COVID-19 Daily News Digest – October 20, 2020
The death of Joyce Echaquan: ‘Indigenous people know it’s not unique’
“There is a well-founded skepticism towards the health system, ” said Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller.
“If and when we get a vaccination for COVID, we will have to fight that. We will have to work with community members to say ‘Hey, this time, trust us’ – and what reassurance can you give?”
Canada’s woeful track record on children set to get worse with COVID-19 pandemic
Black and Indigenous children have been disproportionately harmed by the pandemic, so it should be clear that equity-focused approaches are required.
Yet most reports fail to emphasize culturally appropriate responses as an essential criteria for improving the well-being of children. We see no evidence of concerted efforts among Canadian policy-makers to use disaggregated race-based data to propose programs and funding mechanisms to help the most vulnerable.
‘Overwhelming’ response to initiative sending masks to Indigenous youth (2 photos)
For every mask a customer buys, Wesley will send the same style mask to one of three communities on the James Bay coast: Attawapiskat, Fort Albany or Kashechewan.
“With the pandemic and all that’s been going on, we found there wasn’t a lot of (mask) choices and there weren’t a lot of kid sizes,” Wesley said about how the project started.
Masks are available in 15 designs created by Indigenous artists from across Canada.
Researchers at Queen’s University examine the impact COVID-19 has on indigenous peoples living with chronic health issues
Queen’s University is suppling funding to various research projects supporting medical and social coronavirus-related solutions.
‘Extraordinary voting’ in place for northern Indigenous community following COVID-19 outbreak
Due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Chief Peter Beatty and the council decided that election-day polls cannot be held safely in the communities. Instead, under the extraordinary voting measures, an alternative form will ensure safety across Saskatchewan’s largest Indigenous community.
Voters can register directly with Elections Saskatchewan up until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to have a ballot delivered to their doorstep.
First Nations leaders urge citizens to get the shot, not the flu
“It is important because we do not have a vaccine yet for COVID-19, but we do have the vaccine for the flu,” he added.
“We are encouraging everyone to take a flu shot if you have the opportunity to do so. Please take the flu shot as soon as you can to avoid getting sicker or having ‘twindemic,’ as they call it,” said Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.
https://winnipegsun.com/news/news-news/first-nations-leaders-urge-citizens-to-get-flu-shot
‘Education, our way’: New First Nations education directorate promoting student success in the Yukon
Teanna’s grandmother, who’s also an education advocate for the directorate, said she’s happy to see her granddaughter and the other children learning outside of the classroom.
“Even though they’re small, we engage in all the traditional values and things that we have at home,” she said. “We have the knowledge, teachers and elders that do a lot of this explaining to children. It takes time, but eventually they enjoy it.”
Full programming announced for 2020 online imagineNATIVE festival
“The goal, as always, is to present the very best in Indigenous stories, to present them with thought, care and honor in which they deserve,” said Naomi Johnson, the executive director of imagineNATIVE. “I believe we have accomplished that.”
“Although we won’t be gathering in the same way this year, we do see this as an opportunity to permeate further through online spaces with kin in our homes,” said imagineNATIVE’s artistic director Niki Little.