Shawn Bell - Wawatay News

First Nations in northern Ontario fear the loss of their already limited reserve lands should new federal legislation allowing private property on reserves pass, says a Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) deputy grand chief.
Les Louttit, who held the housing and infrastructure portfolio during the last executive council before being reelected, said there is a big risk that First Nations right across Canada would end up losing land should there be private property on reserve.

Naotkamegwanning First Nation’s annual wilderness camp is, on the surface, a chance to bring youth from the community out on the land and give them the opportunity to experience the traditions of their ancestors.
Scratch a little deeper and it is so much more.
As the Treaty #3 community continues to heal from a youth suicide epidemic that 10 years ago led its chief to declare a state of emergency, the wilderness camp has become a key part of the community’s healing.

In a lawsuit with implications for First Nations across Canada, two British Columbia bands say that students who attended residential schools without residing in the schools were scarred by their experiences despite being allowed to go home at night.
The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Indian Band and Sechelt Indian Band filed a class-action lawsuit on Aug. 15, arguing that the language and culture loss they experienced while attending residential schools during the day should be compensated.

Promoting the traditional use of northern waterways and the need for protection of its watershed, a group of paddlers from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation has embarked on a canoe trip to Fort Severn.
Fourteen paddlers in seven canoes left KI on August 24. They expect to arrive in Fort Severn after nine or 10 days on the rivers.
Richard Anderson, KI’s watershed community worker, said the trip is about more than just following a trading route that his ancestors used to travel every year.

Funding cuts targeting Aboriginal political organizations and tribal councils, announced by the federal government on Sept. 4, have raised the ire of First Nations leaders across Canada.
Calling the funding cuts “a political attack” and a “divide and conquer strategy,” Aboriginal political organizations decried the plan to cut core funding by 10 per cent and eliminate the political advisory roles of tribal councils.