Indigenous

B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond speaks during a news conference after releasing a joint report with the B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner about cyberbullying, in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday November 13, 2015. The University of Regina says it has rescinded the honorary doctor of laws degree it awarded to Turpel-Lafond in 2003 as she faces questions about her Indigenous heritage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Turpel-Lafond stripped of honorary degree over claims of Indigenous heritage

University first to revoke a degree granted to Turpel-Lafond after she returned 2 others

B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond speaks during a news conference after releasing a joint report with the B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner about cyberbullying, in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday November 13, 2015. The University of Regina says it has rescinded the honorary doctor of laws degree it awarded to Turpel-Lafond in 2003 as she faces questions about her Indigenous heritage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Jon Coleman (right) and other members of the Cowichan Tribes-owned Khowutzun Development Corporation, here seen blocking work at the site of the new Cowichan District Hospital on Bell McKinnon Road over union issues, has called on the provincial government to abolish an agreement that he says prevents him and other Indigenous contractors from working on the site. (Robert Barron/Citizen)

Indigenous contractor won’t represent ‘token Indians’ in B.C. hospital dispute

Builder wants community benefits agreement abolished despite exception allowing him to work on site

Jon Coleman (right) and other members of the Cowichan Tribes-owned Khowutzun Development Corporation, here seen blocking work at the site of the new Cowichan District Hospital on Bell McKinnon Road over union issues, has called on the provincial government to abolish an agreement that he says prevents him and other Indigenous contractors from working on the site. (Robert Barron/Citizen)
People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. First Nation declares emergency over drug and alcohol crisis

Ehattesaht First Nation on Vancouver Island says six young people have died

People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Health Minister Adrian Dix said Cowichan Tribes’ companies can work at the construction site of the new Cowichan District Hospital. (Ministry of Health graphic)

Stalement that has slowed construction of $1.4 billion B.C. hospital over: Dix

B.C. health minister says local Indigenous companies free to work at hospital site near Duncan

Health Minister Adrian Dix said Cowichan Tribes’ companies can work at the construction site of the new Cowichan District Hospital. (Ministry of Health graphic)
Brandi Bird’s is. the new writer-in-residence at KPU. Their work has been published in Room Magazine, Brick Magazine, Prism International and more. They are Indigiqueer Saulteaux, Cree and Métis from Treaty One territory. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

KPU welcomes new Indigenous artist and writer in residence for the Spring semester

Langley’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is welcoming Brandi Bird and Brandon Gabriel…

Brandi Bird’s is. the new writer-in-residence at KPU. Their work has been published in Room Magazine, Brick Magazine, Prism International and more. They are Indigiqueer Saulteaux, Cree and Métis from Treaty One territory. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Hinatinyis Coté and Larry Johnson drum and sing with Donna Samuel at Spirit Square, Harbour Quay prior to the opening ceremonies for the Orange Shirt Day walk on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Hinatinyis Coté and Larry Johnson drum and sing with Donna Samuel at Spirit Square, Harbour Quay prior to the opening ceremonies for the Orange Shirt Day walk on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

How Truth and Reconciliation Day is marked across Canada

B.C. would become the 6th province or territory to designate Sept. 30 as a holiday.

Hinatinyis Coté and Larry Johnson drum and sing with Donna Samuel at Spirit Square, Harbour Quay prior to the opening ceremonies for the Orange Shirt Day walk on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Hinatinyis Coté and Larry Johnson drum and sing with Donna Samuel at Spirit Square, Harbour Quay prior to the opening ceremonies for the Orange Shirt Day walk on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond listens during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday Nov. 13, 2015. A statement from Royal Roads University says it has accepted the return of an honorary doctorate from Turpel-Lafond, who was the subject of a CBC investigation about her claims of Indigenous heritage last fall. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Turpel-Lafond returns second honorary degree after being told of identity review

Royal Roads University says it initiated a review in response to public concerns

B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond listens during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday Nov. 13, 2015. A statement from Royal Roads University says it has accepted the return of an honorary doctorate from Turpel-Lafond, who was the subject of a CBC investigation about her claims of Indigenous heritage last fall. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Sept. 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It will become a paid statutory holiday in B.C. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. making National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a paid stat holiday

Provincial legislature passed first reading of new legislation Tuesday morning (Feb. 7)

Sept. 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It will become a paid statutory holiday in B.C. (Black Press Media file photo)
Spawning sockeye salmon, a species of pacific salmon, are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

First Nations, B.C. groups launch coalition to save Pacific salmon from extinction

New coalition says Pacific salmon populations have declined by more than 90 per cent since the 1970s

Spawning sockeye salmon, a species of pacific salmon, are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ottawa spending $2M for international commission to offer advice on unmarked graves

Organization will undertake a cross-country outreach campaign with Indigenous communities

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Chief John Powell, centre, of the Mamalilikulla First Nation, sits with Joyce Murray, back left, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and former chief Richard Sumner during an announcement about a new marine refuge in the Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala (Lull Bay/Hoeya Sound) area in Knight Inlet on B.C.’s central coast, at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The federal and British Columbia governments alongside 15 coastal First Nations have officially endorsed the blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas along the west coast of Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Governments, B.C. coastal First Nations endorse marine protection action plan

New protected areas coming between the top of Vancouver Island to the Canada-Alaska border

Chief John Powell, centre, of the Mamalilikulla First Nation, sits with Joyce Murray, back left, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and former chief Richard Sumner during an announcement about a new marine refuge in the Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala (Lull Bay/Hoeya Sound) area in Knight Inlet on B.C.’s central coast, at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The federal and British Columbia governments alongside 15 coastal First Nations have officially endorsed the blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas along the west coast of Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A First Nations house post, shown in a handout photo, is being returned to its home in B.C. after 138 years, including spending the last two decades in storage at Harvard University in Massachusetts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Gitxaala Nation **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Emotional return of house post connecting B.C.’s Gitxaala Nation to their ancestors

Post has been shipped from Harvard University, expected to arrive in Prince Rupert next month

A First Nations house post, shown in a handout photo, is being returned to its home in B.C. after 138 years, including spending the last two decades in storage at Harvard University in Massachusetts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Gitxaala Nation **MANDATORY CREDIT**
The third χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous collection on a KPU campus, after the first in Surrey last year and the second in Richmond earlier this month, focuses on medicines from the land. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Medicines from the land: Indigenous collection at KPU Langley

Collection features salves, products, and books

  • Feb 1, 2023
The third χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous collection on a KPU campus, after the first in Surrey last year and the second in Richmond earlier this month, focuses on medicines from the land. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

First Nations women overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths: doctor

Illicit drugs are killing First Nations people at 5 times the rate of B.C.’s general population

Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
FILE - A worker with the Pebble Mine project digs in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma, Alaska, July 13, 2007. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a decision Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, that would block plans for the proposed Pebble Mine, a copper and gold project in southwest Alaska. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

U.S. government uses rare veto to block Alaska copper, gold mine plan

Canadian firm’s plans neighbouring world’s largest sockeye fishery dealt huge blow

FILE - A worker with the Pebble Mine project digs in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma, Alaska, July 13, 2007. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a decision Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, that would block plans for the proposed Pebble Mine, a copper and gold project in southwest Alaska. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)
Natalie Wood-Wiens, manager of Indigenous services at KPU, and Zena Mitchell, associate vice-president of enrolment services and registrar at KPU. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Natalie Wood-Wiens, manager of Indigenous services at KPU, and Zena Mitchell, associate vice-president of enrolment services and registrar at KPU. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
A cyclist rolls past the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on October 13, 2016. After 138 years, including two decades in storage, a house post will be returned to a First Naiton in British Columbia from Harvard University. The house post was bought by a fishing company in 1885 and has been part of the museum’s anthropological artifacts since 1917. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Charles Krupa

House post returning to B.C. First Nation after 138 years, decades in Harvard storage

Post will be exhibited at Museum of Northern B.C. until a museum in the village of Lax Klan is built

A cyclist rolls past the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on October 13, 2016. After 138 years, including two decades in storage, a house post will be returned to a First Naiton in British Columbia from Harvard University. The house post was bought by a fishing company in 1885 and has been part of the museum’s anthropological artifacts since 1917. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Charles Krupa
A sign commemorating victims of residential schools is attached to a fence line in front of homes east of Calgary near Gliechen, Alta., Tuesday, June 29, 2021. A new report from a group looking into children that died and went missing at an Alberta residential school says unpasteurized milk was responsible for the deaths of Indigenous children at the institution. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Probe into Alberta residential school links unpasteurized milk to children’s deaths

Estimates say up to 400 children died while attending Blue Quills residential school

A sign commemorating victims of residential schools is attached to a fence line in front of homes east of Calgary near Gliechen, Alta., Tuesday, June 29, 2021. A new report from a group looking into children that died and went missing at an Alberta residential school says unpasteurized milk was responsible for the deaths of Indigenous children at the institution. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The investigation continues at the site of the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
The investigation continues at the site of the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

66 more potential graves identified at former residential school in B.C.’s Cariboo

The results come from Phase 2 of investigation into unmarked graves at St. Joseph’s Mission

The investigation continues at the site of the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
The investigation continues at the site of the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
People of European descent may choose to falsely claim to be Indigenous for personal gain or a sense of absolution, but Métis legal expert Jean Teillet says it would take a psychiatrist to try to fully answer, “why?” Teillet, counsel for the Women of The Metis Nation, is seen speaking to reporters at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Friday, May 24, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Indigenous identity fraud ‘the ultimate step in colonialism,’ Métis lawyer says

Jean Teillet examined the harm caused by Indigenous identity fraud, suggested prevention measures

People of European descent may choose to falsely claim to be Indigenous for personal gain or a sense of absolution, but Métis legal expert Jean Teillet says it would take a psychiatrist to try to fully answer, “why?” Teillet, counsel for the Women of The Metis Nation, is seen speaking to reporters at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Friday, May 24, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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