COVID-19 Daily News Digest – June 30, 2020
First Nations Are Faring Well in Pandemic, but Fear BC’s Latest Moves
“Pandemics have hit our community hard, and with a modern-day government not working with communities to keep our communities safe when we repeatedly express the danger… I can’t believe it sometimes,” she said.
“We cannot afford to wait for something to happen before we start working together to protect our communities, because that is too late,” said Slett.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/06/29/First-Nations-Faring-Well-Pandemic/
The Drilldown: SCC to decide whether to hear TMX appeal on Thursday
The Supreme Court of Canada on Monday announced that it would release its decision on whether to hear an appeal from several Indigenous communities to the project’s approval on July 2.
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed challenges from Indigenous groups in February that claimed the federal government failed to meet their legal obligation to consult with them on the project, which will expand an existing pipeline that runs from outside Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C.
Brazilian startup seeks to develop a wholly indigenous COVID-19 diagnostic test
The group also produces proteins by traditional methods. “We’ll compare the results to see which production system obtains the best antigenicity,” Oliveira said.Antibody detection
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-brazilian-startup-wholly-indigenous-covid-.html
New Dene Nation partnership brings internet to Indigenous students
The money will provide internet access for Grade 12 Indigenous students who don’t have connectivity at home. It’ll also pay for schools in communities to receive devices like Turbo Sticks and Chromebooks
“We are very pleased to partner with the Dene Nation in enabling learning to continue despite the disruption experienced by communities,” said the foundation’s president, Reeta Roy, referring to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic – which forced the closure of NWT schools for much of this calendar year.
Indigenous peoples of South America face ‘genocide’ as coronavirus pandemic exposes historic inequalities
We are in danger of extinction,” he told ABC News. “If one of us got the virus in a remote community and starts the contagion it will be the death of us . . . it will be a genocide. This is my biggest fear.”
Cases of the coronavirus across South America are continuing to rise at a sharp rate. Brazil has over 1.3 million confirmed cases, and Peru and Colombia, two countries at Brazil’s border with the Amazon, have at least 279,000 and 91,000 cases respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University.
‘No celebrations’: Indigenous communities, leaders share Canada Day frustrations
“We have Canada Day parades, we have Canada Day celebrations downtown. On National Indigenous Day we don’t have cities or municipalities holding parades or holding events where concerts are played to celebrate Indigenous people,” he said in an interview.
Grant said he understands the aspirational aspect of Canada Day, but as someone of mixed heritage whose grandfather was forced to pay the Chinese head tax, he would like to see more discussion of what other races have experienced in Canada.
ESPN TO FOLLOW “SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER” IN BRINGING INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION TO MMIW TRAGEDY
Under seven percent of Montana’s population is indigenous, but indigenous people comprise approximately 26 percent of the state’s missing persons. The Urban Indian Health Institute logs Montana as the state with the fifth highest incidence of MMIW cases in the US. Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible is framed against the backdrop of one of Indian Country’s highest-profile MMIWG cases, the disappearance of Blackfeet tribal member Ashley Loring Heavy Runner.
BluMetric Announces Significant Water Remediation Contract in Collaboration with Key Indigenous Partner
“Our team leveraged our extensive experience, including that gained from having recently completed similar engineering projects at comparable mining-related facilities, to develop a winning proposal that accommodates not only the usual operating complexities associated with Canada’s remote north, but also addresses the unprecedented challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Scott MacFabe, CEO of BluMetric.