. (<a href="https://royhenryvickers.com/pages/artist-biography" target="_blank">royhenryvickers.com</a> photo)

Iconic artist Roy Henry Vickers named B.C.’s inaugural Elder-in-Residence

Provincial government makes announcement at Roy Henry Vickers Gallery in Tofino

The provincial government announced Roy Henry Vickers as BC Arts Council’s inaugural Elder-in Residence on Wednesday. (<a href="https://royhenryvickers.com/pages/artist-biography" target="_blank">royhenryvickers.com</a> photo)
The Lightning Rock in Abbotsford marks what is believed to be the burial site of First Nations people who were victims of small pox epidemics. The province announced on Wednesday (March 27) that it has purchased the 89-acre land and will transfer the property to Semá:th First Nation. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)

Province’s land purchase protects Indigenous sacred burial site in Abbotsford

89-acre Lightning Rock property to be transferred to Semá:th First Nation

The Lightning Rock in Abbotsford marks what is believed to be the burial site of First Nations people who were victims of small pox epidemics. The province announced on Wednesday (March 27) that it has purchased the 89-acre land and will transfer the property to Semá:th First Nation. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)
Community members tried to save a beached mother orca near the village of Zeballos on Vancouver Island on Saturday, March 24, 2024. (Screenshot/Tracy Smith/Facebook)

B.C. First Nation mourns ‘heartbreaking’ death of beached orca mom

Community to hold dinner to gather and connect with culture

  • Mar 27, 2024
Community members tried to save a beached mother orca near the village of Zeballos on Vancouver Island on Saturday, March 24, 2024. (Screenshot/Tracy Smith/Facebook)
In this composite image made from two photographs, Rebecca Julian, left, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash’s eldest sister, and Aquash’s eldest daughter, Denise Maloney, hold a portrait of Aquash in Shubenacadie, N.S., on June 20, 2003; At right, Naneek Graham holds a photograph of her father John Graham, who is incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary after being extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and convicted three years later in the 1975 murder of Pictou Aquash, while posing for a portrait at her home in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carson Walker, Darryl Dyck

2 daughters, 2 parents, and echoes of a murder that rocked Indigenous activism

Convicted killer looking to return to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence

In this composite image made from two photographs, Rebecca Julian, left, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash’s eldest sister, and Aquash’s eldest daughter, Denise Maloney, hold a portrait of Aquash in Shubenacadie, N.S., on June 20, 2003; At right, Naneek Graham holds a photograph of her father John Graham, who is incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary after being extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and convicted three years later in the 1975 murder of Pictou Aquash, while posing for a portrait at her home in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carson Walker, Darryl Dyck
Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks during a news conference, Monday, February 12, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Auditor slams Canada’s First Nations housing and policing failures

Report finds poor management is leaving communities underserved and funds unspent

Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks during a news conference, Monday, February 12, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A person walks past the Provincial Court of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. A B.C. judge has warned of what he calls a likely “tsunami” of Indigenous identity fraud in the courts, driven by the “desire” of non-Indigenous peoples to access what they deem to be benefits of identifying as Indigenous. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Courts bracing for ‘tsunami’ of Indigenous identity fraud cases

B.C. judge warns non-Indigenous people trying to access legally identifying as Indigenous

A person walks past the Provincial Court of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. A B.C. judge has warned of what he calls a likely “tsunami” of Indigenous identity fraud in the courts, driven by the “desire” of non-Indigenous peoples to access what they deem to be benefits of identifying as Indigenous. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
A British Columbia First Nation says racism in the health-care system persists despite efforts by the government and industry to combat the problem. Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, pauses while speaking during a ceremony in New Westminster, B.C., on Thursday July 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. Indigenous concerns about doctor shortage, health care racism persist

Tsilhqot’in First Nation say calls to action resulting from 2020 report remain unaddressed

A British Columbia First Nation says racism in the health-care system persists despite efforts by the government and industry to combat the problem. Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, pauses while speaking during a ceremony in New Westminster, B.C., on Thursday July 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck