aboriginal

June 1st Aboriginal Day of Action - Toronto

fifthbusiness — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 16:16:06 +0000

GRC Ontario Press Release-May 27, 2013.

Bannock Canadian Comfort Food? Devouring Culture

Zach Ruiter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:41:14 +0000

Wholesome. Delectable. Comforting. Colonialism.

Another Site 41?

Gwalgen Dent — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:50:08 +0000

Landfill in Southern Ontario Starts Legal Battle

After years of blockades and campaigning, another battle to protect wetlands and water in Southern Ontario is going to court.

Cayuga is a small community on 6-Nations territory South of Hamilton. For 5 years, protesters, First-Nations and Cayuga community members have been trying to stop the development of a landfill by SF Partnership Chartered Accountants and Haldimand Norfolk Sanitary Landfill Inc. On October 2nd, preliminary hearings to stop the sites development occurred.

“There have been blockades to stop trucks coming in twice”, most recently in late 2008, says Jody Orr, co-chair of Haldimand Against Landfill Transfer (HALT). “What happened in 2007 was an attempt to bring garbage in and some members of the Haudenosaunee and our group stopped it. Since then, there has been little activity on the site. We keep a watch on it.”

Various blockades and legal battles around dumpsites and development have been occurring this summer in Southern Ontario. “Site 41” in Simcoe County was slated to have a dumpsite built on top of it for garbage in the surrounding area. Unfortunately for residents in the area, it was also on an aquifer containing the “purest water in the world”. Protesters and members of the Council Of Canadians filed an injunction claiming the site was operating illegally in July of 2009 and on September 22, Simcoe County councilors voted to stop construction and development of the site.

Just a few weeks earlier, development at the Hanlon Creek Business Park in Guelph was halted for 30 days by a court injunction. The site had been occupied beginning in July by Guelph and 6-Nations protesters. Recently, the City of Guelph then voted to halt construction until July 2010.

Breaking Aboriginal stereotypes through Art

phyllistsang — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:28:27 +0000

"We are often being portrayed negatively in the media," Andrew Pederson, one of the 13 young native artists featured at Art Gallery of Ontario said; "I want to express who we are as native people."
Stereotypes of Native people are engrained in the minds of many Canadians. Films and literatures reinforce those stereotypes for over a hundred years and a lot of news coverage confirms them. The media often centers on political and constitutional issues, forest fires, poverty and substance or sexual abuse, and little attention is given to their culture and achievements. All of these result in an image of inferiority and a loss of self-esteem among the Native youths.
When Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) became a reality in 1999, it opened doors to Aboriginal artists, writers, actors, and producers with the skills and the means to bring Aboriginal people their own images and messages. Now, Canadians are able to watch programming produced by native people, as long as they are willing to surf up to channel 55 and beyond.
The Network alone is not enough to eradicate deeply rooted stereotypes.
On July 8th, an exhibition of art works by Native youths at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) provided a two-folded opportunity to dispel the plague: It opened a platform for the young artists to reacquaint with their heritage, express their identity, and reclaim their right to define who they are; it also allowed the public to unlearn stereotypes and relearn about Aboriginal people.
(Re)represetnation, the first joint venture of the Youth Council at AGO and Native Canadian Centre Toronto (NCCT), brought together 13 Native youths to produce 12 pieces of art work.
Tannis Nielson is the coordinator of the youth program at NCCT. She runs The One Nation in Unity Youth Program which provides a wide range of activities, including sports, art, media, and even historical study of Indian movement.