First Nations

Indigenous and northern climate leaders make international impact at Adaptation Futures Conference

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Today, more than 100 Indigenous and northern climate leaders from across Canada joined the international climate change adaptation community in Montreal for the 7th edition of the Adaptation Futures Conference.

Key Points:

Today, more than 100 Indigenous and northern climate leaders from across Canada joined the international climate change adaptation community in Montreal for the 7th edition of the Adaptation Futures Conference.
It will seek to better recognize Indigenous Peoples' leadership in advancing climate change adaptation.
The Government of Canada will continue to work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to advance Indigenous climate leadership and support Indigenous and northern communities as they work toward their climate goals.
The Adaptation Futures conference series is the premier international conference dedicated entirely to climate change adaptation.

Kids Help Phone continues its commitment to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis young people from coast to coast to coast with renewed action plan

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Under the leadership of the KHP Indigenous Advisory Council , the Kids Help Phone Indigenous Initiatives team will implement the 2023-2026 Finding Hope Action Plan.

Key Points:

Under the leadership of the KHP Indigenous Advisory Council , the Kids Help Phone Indigenous Initiatives team will implement the 2023-2026 Finding Hope Action Plan.
Through focused outreach strategies, Kids Help Phone will expand trust and public awareness of its services among Indigenous communities.
In 2019, KHP developed its first action plan to support Inuit, First Nations and Métis young people.
On average, 89 per cent of young Indigenous people say their conversation with Kids Help Phone was helpful.

The disability royal commission heard horrific stories of harm – now we must move towards repair

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

The final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability follows years of advocacy from the disability community.

Key Points:

The final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability follows years of advocacy from the disability community.
The final report recommends disability service providers offer redress to people with disability who experience harm while receiving their services.
Read more:
Disability royal commissioners disagreed over phasing out 'special schools' – that leaves segregation on the table

What do ‘institutionalisation’ and ‘segregation’ mean?

All people with disability have the human right to live independently in the community regardless of how high their support needs are.
In 20th century Australia, people with disability were institutionalised in many large residential settings.

People with disability remain traumatised by their experiences, yet governments and charities have not been called to account.
Read more:
The disability royal commission recommendations could fix some of the worst living conditions – but that's just the start

Problems today

Today, many people – especially those with intellectual disability – live in group homes where segregation, social isolation, violence and lack of choice in their daily lives are a common reality.
The disability royal commission heard how group homes replicate the harm of large residential settings, with operators failing to prevent violence and avoiding accountability.

Recognising wrongs

Reparations are actions to recognise and respond to systemic wrongs.
They might involve compensation, restitution (such as returning money or property) or rehabilitation (health or legal services).
Reparations can seek satisfaction (with apologies and memorials) and guarantees something won’t happen again via law reform or human rights education.

What do people with disability want?

It is time to work with people with disability towards a national apology from the government.
In 2021, the Council for Intellectual Disability demanded withdrawal of an application for tourist re-zoning of Peat Island (the site of a disability institution for 99 years) and for memorialisation and truth-telling.
We found people with intellectual disability support the wider community learning more of what was experienced in these places.
Read more:
'Don't shove us off like we're rubbish': what people with intellectual disability told us about their local community

A way forward

The disability royal commission has highlighted systemic violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in today’s Australia.
Reparations are one way to do this.
Jack Kelly has contributed to projects that have been funded by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

The Way of the Ancestors and how it can help us hear The Voice

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

The book opens a window into the private Aboriginal world of law, justice and politics.

Key Points:

The book opens a window into the private Aboriginal world of law, justice and politics.
But the thrust of The Way of the Ancestors goes deeper into the law governing human relationships, authority, justice, reconciliation, and the settling of grievances (Makarrata).
Already published are those on Songlines, Design, Country, Astronomy and Plants, with an edition on Innovation to be released shortly.
Indeed, for the first time the outside world is permitted to glimpse the deep concepts, practices, and emotions of a way of living that sustained 2000 generations.

Building ‘moral muscle’

The colonisers’ common law, while containing provisions respecting individual rights, was largely intended to protect property and good order.
The constitution they constructed for Federation, explicitly excluded First Peoples, along with Chinese and other non-Europeans, from citizenship.
Indigenous law’s purpose is not to protect the wealth, power, and property of the leadership class.
The capital of Indigenous society is intellectual and moral, not material, and the law is about proper behaviour towards other people and the natural world.
Indigenous Law has evolved to ensure the wellbeing of the society by building the inner wellbeing of individuals and collective wellbeing.
The Yolungu see this as the building of “moral muscle”.

Managing emotions

Central to traditional life is learning to manage emotions, feelings that can be both productive and hideously destructive.
One strategy is the use of Pitjantjatjara/English fridge magnets containing the words for around 50 emotions in both languages.
Senior women had observed that young people, especially young males, could not express their emotions in either their own language or in English.

Humpback whales hold lore for Traditional Custodians. But laws don't protect species for their cultural significance

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

For saltwater people of Australia’s east and west coasts, humpback whales hold important lore in the form of stories.

Key Points:

For saltwater people of Australia’s east and west coasts, humpback whales hold important lore in the form of stories.
The ancestors of the whales lived on Country with our old people.
The Elders agreed on the condition that Gurawal would hold the lore of the ocean, returning it to the land when required, just as the people would hold the lore of the land.
But to date, the ability to list species of cultural significance is not possible under Australian law.

Why should we recognise culturally significant species?

The government has pointed to these listings as a commitment to ensuring there are no more extinctions.
It’s important to acknowledge the clear threats to our native species and plan for their protection and survival.
As Traditional Custodians we have a complex relationship with Country which extends to kinship with plants, animals and ecological communities.
Our research calls for the ability to recognise culturally significant entities in law, which could include species, ecosystems, seascapes and landscapes.
If Traditional Custodians can formally list entities of cultural significance, we could improve their care and ensure ongoing connection with them for future generations.

Laws are the start

For instance, Canada’s Species of Risk act has a mandated requirement to consult Indigenous peoples.
But less than half of its recovery and management plans include Indigenous Knowledge and values.
Another step is to realign policy and practice to make possible traditional management of culturally significant species.
This could achieve much, even without a change to the laws.

Saskatchewan’s revised policy for consulting Indigenous nations is not nearly good enough

Retrieved on:

Monday, October 2, 2023

The Government of Saskatchewan announced its revised framework for consultation with First Nation and Métis communities in August 2023.

Key Points:

The Government of Saskatchewan announced its revised framework for consultation with First Nation and Métis communities in August 2023.
This framework sets out the provincial government’s latest approach to fulfilling its constitutional duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous Peoples.
Some Canadian jurisdictions are making efforts to break away from colonial mentalities by developing policies in true partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

Sticking with the status quo

Timelines have been tweaked, a new chart has been added and a central role for the Ministry of Government Relations has been clarified.
Yet stepping back from the minutiae, the provincial government’s approach to Indigenous consultation largely preserves the status quo — a standard that is out-of-step with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and broader trends in Canadian and international law.
It also fails to acknowledge or make any concessions to the distinct perspectives of the Indigenous Peoples of this land.

Leaving it up to the courts

But the framework purports to serve a more ambitious goal: facilitating “mutually beneficial relationships” with Indigenous Peoples.
Case law and legal precedent reflect specific disputes based on the specific facts that give rise to them.
When it comes to the duty to consult and accommodate, the courts define the minimum legal standards within which other branches of government must operate.
Courts cannot and will not design the laws and policies that are required for a positive, just political relationship.
It is up to the federal and provincial governments to work with Indigenous Peoples to build a harmonious relationship or miyo-wîcêhtowin.

Implementing UNDRIP

The case law it relies on shifts and the policy itself can be challenged before the courts.
For example, the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan is actively challenging the policy’s restriction against consultation on Aboriginal title claims.
Saskatchewan can follow B.C.’s lead by negotiating nation-specific, consent-based processes in line with UNDRIP.
UNDRIP reflects key principles of customary international law, which are directly binding in Canadian courts and therefore highly relevant to Canadian policymaking.

'The boss of Country', not wild dogs to kill: living with dingoes can unite communities

Retrieved on:

Monday, October 2, 2023

They are arguably our most maligned, misunderstood, and mismanaged native species.

Key Points:

They are arguably our most maligned, misunderstood, and mismanaged native species.
Since colonisation, Australian governments and land managers have trapped, shot, poisoned and excluded dingoes from large parts of their Country.
By collaborating and drawing from both Indigenous and Western knowledge, we can find ways to live in harmony with our apex predator.

How are dingoes currently treated?

In the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria, dingoes are managed as protected wildlife in National Parks and conservation areas but they’re unprotected on private land.
In Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, dingoes are unprotected wildlife.
This is based on the mistaken belief that interbreeding between dingoes and dogs was widespread across Australia.
Read more:
New DNA testing shatters 'wild dog' myth: most dingoes are pure

Stark contrasts in dingo management

Stretching more than 5,600km across Australia, the dingo barrier fence is the longest continuous artificial environmental barrier in the world.
In South Australia, dingoes south of the “dingo fence” are declared “wild dogs” and subject to an eradication policy.
The existence of an isolated and threatened “Big Desert” wilkerr (dingo) population on the border between these two states highlights their differing approaches.

What do dingoes mean to First Nations peoples?

Despite the harms of colonisation on dingoes and First Nations, Indigenous people continue to feel and nurture this connection to dingoes.
Maintaining their culture means fulfilling the general cultural obligation and rights of First Nations peoples to protect this sacred animal.
The national dingo declaration is clear: First Nations peoples want an immediate end to the “genocide” (deliberate killing) of dingoes on Country.
The recent Victorian decision to maintain lethal control of dingo populations against the wishes of First Nations peoples is extremely disappointing.

Non-lethal ways to protect livestock

While lethal methods have historically been used to protect livestock from dingoes, there is growing awareness of their limitations.
Firstly, these methods have not been consistently effective in eliminating livestock losses.
It may also alter how successful they are at hunting kangaroos, causing more attacks on livestock.
These guardian animals establish protective bonds with livestock and effectively deter dingoes from approaching, reducing livestock losses for graziers.

Working and walking together

We would like to acknowledge retired graziers Angus and Karen Emmott and family from far North Queensland.
Bradley Smith is an unpaid director of the Australian Dingo Foundation, a non-profit environmental charity that advocates for dingo conservation.
He also serves as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) dingo working group, which is part of their Species Survival Commission (Canids Specialist Group).

What kind of Australia will we wake up to if the Voice referendum is defeated on October 14?

Retrieved on:

Sunday, October 1, 2023

If the opinion polls are to be believed, history is repeating itself with the impending Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum.

Key Points:

If the opinion polls are to be believed, history is repeating itself with the impending Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum.
Since the middle of the year, those polls have been relentlessly moving in the wrong direction for the “yes” case.
On the current trajectory, the Voice will secure less than 40% of the national vote and also fail to win the support of a majority of states.
Its advocates point, for example, to the relatively high number of undecided voters, hoping they break heavily in their favour.
Yet a prudent government would now be wargaming what to do in the scenario that the Voice is defeated on October 14.
The defeat of the Voice referendum may set back other elements of Labor’s vision for the nation.
But it is the Australia we will wake up to the morning after October 14, if indeed the referendum goes down.

Supporting Indigenous Communities: LifeLabs' Efforts to Provide Health Equity on National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Retrieved on:

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Partnership, Travel, Culture, Health equity, Fort Severn First Nation, Elder, Reconciliation, Mobile Clinic (sports), Fort Severn, Qualicum First Nation, First Nations, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Environment, Nursing

As we reflect and commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it's a moment to celebrate LifeLabs' impact over the past three decades, serving approximately 200 Indigenous communities across Canada with high-quality and convenient diagnostic testing services.

Key Points:

As we reflect and commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it's a moment to celebrate LifeLabs' impact over the past three decades, serving approximately 200 Indigenous communities across Canada with high-quality and convenient diagnostic testing services.
The LifeLabs mobile and logistics teams have been connecting hundreds of remote communities to essential healthcare services.
Week after week, our team members travel to the hearts of Ontario and British Columbia to deliver care closer to home.
Reflecting on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, LifeLabs acknowledges that health equity is a unified effort.

Successful Indigenous Guardians initiatives now in over a quarter of First Nations across Canada

Retrieved on:

Friday, September 29, 2023

This investment will support 41 new and 49 existing First Nations Indigenous Guardians initiatives to protect and conserve lands, waters, and culture while providing meaningful employment opportunities.

Key Points:

This investment will support 41 new and 49 existing First Nations Indigenous Guardians initiatives to protect and conserve lands, waters, and culture while providing meaningful employment opportunities.
With these new initiatives, over a quarter of all First Nation communities will now have active Guardians programs from coast to coast to coast.
Expanding the Guardians model across the country will help build a better, shared future for First Nations and Canada."
The federal government expanded its support for Indigenous Guardians in 2021, committing up to $100 million to support new and existing Indigenous Guardians initiatives.