Every Now and Then
I remember my very first political protest. The premier of Québec said he was prepared to bulldoze the Cree into the modern age over some massive hydro-electric project that would divert entire rivers...
View ArticleWhat’s up, Doctrine?
Recently, I became a last-minute replacement for a panel discussion at a Montreal university for the “Anti-Capitalist Teach-in Against the G8/G20”. The person I replaced said he had to back out that...
View ArticleWhat’s up, Doctrine? (part 2)
I probably first heard about the “Doctrine of Discovery” when I came upon my parents during one of their kitchen table sessions. Typically, Dad would make a point by poking a finger at the table. Mom...
View Article“The Real Oka” and Other Conspiracy Theories
I read Doug George’s anti-warrior diatribe in Tuesday’s Montreal Gazette (“As I Saw It: The Real Oka Story,” July 13, 2010) with a mixture of shock, horror, and sadness — roughly in that order. It’s...
View ArticleTwo steps forward… or is it backward?
A new Angus Reid poll has some disturbing opinions from the average Canadian about progress on Aboriginal issues in the 20 years since the “Oka Crisis”. First, the poll found that Joe and Jane...
View ArticleDoin’ the Oka Shuffle
You’ve probably heard via the news media that “Oka is heating up again.” That there are “rising tensions with Mohawks on the 20th anniversary of the Oka Crisis.” Maybe you’ve heard that “Mohawks are...
View ArticleWould Bloomberg speak of Blacks the way he did about Indians?
You might never have heard of Mayor Bloomberg of New York City or care about anything he might have said. In fact, the most you might ever see of NYC would be on a screen or through a window landing at...
View ArticleFirst look at ‘LAST CALL INDIAN’
The documentary Last Call Indian begins with a simple premise captured in its very first shot. The narrator’s voice begins as the camera pulls back from an empty bed fitted with railings in a small...
View ArticleWho is Indian Affairs helping in England?
Who is Indian and Northern Affairs Canada helping in England? That’s a darned good question. In fact, I’d like to know more after this little tidbit arrived in my email inbox from a helpful gnome, and...
View ArticleTribute: Dr. Patricia Monture (1958-2010)
I first met Patricia Monture at the University of Western Ontario in 1979. She was taking anthropology and other courses for a B.A.. I was in the one-year Program in Journalism for Native Peoples...
View ArticleMission Improbable
A few years ago, someone sent me figures downloaded from a Canadian website. Those figures identified the amount of year-end bonuses paid out to Indian Affairs bureaucrats. If I remember correctly, the...
View ArticleThe new (media) world: reflecting on early Aboriginal adoption of the web
Gawd, I love the Internet sometimes. Years ago, when I was working in diversity, I did a quick search of web sites that had content by and for the main target groups: Women, People with Disabilities,...
View ArticleIt’s you, always you: the realities of Aboriginal / non-Aboriginal...
No, this isn’t a late Valentine’s card. This has got nothing to do with love or relationships. Well, maybe relationships but not the personal kind. More like the international kind. No, it’s not a...
View ArticleMy digital de-cluttering diary
Every now and then, my digital desktop gets cluttered with junk. Oh, sure, it’s all gold at first, oh so worthy of attention at some point… just not now. Taken from news sites, blogs or emails, I...
View ArticleNo Colonialism Here: An all-too-easy journalists guide to Canada’s aboriginals
So simplistic, you'll finish your articles in no time!
View ArticleWhy there ain’t no such a-thing as “Aboriginal culture”
Summertime and the livin’ is powwow, gathering, or festival. It’s over-priced Indian tacos, bison burgers, moose stew and corn soup. It’s the endless drone of boring chatter and lousy jokes by an MC,...
View ArticleWhat has Idle No More meant to you?
Complete the following sentence: “Idle No More has…”
View ArticleIn the Spirit of Crazy Dance: Why rounddancing is revolutionary
What this new wave of communal resistance among Canada's First Nations have in common with demonstrations during the height of South African apartheid
View ArticleA day both bitter and sweet for Indigenous women — and those who love them
Why Valentine's Day might not quite inspire Indigenous women (and those who love them) with wholly-manufactured visions of flowers and chocolate
View ArticleWhy is the house of “sober, second thought” the first line of attack on...
A look into the reasons behind the Canadian Senate launching so much legislation undermining the rights of Indigenous peoples
View Article
