Musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, pictured here in 1970, has long said she didn’t know who her birth parents were but that she was Indigenous. Last week, a CBC investigation revealed both her parents were white.
CMA-Creative Management Associates, Los Angeles
Lori Campbell, a ‘60s Scoop survivor, challenges the CBC’s motives in their exposé on the questionable Indigenous roots of legendary singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Buffy Sainte-Marie performs at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. A CBC investigation has found a record of legendary musician Sainte-Marie’s birth certificate, other documents and details from family members who say she is not Indigenous.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Lupul
The CBC report on iconic singer Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry is having deep impact in multiple ways across Indigenous lands across Canada.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina. Indigenous leaders have criticized the province’s updated consultation framework saying it excludes Indigenous nations.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
Saskatchewan’s provincial government must work with Indigenous nations on a shared vision for the future that is more likely to withstand the tests of time and litigation.
Alberta students learning to be teachers visited a tipi erected by Woodland Cree Elder Phillip Campiou, near the banks of kisiskâciwan-sîpî (the North Saskatchewan River).
(Lorin Yochim)
Experiential learning took students in a bachelor of education program out of the classroom for their own learning about truth and reconciliation and to prepare them for future classrooms.
The Blue Quills Indian Residential School in St. Paul, Alta., Aug. 15, 1931. When the federal government announced plans to shutter the school in 1970, the community fought back, and Blue Quills became the first residence and school controlled by First Nations people in Canada.
(Provincial Archives of Alberta)
To honour Truth and Reconciliation Day, we spoke with Terri Cardinal, who headed up one of the many community searches for the children who went missing while attending an Indian Residential School.
Labrador Tea is one of the boreal plants that are classified as pests or weeds. The plant is important to Indigenous communities for its healing properties.
(J. Baker)
Some boreal plant species are classified — and treated — as weeds, affecting Indigenous communities’ access to important cultural, medicinal and ceremonial resources.
A Canada Goose stands on the road in Ottawa which will now be known as Kichi Zībī Mīkan (Great River Road), after the National Capital Commission agreed to change the name from the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
The road was closed to cars in May 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
For Indigenous literature courses to be successful, Indigenous cultural safety must be centred, and commitment to teacher professional development is a must.
For many non-engineers, iron rings worn by Canadian engineers have been shrouded in mystery.
(Shutterstock)
Engineers say the current ‘iron ring’ ritual is steeped in colonial worldviews and excludes the public from understanding engineers’ ethical obligations.
Indigenous spiritual activities have become more common in Canadian public schools in recent years.
(Shutterstock)
Spirituality is a vital part of Indigenous identities. Incorporating spiritual education can create space in schools where Indigenous students can learn and grow.
Gerald Antoine, Northwest Territories regional chief and Assembly of First Nations lead delegate to Rome, is flanked by Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, left, and Cassidy Caron, Métis National Council president, in St.Peter’s Square in Rome, after their meeting with Pope Francis on April 1.
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
As a theologian who studies church apologies for historical wrongs, I understand why the Pope was moved to speak this week, but I hope this was not his definitive apology.
Pope Francis incenses the altar as he celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, in November 2020.
(Vincenzo Pinto/Pool via AP)
A papal apology, if done in ‘a good way,’ could help remove barriers to transforming harmful relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the Catholic Church.
Rocks painted with the message “every child matters,” commemorate Orange Shirt Day, Sept. 30, about creating meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and their legacy.
(Province of British Columbia/Flickr)
A study in one Alberta school board found racism contributes to poor attendance of on-reserve Indigenous students in public schools, despite educators not recognizing this as a barrier.
We need more positive Indigenous-settler alliances like the one with Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, which created 24 km Freedom Road to provide access to the Trans-Canada Highway. Here a teepee frame sits beside Shoal Lake.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis could represent an opportunity to live up to all the recent talk of reconciliation in Canada.
The Beardy Blackhawks show solidarity after a game, thank each other and bring the game to a close, at Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation, Sask., Nov. 21, 2019.
Robert Henry
The Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) recently eliminated the Beardy’s Blackhawks Midget AAA team — but needs to reconsider the team’s crucial community role in an era of reconciliation.
The system of ‘birth alerts’ across Canada perpetuates the removal of children from Indigenous families begun by residential schools. Pictured here: a historical report on residential schools released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
To make meaningful progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, all provinces and territories should promptly follow B.C. and ban discriminatory ‘birth alerts.’
Students stage a walkout to raise awareness about systemic discrimination in the Canadian justice system during a protest at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C., on March 14, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
As students and faculty start a new academic year, it’s a good time to highlight the barriers to Indigenizing the campus and the importance of Indigenous voices on campus.
One Reconciliation Pole and two Welcome Figures were unveiled during a ceremony in honour of truth and reconciliation on National Indigenous Peoples Day in Vancouver on June 21, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
This Canada Day might be a good time for Canadians to think about the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action that ask Canadians to reject European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples.