COVID-19 Daily News Digest – July 24, 2020
Northern cities and First Nations celebrate green-lit gold mining project
“There’s been excellent work done by our Indigenous communities in this region to create the relationships with the company, and that bodes very well for all of our contractors,” Pirie said. “The contractors already have the relationships with the Indigenous communities that are in this geographical area, so I think it’s especially good news for (them).”
Local non-profit is helping Indigenous businesses succeed
NADF delivers the tools and services necessary for businesses to thrive that are wholly, or 51 per cent majority owned by Indigenous people located on and off reserve. This includes the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (Treaty 5), Treaty 9, Treaty 3 and Robinson-Superior 1850.
Matawa says it needs $25 million in funding for schools during COVID-19
“In working with the Education Authorities in Matawa, it is clear that they are highly concerned about having no resources that would enable them to safely reopen their schools this September,” said Sharon Nate, Matawa Education Manager. “The education gap cannot be widened once again by jeopardizing school years for our students.”
Ontario Supports Indigenous Businesses During COVID-19
“We are actively working with businesses to understand the unique challenges they face due to COVID-19,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “By partnering with the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Businesses, we are providing Indigenous businesses access to valuable information, training and programming that will help them recover safely and quickly.”
https://news.ontario.ca/medg/en/2020/07/ontario-supports-indigenous-businesses-during-covid-19.html
Brooklyn-based nonprofit connects with Indigenous artisans to create face masks
Sixty thousand Mercado Global masks now have been shipped and donated completely free of charge to epicenters of the virus throughout the U.S. and Latin America — to hospitals and retirement homes, postal workers, housing authority residents, communities affected by HIV/AIDS in Mexico and Brazil, migrant farmworkers in California, migrant communities in Texas, Black Lives Matter in Brooklyn, and Indigenous communities in Guatemala — the home of Mercado Global artisans.
Harvesting programs supporting Inuit way of life amid COVID-19 pandemic
The Government of Canada is supporting these community-led initiatives, which are helping Inuit harvesters practice their way of life on the land, while giving youth opportunities to gain hands-on experience and valuable knowledge about the impacts of climate change.
The Government of Canada’s Harvesters Support Grant, announced on April 14, 2020, was co-developed in direct collaboration with Inuit partners to improve access to traditional foods and lower the high costs of hunting and harvesting.
https://www.miragenews.com/harvesting-programs-supporting-inuit-way-of-life-amid-covid-19-pandemic/
Akwesasne reiterates need for physical distancing as community hit with 8 cases of COVID-19
Eight community members have tested positive for COVID-19 in Akwesasne this week, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne announced Thursday.
To date, 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Mohawk community, which straddles the Ontario, Quebec and New York State borders. There’s a total of eight active cases.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/saint-regis-mohawk-tribe-akwesasne-council-covid-1.5660545
YFNCT launching online store featuring work of Indigenous artists in the Yukon
The idea for the store, YFNCT arts program coordinator Courtney Holmes said in an interview July 15, came about fairly recently and in response to the cancellation of festivals and events — the Adäka Cultural Festival, for example, and the Arctic Winter Games — where artists would typically sell their work during the spring and summer.
“It seemed like a natural solution,” Holmes said, noting that the association has also recently relaunched its YFN Arts Brand program, which is meant to highlight and authenticate work by Indigenous artists in the territory
State task force to look at expanding internet access to rural Indigenous reservations
“The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that access to high-speed broadband is a necessity, not a luxury, and folks across our state have had to adapt from kids and educators shifting to virtual classrooms, workers having to work from home and even folks using telemedicine to visit with their doctor,” Evers said in a press release. “This task force will bring together experts from across the state to research and recommend solution that state leaders can adopt to connect every person in Wisconsin.”
Indigenous Peoples Sue Peruvian Government over Re-opening Logging in Forest Reserves as COVID-19 Spreads in the Amazon
The complaint, filed last Friday, seeks to block a re-opening plan put forward by two regional government agencies in Loreto in the Amazon region. The plan, which follows a recent decree to resume extractive activity in the country, would reactivate logging in concessions that overlap with forest areas in the process of being designated as indigenous reserves under national law. According to the plaintiffs, the re-opening plan poses a certain and imminent threat to the lives of the affected Indigenous Peoples. The complaint states that logging would bring the risk of COVID-19 infections to isolated indigenous communities thought to be particularly vulnerable to disease and with no access to medical care. It also argues that logging would threaten the livelihoods of these communities by degrading the forest ecosystems they depend on and fuel conflict with logging brigades and other workers.
Young Anishinaabe man journeys along Lake Huron to bring understanding on troubled relationships with water, First Nations and settlers
“We need to take the consultation process to the next level. We are decision-makers in our own territory, we should be sitting side-by-side with the regulator and the proponent,” he insists, adding that also in water use applications, not consulted separately.
As of July 12, the trip had reached SON and Waasekom Niin was holding ceremony with community members. While also observing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic protocols like social distancing, before heading further north. The journey can be followed at Picking up the Bundles Canoe Journey on Facebook. Niin’s GPS tracker precise location can be tracked from the same page.
China provides medical supplies to Brazilian indigenous communities
The first aid supplies have been used in the frontline of the fight against the disease. The second batch that already arrived in the country is destined to help indigenous communities in the Amazon in this difficult period. The medical supplies are being receied and distribuedy, Yang added.
B.C. legislation to detain youth who overdose could do more harm than good: doctor
Detaining youth for seven days would also lower their tolerance to street drugs, which is particularly problematic as substances have become more toxic during COVID-19, Ahamad said of disruptions to the normal supply due to border closures.
He said rather than amending the law, there’s an urgent need for the province to provide a comprehensive system of support.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-overdose-detain-legislation-1.5659762