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Exclusive Interview with Provincial Court of Alberta’s Chief Judge Derek Redman
Personal passion of Alberta chief judge leads to creation of Indigenous Justice Strategy
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 3—A part of the colonial system that has not been working well for Indigenous people in Alberta could be about to make a turn. Last Week, Provincial Court of Alberta’s Chief Judge Derek Redman, unveiled the Alberta court’s first-ever Indigenous Justice Strategy. He gave Windspeaker.com an exclusive interview about the strategy and its goals.
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New Job Opportunity:
Health & Physical Education Teaching, Bigstone Cree Nation & Ever Active Schools
Visit the Windspeaker.com Job Board for other Opportunities
LJI Journalist, Windspeaker Media
Recruitment Officer, Brandon University
Financial Analyst, First Nations Information Governance Centre
Indigenous Student Success Officer, Brandon University
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“It’s not enough to have a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation if the abusive relationships remain largely intact.”
—Eva Jewell
Systemic racism must be addressed if substantive movement is to happen on TRC Calls to Action
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 3—Until systemic racism is acknowledged and addressed there will be little progress made on the 94 Calls to Action outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on the legacy of Indian residential schools. Six Indigenous panelists participated in a discussion hosted by the Yellowhead Institute last week on the cusp of the second annual National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
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New Job Opportunity:
Wildland Fire Geomatics Coordinator, Parks Canada (Natural Resource Management)
More from the Job Board:
Coordinator: Indigenous Student Engagement, Concordia University Montreal
Marketing Promotions Coordinator, Windspeaker Media
Civil Carpenter, Willowridge Construction
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“We were looking at what we could do to incorporate the roots of lacrosse into our team names.”
—Division founder Savanna Smith
Women’s lacrosse league incorporates Haudenosaunee story into renaming of teams
By Sam Laskaris, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 3—A British Columbia-based women’s lacrosse league has found a way to recognize the sport’s Indigenous roots. The Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) West Division, which will begin its second season of operations this December, will feature six teams. All of the clubs for the coming season will feature names from animals taken from the story of The Great Ball Game, the Bear, Deer, Turtle, Hawk, Bat and Flying Squirrel.
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“We need to end the careless disregard of human life based on race, stigma and class.”
—Bridget Tolley
Relatives of dead Indigenous women still seek answers from police after decades
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 4—In highly emotional and personal testimonies, female relatives of five Indigenous women whose lives were taken, launched question after question after question about the handling of the case files by RCMP and municipal police forces in British Columbia. The most pressing question was, ‘Why aren’t Indigenous women valued?’
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“I think it is sincere and good-hearted.”
—Dr. Hadley Friedland, associate law professor and academic director with Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge
Law professor says Alberta court’s new Indigenous Justice Strategy a good first step
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
Oct. 5—A new Indigenous Justice Strategy unveiled by the Provincial Court of Alberta aims to ensure the “people’s court” is for all people. Dr. Hadley Friedland, associate law professor and academic director with Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge at the University of Alberta, is particularly pleased to see that it has been framed as being specifically responsive to the 2015 final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the legacy of Indian residential schools, as well as the recommendations from the 2019 final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
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“Even if we had the best relationship with the RCMP, it’s still not the same as having our own (police).”
— Siksika Nation Chief Ouray Crowfoot
Siksika Nation moves toward policing its own people again
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 5—The Siksika Nation is one step closer to the return of its own self-administered police service. “If you don’t have basic safety and security, you’re not going to meet your full potential as a community,” said Chief Ouray Crowfoot. The First Nation is in talks with the Alberta and federal governments to establish an operational timeline for the transition of services from the RCMP to the Siksika Nation police service.
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“This is not a complete history lesson, or a step-by-step of what happened. They are a series of snapshots in the overall history of the creation of Canada.”
— Dinae Robinson, executive producer, creator, director and showrunner
True Story documentary put an Indigenous lens on the history of Canada
By Adam Laskaris, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 5—Growing up in Winnipeg, Dinae Robinson wanted to be an actress. “Ever since I was little, I knew I was meant to be a storyteller in some capacity,” Robinson said. “I knew I wanted to work in film, ever since I can remember.” Robinson, an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) from Swan Lake First Nation, Man., began her film career by picking up background roles in whatever film productions came through Winnipeg. But for her latest project, a two-hour documentary titled True Story, which premiered Sept. 30 on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, she’s labelled as the executive producer, creator, director and showrunner.
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“That's the way we are in our community. We don't hide [people] away.”
— Herbie Barnes
Hobbit-inspired Indigenous children’s play opens in Toronto
By Adam Laskaris, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 6—When Toronto-based Young People’s Theatre (YPT) artistic director Herbie Barnes was working on a stage production of The Hobbit in the late 1990s, he likely didn’t envision the far-reaching effect the show would have on his life. Barnes thought about Gollum and how he could write a story about the character from within the First Nations community? His play Bentboy opened at YPT Oct. 5 and will run until Oct. 23. It is directed by Eric Coates and features choreography by Waawaate Fobister.
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“There are seven strong participants on the council that will be doing whatever we can to make sure these are implemented with whoever’s in power.”
—Rachelle Venne, chair of the Premier’s Council on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Chair of Alberta’s MMIWG premier’s council confident change in leadership won’t ‘kibosh’ its work
By Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
OCT. 6—By the end of today there will be a new premier in Alberta, but Rachelle Venne, who was announced as chair of the Premier’s Council on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) earlier this week, is not concerned that her council will be shelved. The governing United Conservative Party is electing a new leader after Premier Jason Kenney was forced to step down from the helm of the party. Venne says the MMIWG working group, which she also chaired, took steps to ensure leadership changes wouldn’t impact the life of the council.
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