IndigiNews of the week: This week it’s #CancelCanadaDay

This week, many people took a stand against Canada Day celebrations with #CancelCanadaDay.

In Vancouver, a Cancel Canada Day rally drew hundreds downtown. “The group Idle No More organized a rally in downtown Vancouver, joining a nationwide movement against celebrating what it calls the ongoing genocide in Canada against Indigenous people,” an article by Global News states.

With the Canada’s dark history of genocide, assimilation practices and colonization, here are some articles and resources that are changing our country’s historical narrative. 

Worth your time  

• Sheila North writes for CBC an, Open letter on Canada Day calls for support, respect for all, where she explains that, “Instead of acting like the Original People are forgotten and pushing them aside like unwanted children, see them for the strength and resiliency they possess. You can learn from their challenges and help create opportunities for everyone.”
• As #CancelCanadaDay is trending, this National Post article, Here is what Sir John A. Macdonald did to Indigenous people, is resurfacing. It explains the negative impacts that the first prime minister had on Indigenous policy.
• Check out Rayanna Seymour-Hourie’s Canada Day piece, Indigenous activism in Canada’s past, present and future. “Today is a day of pride for many Canadians, as we are known worldwide as a ‘kind’ and multicultural country that recognizes our diverse communities. Yet, many of us know through our lived experiences that this narrative is false. As an Anishinaabekwe lawyer reflecting on this day, I do feel pride. I feel pride today because it is another year that proves our peoples’ strength and resistance to colonization,” she says. 

News of the week

• A legal fight came to an end against journalist who was charged with mischief for covering Muskrat Falls.“ A nearly four-year-long legal saga has come to an end for journalist Justin Brake. The crown officially withdrew an outstanding criminal charge of mischief against Brake on Tuesday that arose during his coverage of the Muskrat Falls occupation in 2016,” APTN explains. 
• The 2020 Junos were held virtually this week and these Indigenous artists won 3 awards. “Lee Harvey Osmond, also known as Tom Wilson, won for contemporary roots album of the year. His 2019 album Mohawk explores Wilson’s discovery of his own Mohawk heritage. Cree and Métis artist iskwē and video director Sarah Legault won music video of the year for the singer’s track ‘Little Star.’ The song pays tribute to Tina Fontaine and Colten Boushie,” according to APTN National News. The third winner was, Métis singer-songwriter Celeigh Cardinal who “took home the award for Indigenous artist or group of the year presented by APTN. Cardinal won for her third album Stories from a Downtown Apartment.”
• Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Woos is raising concerns over heavily armed RCMP officers on Wet’suwet’en territory, at a smokehouse. “Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Woos said the smokehouse was built in early spring and he was shocked to see photographs of RCMP officers at the site,” CBC explains. “I think what we do out there is basically our culture and our tradition. We always show respect to [police] but I think it is concerning, this sort of show of force. It is not reasonable at all,” Woos told CBC. 

Okanagan latest

• We shared a story written by Nahka Bers, one of our colleagues at La Converse. Titled when the statues fall, it looks at Indigenous figures who could replace current statutes such as John A. Macdonald, Christopher Columbus, and James McGill.
• In Kelsie Kilawna’s latest, a new place to call home at Vernon Native Housing Society’s Thunderbird Manor, she explores the opening of a 38-unit development that took almost two years to complete. Twenty year old Riley McLean was one of the first tenants to move in, “honestly, I feel so honoured,” says McLean standing in the kitchen of his new studio apartment.
• Check out this week’s Holistic Wellness Weekly, the Official Newsletter of the Splatsin Holistic Wellness Team. It features meditations, self care, programs, online events and workshops. 

That’s it for this week, if you have news or information that you want to share, email me: chehala@indiginews.com