First Nations Forward

Peter Allan Peter Allan

'Here We Stand': River journey protests controversial bills

A 20-year-old university student from Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario is putting his summer on hold — and taking a 400-kilometre boat journey to protest against new provincial and federal bills he says threaten his people’s land, culture and way of life.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

Economy needs Indigenous people and perspectives

Indigenous communities are leading Canada's clean energy boom, "and doing that with a slanted table," says a First Nations business leader working to build a successful climate economy that incorporates Indigenous Peoples and their world views.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

‘Revolving door of teachers’ hurts everyone at First Nation schools

Sol Mamakwa, Ontario NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, an electoral district spanning the northwestern edge of the province, stands in front of a room full of teachers, parents and students who were probably expecting a speech. He delivers, instead, a speak-through-the-soul conversation that moves between storytelling and political demands.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

Bringing education back to the land

Lawrence Wesley Education Centre in remote Cat Lake, a fly-in community 400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, is a well-equipped school, with new Smart Boards, a new gym, a library and a computer room and a cafeteria large enough for all the students to eat together.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

For Cat Lake students, graduation is a small miracle

Jackson Wesley is passionate about basketball. He plays for his high school team in Sioux Lookout, 180 kilometres from home. But it’s March break, and he’s back in Cat Lake First Nation for the week. His mom, Sylvia Wesley, is a kindergarten teacher at Lawrence Wesley Education Centre, so Jackson has a pair of keys to the gym if he wants to steal some practice time.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

Z’s coming out: At a two-spirit powwow in Toronto, my niece grapples with identity

My niece Z, her mom Ashley and I watched from our Walmart camping chairs as the tiny tots, dressed in their tiny regalia, toddled around the dance circle chaperoned by moms, dads, aunties and uncles. It was Pride Month in Toronto, and for the day, the Two-Spirited People of the First Nations Powwow had reclaimed a patch of grass from the former Canadian Forces Base in Downsview Park.

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Peter Allan Peter Allan

The complicated relationship between Mi'kmaq and the Catholic church

As I walk off the dock on Mniku, also called Chapel Island, a group of Mi’kmaw kids run by, laughing. The afternoon sun beats down and the breeze off the Bras d’Or Lake is welcome.

The Saint Anne’s pilgrimage to this small island in the Potlotek First Nation in Unama’ki (Cape Breton) is the longest-running continuous mission in Canada.

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