Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister says the federal government will soon release a volume of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to a national archives centre.
Aboriginal Issues
So this Canadian university is hosting a “Decolonizing Light Project” to counter “colonialism in contemporary physics” 🤡
The University of Concordia is hosting a conference called “Decolonizing Light: Centering Indigenous Concerns in Science” in partnership with the Centre for Engineering in Society and several Native American groups.
The goal of the conference and its larger Decolonizing Light Project is to “decolonize science” and to develop “a culture of critical reflection and investigation of the relation of science and colonialism.”
h/t Marvin
Genocide, Stolen Land, and Other Lies about America
Native Americans: War refugees on conquered American soil?
A few years ago, I was invited by a small liberal arts college in the Northeast to give a series of lectures on ethics and the formation of moral character to a mixed group of juniors and graduating seniors. I began the class with a discussion of how moral character was undoubtedly shaped by cultural norms, mores, traditions, and protocols but that, given the capacity of humans to question the sense-making narratives they inherit from their societies, the development of agency was also an individualist undertaking.
Whose Land Did Native Americans Steal Before Europeans Stole It From Them?
We all know that history is not the left’s favorite subject. Many times, it’s just too inconvenient for their political narratives. Often, history has to be erased or submerged in order to achieve the “greater good” of creating a just and moral society.
In truth, it’s not much better on the right, although generally, the conservative take on American history is more nuanced. Christopher Columbus was an ass — a greedy, cruel, ambitious man who didn’t let anyone stand in his way to achieving riches and power, especially native people. But he was courageous enough to cross an unknown ocean in a rickety ship and with a mutinous crew.
UBC under pressure to cancel event with filmmaker who made “The Canadian Mass Graves Hoax” documentary
Lauren Southern’s movie claims that there’s no evidence of a Catholic Church cover-up.
(This story may be triggering for some readers. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society can be reached at 1-800-721-0066 and there’s a 24-hour crisis line at 1-866-925-4419.)
First Nations in Ontario could receive billions in back-rent after court ruling
Canada could face compensation payments to Indigenous communities worth billions, after a court found it had willfully deprived First Nations of the immense wealth extracted from their lands.
The Crown has made payments to 23 First Nations of the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory since 1850, in exchange for a territory roughly the size of France.
In 1874, the payment was increased to C$4 per person per year. It has not changed since then.
Federal government invests nearly $7M in Indigenous language revitalization in B.C.
The latest funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage brings the total investment from the federal government to $14.6 million this year, according to the FPCC.
Residential school compensation must be paid before any papal visit, say survivors, advocates
The potential $50 million to $100 million cost of a Canadian papal visit isn’t far off the amount the Catholic Church still owes residential school survivors, say advocates.
They say that bill — estimated at slightly more than $60 million — must be paid and all documents about the schools disclosed before one dollar is committed to bringing Pope Francis to Canada for an expected apology. One Vatican expert says that’s highly unlikely, but survivors say they’ll keep pressing.
Two-day Indigenous Legacy Gathering to be held in Nathan Phillips Square to honour residential school survivors
Tipis designed by Indigenous artists and youth will again transform Nathan Phillips Square. Both days will begin with a sunrise ceremony, followed by featured speakers and presentations. Evening programming will feature special entertainment each night. All programming and workshops are family-friendly, safe, and free to the public.
The gathering will also promote the Spirit Garden as a permanent structure responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Call to Action 82. The Spirit Garden will honour residential school survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities. The spirit garden is set to be completed in 2023. More information is available online.
Canadian flags on federal buildings to be raised next week: government source
Trudeau had seemed to indicate Indigenous communities would have to give consent for the government to raise the flags. But the source said that is not the case.
PM says Indigenous talks may offer ‘solution’ so Canada can honour war dead
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is confident a “solution” will be reached to allow Canada to honour its war dead on Remembrance Day by lowering the flag to half-mast.
Trudeau gave his strongest indication yet on Tuesday that the national flag could be raised and then lowered again at federal buildings on Remembrance Day.
‘Canada must own up’: Manitoba First Nations leaders call for national inquiry into Sixties Scoop
Beginning in the mid-1950s and lasting until the early 1990s, a series of policies enacted by provincial child welfare authorities saw thousands of First Nations and Inuit children taken from their homes and families, placed in foster homes, and eventually adopted out to white families from across Canada and the United States.
Compensation for Indigenous children removed from homes not justice, says AFN chief
Assembly of First Nations Chief RoseAnne Archibald says any federal compensation paid to Indigenous children removed from their homes would be a recognition of the harms that were caused, but does not make amends for the damage done in the process.
Williams Lake mayor criticized for sharing ‘other side of the story’ on residential schools
Williams Lake mayor Walt Cobb is being criticized for sharing a post about the ‘other side of residential schools,’ on his personal Facebook page.
The post, which the mayor shared late Friday morning Oct. 27, includes the words, ‘most of the older generation that did suffer are long dead and gone or have forgiven’ and ‘it seems to me that many of the new generations just want to be victims and feel the money would solve their pain.’
William Watson: After reconciliation, reparations?
Is the government of Canada planning to give all the land back?
The Fraser Institute has a new study out, called “ Fiscal explosion ,” on the spike in federal spending on Indigenous matters since 2015. It’s by Tom Flanagan, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Calgary and former adviser, campaign manager, and chief of staff to Stephen Harper. Flanagan is maybe our best example of a noted academic who entered what Teddy Roosevelt called the arena. His little book on game theory, using real-word examples from Canadian politics, is one of the best introductions to the subject I know. There aren’t many like him. Jean-Yves Duclos, a top-flight economist who is now federal health minister, is one. Let’s hope Duclos brings serious economics to health policy — starting maybe by figuring out what Ottawa is doing in a provincial field.