History from the podium
On June 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the Canadian government’s removing Indigenous children from their parents and homes and placing them in residential schools. Also in 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) began its work, documenting the history and lasting impact on students and their families, and telling that... Continue Reading →
The Nisga’a have lived in what is now northwest British Columbia since time immemorial. They never signed a treaty or ceded their territory, but the province denied that Aboriginal title ever existed. The stalemate lasted for more than a century until in 1973 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Aboriginal title did exist, had... Continue Reading →
Edward Ahenakew was Anglican clergyman of Cree ancestry, born in 1885 on the Ahtahkakoop First Nation in central Saskatchewan. He spent his life doing missionary work on reserves, promoting the Cree language, working to improve education on reserves, and attempting to organize a national organization to represent Indigenous people. On June 16, 1920 he gave... Continue Reading →
Louis Riel was hanged in Regina on November 16, 1885 but his trial occurred in July into August of that year. Riel led the Métis agitation at Red River that resulted in Manitoba’s becoming a province in 1871, but was forced into a lonely exile in the United States. Many Métis moved from Manitoba to... Continue Reading →
In 2019, some Indigenous leaders in northern British Columbia refuse to allow workers into traditional territory to carry out pre-construction work on a pipeline carrying liquefied natural gas to the coast. Disputes over land and resources between Indigenous peoples and others are nothing new. Back in August 1999-2000, there was a conflict over Aboriginal fishing rights in New Brunswick.... Continue Reading →
In June 1990, the Meech Lake Accord failed when Aboriginal leader and Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper refused to give the necessary unanimous consent for his province to approve. The Assembly of First Nations also opposed the accord not least because it continued to focus upon the French and English as Canada’s founding nations. AFN chief... Continue Reading →
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted in 2007. Its recurring theme is that Indigenous peoples have the right to dignity and self-determination, and that no actions regarding their persons or lands should be taken without their “free, prior and informed consent.” Canada became a signatory in 2014, but the... Continue Reading →
Great Canadian Speeches 