COVID-19 Daily News Digest – September 8, 2020
Remote Indigenous health workers receive specialised COVID-19 training
“It’s just about empowering Aboriginal health workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners to know about COVID to start with. The first couple of modules are just about COVID and how it spreads,” said Dr Jason Agostino, Medical Advisor for NACCHO.
Data collection for Indigenous peoples is lacking under COVID-19
Anderson noted that “when Indigenous people migrate into an urban centre so the health care institution is four metres away, their access gets worse not better.” This is because systemic racism acts as a barrier to getting treatment. Without adequate records on who is Indigenous, resources cannot reach those most in need.
https://thevarsity.ca/2020/09/07/data-collection-for-indigenous-peoples-is-lacking-under-covid-19/
Manitoba Indigenous artists’ beaded masks selected for national exhibit in Banff
She said beading the masks helped her cope with the pandemic.
“I felt a sense of fear, a sense of uncertainty, not knowing what was going on with this pandemic,” Boehm said.
First Nations and Environmental groups challenge Ontario’s changes to Environmental Assessments
“After decades of building up protections, including the right of meaningful engagement with First Nations in the environmental assessment sector and in the forestry sector… This government has been knocking down all of those things that were built, back to the way it was 40 years ago,” says Kempton.
COVID-19 may present the opportunity to embrace outdoor education
Many educators and organizations already devoted to land-based learning are adapting to the COVID-19 context. Some Inuit educators are welcoming the opportunity to reiterate the significance of teaching traditional skills that will allow survival on the land.
Policy-makers could support schools everywhere to take students outside to learn to plant a vegetable garden, catch a fish, raise a chicken and learn many other land-based skills.
First Nations communities ‘extremely concerned’ over reopening of schools
Teachers would also need to go to northern communities when schools reopen, Fox said.
“Many of the teachers come from the cities, they come from southern Ontario or through different cities,” he said. “They’ve got to come in and out.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/indigenous-school-reopening-1.5711064
AFN National Chief Bellegarde says Nanos numbers show majority of Canadians see addressing First Nations concerns as a priority, even during a pandemic
In April 2020, Nanos Research conducted polling for the AFN, surveying 1021 Canadians, 18 years of age or older through both telephone and online surveys. Canadians were asked their views on the relative importance of First Nations issues, and for opinions on the environment, languages, education, economic development, housing, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and lands and treaties.
Dakota Tipi Faring Well With Education Resource Partnership
“We’re seeing and observing a higher success rate within our student population within that arrangement,” notes Pashe. “We continue to work toward additional initiatives that will help support the success of our young people. As we go forward, it will always be a continued work in progress as we approach the near future with regards to the overall mandate of the community.”
https://www.portageonline.com/local/dakota-tipi-faring-well-with-education-resource-partnership
‘It’s just craziness out there’: Tofino and Ucluelet urging visitors to respect COVID-19 protocols
Tofino was forced to crack down on illegal campers and partiers this summer after its pristine coastline was scarred by a few scofflaws who left piles of garbage, including human waste, behind.
But with very limited policing and first responder resources, Mayco Noël said the chaos is hard to control.
“It’s frustrating for us as residents and as the elected officials because we have no jurisdiction over those back roads,” Noël told Global News.
Canadians think First Nations issues should be prioritized, Bellegarde says
Canadians most often said the country is not doing enough to support First Nations children. The poll found that more than one in two (52 per cent) think that way, while 19 per cent think the government is doing the right amount and 10 per cent say it’s doing too much. Nineteen per cent are unsure.