COVID-19 Daily News Digest – July 30, 2020
A decade after UN declared water a human right, it’s time for Canada to make it law
Providing safe, clean drinking water to First Nations is an urgent first step in repairing the damage of past and present colonial governments and moving toward a framework that respects and upholds Indigenous Rights and sovereignty.
Water plays many vital roles in our lives: it nurtures, protects, uplifts and soothes our body, mind and community. Now, 10 years after the United Nations recognized the human right to water and sanitation, the federal government can take action to protect water.
First Nations schools face unique challenges preparing for fall opening
Saskatchewan First Nations school officials say they’ve faced overcrowding and underfunding for years, making it even harder to plan for a safe opening in September in the shadow of COVID-19.
But they also say that First Nations have advantages, including a long tradition of blending the standard provincial curriculum with land-based, outdoor education.
COVID-19: First Nations leaders say their schools not getting help from feds
“They’re going to get together, they’re going to get close to one another,” Abram said of Standing Stone students. “Is there going to be masks, is there going to be barriers of any kind?”
“We’re close-knit people. We’re close family people,” added Miskokomon, who says any security plan intended to make schools safe would have to be a plan for an entire First Nation.
Students With Special Needs – The Forgotten Class During The COVID-19 Pandemic
SSEPTSA conducted a survey early in the pandemic in order to determine what educational strategies were working for their students and what struggles they were encountering. The survey’s goal was to show that because of small budget and lack of access to families and that it is important for the School District to become more involved with a larger survey in order to amass more data and to give a more complete and encompassing picture of the needs of special needs students and their families.
‘Good Trouble’ and the work of healing as a ‘Beloved Community’
The phrase ‘Good Trouble’, coined by recently passed civil rights leader and activist John Lewis, describes doing work that may cause trouble but is absolutely necessary.
Blackfox said that for hundreds of years, ‘Good Trouble’ has been the work of indigenous people.
He said it is important to think about ‘Good Trouble’ and why it is necessary and asked the virtual audience if anyone knew where the greatest United States coronavirus hotspot is.
Action urged for Indigenous woman, girls with disabilities
Indigenous women and girls are not getting help with even such services such as filing for government status, Gehl said. She is also concerned that those with disabilities are becoming targets for predators after not getting the services they need.
“First of all, this is not a petition against Hon. Monsef. This is a petition to ask for her help. She is in a position to do something and aid Indigenous girls who live in the city of Peterborough,” Gehl said.
Bringing Thunder Bay closer together through cultural teachings
The cultural programming began because there was a definite need in the community for cultural teachings, says Janine Desmoulin, another cultural services manager.
Janine started in the youth homes as a Cultural Wellness Mentor and says the online work has been very well received within the community.
Portage’s Urban Indigenous Gets Additional Government Funding
“This funding goes toward education, mental health, any kind of food security issues, and then the COVID itself,” adds Muise. “Elders transportation, the vulnerable population, and CMHA are also receiving some of this funding.”
Muise says the transient or homeless population will benefit, as well as urban indigenous people who don’t have a means of transportation, for whom a bicycle is provided through partnership with the Greasy Chain organization in town. She says all of the applications for the funding involved the programming they required and what their needs were. Wawokiya is one organization that was assisted, as well as Reaching Home, and the Family Resource Centre.
https://portageonline.com/local/portage-s-urban-indigenous-gets-additional-government-funding
Bell Let’s Talk launches new fund to support mental health and well-being of Canada’s Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities
The Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund will provide grants of up to $250,000 for organizations that offer culturally informed and evidence-based mental health and wellness programs for BIPOC communities while also aligning with the 4 action pillars of Bell Let’s Talk: Anti-Stigma, Care and Access, Research and Workplace Leadership. Registered charities and not-for-profit groups wishing to apply for grants can learn more about the fund and submit expressions of interest at Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Indigenous women create augmented reality murals tackling inequalities, showing strength for Calgary
“[The girls] love this project so much and they wanted to continue meeting so much that they actually tried to stall from painting and stall the project so that they could keep connecting,” she said.
“Projects like this, they mean a lot to young Indigenous women… It’s meaningful to the people that see the murals and they’re really fun because you can interact with them, but the process of making them was really powerful and we learned so much about each other and they learned so much about themselves.”
Shire’s Indigenous program resilient through COVID-19
Monthly art packages have been delivered to group members drawing inspiration from important events such as National Reconciliation Week “In this together” and NAIDOC Week “Always was always will be”.
“The Balee Group is just one of the ways we support and recognise the First People of what is now known as the Mornington Peninsula, the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation,” said Cr Hearn.
https://www.miragenews.com/shire-s-indigenous-program-resilient-through-covid-19/
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service calls for Aboriginal prisoner release as COVID-19 cases rise
“Now is the time for the Government to demonstrate a genuine commitment to ending the ill-treatment and deaths of Aboriginal people in custody, immediately and responsibly releasing people from detention” said Waight.