Indigenous

During question period Wednesday, Sol Mamakwa, NDP critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, marked Treaties Recognition Week in Ontario by calling on Doug Ford to honour the sacred agreements between First Nations and the Ontario government. “Across Ontario, people have gathered for treaty awareness events in schools, universities and public libraries. These events help the public have a better understanding ...

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is featuring two exhibitions from September 27th to November 10th featuring Indigenous beadwork. An reception was held at the opening on September 27th. The first exhibition is “Beads, they’re sewn so tight” an exhibit that features the work of four contemporary artists who innovate in the field of beading and quillwork. Over 40 beaded works ...

  The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art has acquired a major collection of historical Native American art from the Great Lakes region that will figure significantly into a dramatic renovation of its Native galleries. Eiteljorg Museum President and CEO John Vanausdall expressed gratitude to Lilly Endowment Inc., whose $2.83 million grant to the Eiteljorg made possible the ...

More than 250 evacuated members of the Kashechewan First Nation were at Queen’s Park on Monday to tell the Ford government to stop ignoring the agreement it signed, and begin the relocation of the community to higher ground now.   NDP MPPs Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk-James Bay) and Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong), along with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, brought the need to ...

The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve water infrastructure and support access to safe, clean and reliable drinking water in First Nations communities. Today, Chief Sayers of Batchewana First Nation and Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, announced that the ...

“If we take care of the land, it will take care of us.” More than 300 First Nations guardians, leaders and partners are gathering in Vancouver from March 12 – 13th to discuss the next steps in creating a national guardians network. Guardians serve as the “moccasins and mukluks” on the ground for their communities. Drawing on traditional knowledge and ...

During question period on Monday, NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, said the Ford government is failing to take action for the people of Cat Lake First Nation, who are going into their second month under a state of emergency.   “Cat Lake First Nation has asked this government for housing and health emergency relief,” said Mamakwa, the NDP’s Indigenous Relations and ...

During question period on Monday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath supported repeated calls from Cat Lake First Nation, and Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, for the Ford government to send an emergency medical team to the community immediately. Cat Lake First Nation declared a state of emergency due to black mold over a month ago, and the Ford government has yet ...

The Anishinabek Nation mourns the passing of our Grandmother, our Water Commissioner, our kind and gentle Water Protector, Biidaasige – Josephine Mandamin. “It is a very sad day. We have lost a great advocate, teacher, and role model. She will be so deeply missed by all and will be fondly remembered for all of what she did to protect the ...

Lawyers for the families of six of the seven youth who were the subject of the First Nations Youth Inquest in Thunder Bay from October 2015 to June 2016 have issued a report card on the progress made in Year Two of meeting the inquest jury’s 145 recommendations. Jonathan Rudin and Caitlyn Kasper of Aboriginal Legal Services and counsel for ...

Sol Mamakwa, MPP for Kiiwetinoong, released the following statement following the tragic death of Cat Lake’s Nashie Oombash:   “Today I ask Premier Doug Ford, again, to act now to address the health crisis in Cat Lake. The province has not only a moral obligation to act, but a legal obligation to act. Ontario is a signatory to Treaty 9, ...

Sol Mamakwa, the NDP’s critic for indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, issued the following statement calling on the Ford government to support the community of Cat Lake, and their request for immediate action on the community’s state of emergency.   Mamakwa, the MPP for Kiiwetinoong, joined Cat Lake community leaders who were at Queen’s Park on Friday to press the Ford government ...

Sol Mamakwa, NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, was in Pikangikum today to celebrate the completion of a transmission line that will connect Pikangikum First Nation to the power grid.   Pikangikum — a community of 3,000 people — will no longer have to rely on an outdated diesel generation system, which simply could not keep up with electrical demand. This was made ...

  Pikangikum First Nation has been connected to Ontario’s electricity grid, bringing a reliable, clean supply of power to the community for the first time. Pikangikum is a remote First Nation community located approximately 100 kilometers northwest of Red Lake. Prior to its connection, it was one of Ontario’s largest off-grid First Nation communities, with a population of over 2,500 ...

NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa joined the family and supporters of late Grassy Narrows leader Steve Fobister Sr. to call the Ford government to account during a press conference on Queens Park on Friday. The family of the late former Chief of Grassy Narrows is calling for an inquiry into his death. “On October 11, Grassy Narrows leader Steve Fobister Sr. ...