COVID-19 Daily News Digest – July 14, 2020
NSU students launching new podcast: “Native Narrative, The Future is Indigenous”
“The podcast is centered on creating space for NSU students to lead, shape and engage in conversations surrounding the past, present and future of tribal communities,” said Barlow.
Episodes will be released bi-weekly to the NASC YouTube channel. Listeners can expect to hear cultural, progressive and youthful indigenous student perspectives.
The first episode will be available Friday, July 17, at https://bit.ly/NASCYoutube.
Globe Climate: B.C.’s Indigenous power producers fear they’ll be short-circuited by Clean Energy Act changes
A survey completed for the non-profit organization Indigenous Clean Energy, based on its database of projects, says Indigenous communities and enterprises represent the biggest single owner of clean energy assets apart from Crown and private utilities. A larger number of projects are coming online, it adds. Kristy Kirkup reports.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Government of Canada announces support of commemoration initiatives in Nunavik
In recent months, the daily lives of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations, including organizations in northern communities, have been particularly shaken with the COVID-19 pandemic, which added further pressure on their already limited and valuable resources. The Government of Canada is committed to continuing to support them in their mission and initiatives, including commemoration, to the best of its ability. As part of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the Government of Canada announced new funding to provide critical support to Indigenous families and communities during this crisis, based on needs that have been identified
New trauma-informed land-based program launched to support Indigenous youth mental health during pandemic
“It’s been great — one of the parents wrote us a statement on Friday [July 3] saying, ‘Thanks so much for everything your staff are doing, that my girls still get to see you and keep that relationship and that we are able to be on the land together because they were feeling a lot of anxiety at home’,” Hamlin says. “She feels good about being able to come out and be with us because she knows us and knows our program and knows it is a safe place.”
First Nations in B.C. stay firm on stance to seal off communities from tourists
“It’s really frustrating,” said Marilyn Slett, chief councillor of the Heiltsuk Nation. “We have a limited amount of time here, we think, before that anticipated second or third wave [of infections], so right now is the time for us to be sitting down and having those discussions so going forward we’re all working collaboratively together.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/first-nations-bc-close-borders-covid-19-1.5647337
Chris Sicotte seeks more diversity on Saskatoon council but says his Indigeneity isn’t ‘be all and end all’
Having an Indigenous voice on council “would have helped move along” some priorities in recent years, including council’s implementation of the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report, Sicotte said.
“We’re at a point now where I think most people understand that the Indigenous contributions to the Saskatoon economy as a whole are significant and we can’t be put on the shelf or left to something that’s on the side, of somebody just to deal with,” Sicotte said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/chris-sicotte-saskatoon-city-council-indigenous-1.5647881
Federal benefit access rate far from equal
“Employment losses among the urban and off-reserve Indigenous population have been comparable to those of non-Indigenous Canadians. Despite this, the application rate for the CERB from the urban and off-reserve Indigenous population is lower than that of non-Indigenous Canadians,” reads the report.”If they are asking about advice (on applying for CERB), we persuade them not to do it because they’re going to have to pay it back,” Baker said.
“Everyone’s expenses during this time has increased. You have to be isolated, which means you have to stock up… and not everyone has the bank account where you can do that.”
Indigenous artists featured in free colouring book
His children, all adults now, gave him an iPad and introduced him to digital drawing apps — what he used to create two outline drawings, one of a man riding a paint horse and one of a pair of deer under a sun, that could be used as colouring sheets.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Woodland Cultural Centre (WCC) in Brantford has released a free, downloadable colouring book featuring Indigenous artists from across the country, including Tiggelman.
Pandemic Complicates Tribes’ Quest For Data Sovereignty
“We kind of felt like someone was airing our dirty laundry, or just coming in and invading our privacy at a very private moment,” said Lucero, who is a tribal administrator with the pueblo. He also has a PhD in social justice and previously ran the Center for Native American Health Policy at the University of New Mexico. “We were trying to keep that information quiet. There was going to be an appropriate time, an appropriate place…under our terms,” he said. “We were trying to be very protective of our community and of our people, and for someone to come in and kind of sideswipe us like that was very disheartening.”
https://www.kunc.org/post/pandemic-complicates-tribes-quest-data-sovereignty#stream/0
National Association of Friendship Centres launches campaign to tackle COVID-19 misconceptions among urban Indigenous communities
“I am so proud to be a part of this campaign and to use my comedy to help deliver useful information about COVID-19 to help keep people safe and healthy as this pandemic continues to evolve,” says comedian Ryan McMahon. “It’s unbelievable to see what’s floating around on the internet and even being shared by friends or even family members. That’s why there is such a need to get trusted information out there.”