Did you come from a one-horse town, or was it a bit bigger than that? I grew up in Merritt, British Columbia, and it’s about as horsy as you can imagine. If horse activities such as Skijoring are your thing, you really need to come to my part of the world. I’m not into horses, ...
“Every person was born with a set of spiritual instructions or understandings… It’s what we do with it that defines us as human beings.” ― Aimée Craft (Métis), Treaty Words: For as Long as the Rivers Flow In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the significance of establishing relationships across...
The Maya were experts in thinking critically about our relationship with time. Their calendars demonstrate sophisticated knowledge around the intersections of cyclical rhythms found among the stars, on the Earth and within our bodies. In Part 1 of this series we looked at the significance of establishin...
Image Credit: Métis (Otipemisiwak) Artist, Christi Belcourt Indigenous research and scholarship is about infusing higher education institutions with eons of wisdom that was dismissed and discarded through colonization. Freelance writer Paul Fraumeni discusses the profusion of Indigenous wisdom at York...
The Gchi Dewin Festival brings national Indigenous and non-Indigenous presence to northern Ontario’s Anishinaabe territory and Parry Sound region. The annual storytelling festival, now in its fifth year, happened on November 28-30, 2019. The festival is free to the public and takes place at the Charles...
Smudge, Don’t Judge: Assisting Two Spirit/Trans Survivors of Violence is a ten-minute film resource for community workers made to honour the memory of Alloura Wells, a Trans woman who went missing in July 2017. The narrator reminds us that Wells was murdered and her body discovered not by police, who kn...
Engraving of Columbus arriving at Hispaniola. Courtesy of the US Library of Congress Columbus is my least favorite word. Columbus Day, Columbus statues, towns named after Columbus, streets and circles and squares named Columbus, Columbus parks—I have a problem with all of them, and likely always will. A...
Band Council Office, Uashat-Maliotenam. Photo Credit: Radio-Canada. by Ishaan Sachdeva and Ritika Arora “Lives are at stake.” “[the community] is suffering and commiserating.” “…We’re facing a crisis here.” “Our sadness knows no bounds.” These are the voices of the people in our own nation. Uashat...
Photo: Library and Archives Canada As gunfire erupted in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, Métis leader Louis Riel held up his crucifix and fervently prayed for victory. Although the Métis were victorious at the Battle of Duck Lake, Canada ultimately crushed the Northwest Resistance. Looting of Métis possessions...
Wampum Weaving Stories workshop| Image credit: Matt McGregor Winter marks the storytelling season and this past January MUSKRAT Magazine and Rez 91.3 FM co-presented the 2nd annual Gchi Dewin Indigenous Storytellers Festival: Under the Spirit Moon in Wasauksing First Nation and Parry Sound, ON. Gchi De...
