Office of the Treaty Commissioner

The Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan was hurt and angered to hear of a young Indigenous girl feeling discriminated against and excluded from her school’s formal wear day, when she chose to wear a piece of her Indigenous ancestry and put on a ribbon skirt. I wore a ribbon skirt to the swearing in of our Lieutenant Governor and I wore a ribbon skirt to meet the Governor General, because that is my formal wear, said Mary Culbertson, Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan. Read our call to have cultural competency training in all schools http://www.otc.ca//otc_calls_for_cultural_competency_train

"Curtis Peeteetuce is quarantined for fourteen days. Luckily for him, he gets to spend it all at Wanuskewin. Peeteetuce is Wanuskewin’s current artist-in-residence and is doing a two-week quarantine inside a quarantine in their new artist space called payekwac - In Solitude.

"Indigenous beaders and crafters are creating a community and keeping their spirits up by joining an online beading circle known as BYOBeads Bring Your Own Beads. "I absolutely love it," said Sheila Demerah. "There's people from all over in that group... Even if I have other things to do, I always go."

"We all have our traditional, comfort food go-to, be it salmon, or caribou, berries or soups. On the Nov. 18 episode of InFocus with Host Melissa Ridgen, we take you on a gastronomical tour of favorites from around North America to learn and inspire."

#BeAConnectR and learn about what other countries are doing for reconciliation. For example, Reconciliation Australia promotes respect, trust & positive relationships between the wider Australian community & Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples https://www.reconciliation.org.au/

Indigenous ceremony is not classified as an essential service. This is creating problems for those who wish to attend ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Andre Bear is trying to change that, for people today and for future generations.

"Max was drawn into politics and in 1964 he was elected chief of his band. His first term in office lasted 20 years until 1984."

"By now, we know quite a few things about the relationship between COVID-19 and vulnerable people in our midst. We know it spreads insidiously in crowded homes, in low-income neighbourhoods and among people with underlying conditions. Poverty, precarious housing, multi-generational households and poor health are the breeding grounds for the virus. So the quiet back-patting that’s been going on among government officials for the slow spread of COVID-19 to Indigenous communities is jarring to Dr. Janet Smylie."

We know that Reclaiming Power and Place, The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, can seem daunting to read, so we have broken down the Calls to Justice into a series of graphics that we will share over the coming weeks. To see more information visit: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

"Out on the rez, there arose such a clatter; I ran to the roadblock to see what was the matter." Columnist Doug Cuthand reimagines a Christmas classic.