Connect with us

Anishinabek News

Living the Medicine Wheel teachings with Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux

Published

on

Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux spoke about Living the Medicine Wheel Teachings at the Anishinabek Nation’s Health Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., from January 17-19.

By Jesse Johnson

SAULT STE. MARIE, ONT. – Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux encouraged Anishinabek health experts to “throw off the Colonial diet” during her keynote presentation at the Anishinabek Nation’s 8th Annual Health Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., held from Jan. 17-19. Her presentation focused on living the Medicine Wheel teachings, which fit with this year’s theme: Bagidinimaadizidaa mashkawiziiwin ji mashkawiziimigak niigaan ­­­- Empowering ourselves to strengthen our future.

Dr. Wesley-Esquimaux is a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. She is a former Vice-Provost (Aboriginal Initiatives) at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay and Orillia, where she is now the Indigenous Chair on Truth and Reconciliation. She is an honourary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and Chair of the Governing Circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba. Her teaching and academic writing is directed towards understanding historic and inter-generational trauma and unresolved grief within the Indigenous community.

“This Anishinabek Nation Health Conference is about ‘Empowering Ourselves to Strengthen Our Future’ and this is the most significant challenge of our times – we have been throwing off colonial mind shackles for many, many years and more of our children are living very different lives. We are living very different lives, but we are not ‘there’ yet,” she said. “The ‘there’ we are seeking has not been totally defined, but we know it entails reconstitution of our languages, restoration, and instilling of our land-based knowledge in coming generations so they have a choice, [removed through colonization and forced assimilation], and restoring physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health to our nations.”

Dr. Wesley-Esquimaux went on to talk about the impact institutions have had on our people.

“We’ve learned a lot of negative behaviours from a lot of places, whether it was missionaries, European practises we were subjected to, or Residential Schools. Those institutions are still affecting our people and we need to do something about it,” she explained. “There’s been a lot of colonization and forced assimilation, but I think we’ve come through that very well. You can still look around and see lots of brown faces and that is our celebration. That’s what we’ve been able to do; however, we’re still working on restoring the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of our nations and that’s what is really important.”

She then questioned our commitment to our diet.

“We have the power through consciousness to stop the increasing levels of diabetes, high blood pressure, and other systemic disorders in our nations, so why wouldn’t we?” she asked. “We need to limit the consumption of poverty foods like bannock. Too much is not good. There’s no fibre in it, it is white flour and lard, given to us as part of a starvation diet, so eat it if you have to, but put some raisins and some bran flakes in there… I have a deeper understanding after more than 30 years of research, dialogue, observation, and my own health challenges what we must do as a collective to ensure health and well-being. It has everything to do with adjusting our state of mind, getting in touch with our emotional states, reconnecting our bodies to the land, and remembering who we truly are as spiritual beings as well as ‘human beings’.”

She spoke about the lack of dentists and doctors in Sioux Lookout when she worked there. She said children were losing their teeth because they consumed too much sugar.

“During my doctoral work, I was told the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital’s biggest caseload was removal of rotten teeth from children, of course this was also because dentists did not regularly attend to remote communities but was also attributed to sugared tea and pop given to very young children, and we are not the only ones. Too many children in Mexico and South America are similarly affected.”

One participant who wished to remain anonymous said, “My mom went to Residential School. Growing up, we didn’t have pop or candies. I should think I was deprived of those sweets, but I don’t.”

Dr. Wesley-Esquimaux continued to speak about diabetes and how our people are developing these conditions earlier in life.

“Diabetes is now the leading cause of blindness, heart, and kidney failure, and limb amputations, to say nothing of the chronic elevated blood sugars and insulin resistance growing within our peoples. We are developing these conditions earlier and earlier, systemic disorders that might happen in our 70s and 80s (for those among us that live that long) are now happening in our 30s and 40s and the rates are rising globally.”

Switching gears, she spoke about our children and the lack of traditional teachings passed down to them.

“In regard to our children, I am calling for a return to the teachings of traditional child-rearing practices – wise practices passed to us from our ancestors, yes, they were pushed aside by circumstances, but they are still there, still us, and absolutely useful. We have heard that it takes a village to raise a child, it is also true that it takes a toxic culture to make us forget how to,” she stated. “I have heard again and again, ‘Every Child Matters’, but I want you to go beyond that statement to a new action: Ask yourself What matters to every child? Do the necessary work to answer this question with the direct help of your youngsters and please, do more of that every day.”

For more information about Anishinabek Nation health, please visit: www.anishinabek.ca.

Anishinabek News

Dokis member offers thoughts of economic reconciliation at Toronto conference

Published

on

By

Dokis First Nation member Karen Restoule was one of the presenters at the Indigenomics Bay Street conference held in Toronto.

By Sam Laskaris

TORONTO – Karen Restoule believes it is time for change.

Restoule, a member of Dokis First Nation in Northern Ontario, shared her thoughts of what that change could look like at the Indigenomics Bay Street conference, which concluded on Nov. 23 in Toronto.

Restoule, a strategist and communications specialist who is a vice-president with Toronto’s Crestview Strategy, was one of the presenters at the conference held at the Westin Harbour Castle.

Her presentation was titled ‘The intersection between policy and Indigenous business’.

“Indigenous Nations are ready to drive off the Indian Act superhighway,” Restoule said during her presentation.

Restoule said policy alternatives have been developed in recent years and First Nations are able to opt into these laws, making the Indian Act no longer relevant.

These policies include the First Nations Land Management Act, the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act, and the First Nations Good and Services Tax Act.

Restoule, however, believes it would be better to modernize all treaties, including ones that are considered “historic.”

“Currently in Canada, there are 25 modern self-governments or modern treaty agreements that include some 40 or so First Nations,” Restoule said. “And they are largely located in British Columbia, across the territories, and into northern part of Quebec. There are more than 630 First Nations across the country. That means that approximately 590 Nations remain under the Indian Act.”

Restoule believes it is time to consider renegotiating “historic treaties” like the other ones that have been modernized.

“Not only does this lead to equitable federal transfers, it gives way to agency and the right of ownership of land,” she said. “And most of all, it gives way to equitable opportunity.”

Restoule thinks the current system is broken, but she also believes what an improved system would look like needs to be sorted out before changes are made.

“In a society where so many are tearing down, we ought to consider what we can do, as citizens of this country, to build that off-ramp (on the Indian Act superhighway),” she said. “And while yes, the Indian Act does in fact need to go, it cannot be abolished in the absence of another solution.”

In large part because of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Restoule said members of the Canadian public are familiar with some aspects of the Indian Act, established in 1876.

Restoule believes Canadians are better informed now on topics including the history of Indian Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop.

“But there are many points about the Indian Act that Canadians are less familiar with,” she said.

For example, she mentioned movement restriction, where First Nations people were not allowed to leave the boundaries of their reserve without the permission of an Indian agent stationed there. Business and trade restrictions were also implemented whereby both internal and external business dealings required approval from the Indian agent.

“There is a commonly held stereotype that Indigenous peoples have always lived in small secluded communities, never leaving their patch of land for anything,” Restoule said. “This couldn’t be further from fact. Prior to Indigenous-European contact, Indigenous peoples throughout these lands had expansive and established trade networks that gave way to the movement of goods and the people who moved them.”

Restoule concluded her presentation by issuing a challenge to attendees.

“What are each of you prepared to do to build that off-ramp towards a better Canada for everyone?”

Continue Reading

Anishinabek News

Noojmawing Sookatagaing Ontario Health Team a voice for citizens

Published

on

By

Rocky Bay Child and Family Services staff Amanda Esquega and Tricia Mishquart shared information about their organization during the Noojmawing Sookatagaing (Healing Working Together) Ontario Health Team’s Indigenous Service Providers Showcase and Leadership Session on Nov. 21 at the Victoria Inn in Thunder Bay.

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — An Indigenous Service Providers Showcase and Leadership Session was hosted by the Noojmawing Sookatagaing (Healing Working Together) Ontario Health Team (OHT) on Nov. 21 at the Victoria Inn in Thunder Bay. Noojmawing Sookatagaing OHT, which supports a continuum of care with providers in the City and District of Thunder Bay, was officially launched in October 2022 as part of the fourth cohort of Ontario Health Teams.

“The Leadership [Session] was to bring service providers within the health and social services systems together to network and collaborate and to build trusting relationships and partnerships,” says Natalie Paavola, co-chair at Noojmawing Sookatagaing OHT, director of health and wellness at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care and Namaygoosisagagun citizen. “The reaction, I’m happy to say, has been quite positive. Everybody has been just pleased with the turnout and pleased with the feedback that we’ve been given and also sharing that they are quite happy and satisfied with the opportunity to network and collaborate with each other.”

Sandi Boucher, an Indigenous keynote speaker, author of Honorary Indian and other books and Seine River citizen, delivered a presentation on I Have a Dream during the Leadership Session.

“I’m a 10-year domestic abuse survivor — there’s a time I couldn’t have sat at a table and have a conversation with one of you, and look at what I do now,” Boucher says. “I am living proof our past does not have to be our present or our future, and it has nothing to do with how someone else looks at us, it’s how we look at us, that’s what we’re focusing on today.”

Boucher says her mother used to demonstrate to her and her brother how no individual can see the whole picture by having them look around the living room while standing back-to-back.

“She pointed out to us that there was so much of the room that we could see but there was one part we were totally blind to, my brother couldn’t see the part that was directly in front of me, I couldn’t see the part that was directly in front of him,” Boucher says. “This is why we need Indigenous voices on the OHT, because only if we come together and share what we see and actually believe each other can we start to see more of the room. And you’ve heard this in meetings, someone will say, ‘It doesn’t look like that to me.’ That’s not a challenge, that’s an opportunity to see something that’s in your blind spot.”

Paavola says the Showcase was an opportunity for Indigenous service providers and Indigenous-led services within the City and District of Thunder Bay to showcase their services.

“We know that removing barriers through awareness works,” Paavola says. “When you are aware of the services that are available, you are better able to help and support community.”

Amanda Esquega, traditional care manager at Rocky Bay Child and Family Services, says the Showcase was “really informative.”

“We did a lot of networking with other [Indigenous] agencies to kind of see what is out there for our families,” Esquega says, noting that they provide an array of prevention programs. “We’ve been here (in Thunder Bay) since 2019, our satellite office is here and our main office is in Rocky Bay. We always mirror our programming, our services there and here, whatever we do.”

Tricia Mishquart, child and family services manager at Rocky Bay Child and Family Services, says they are also a voice for their citizens in both the community and Thunder Bay.

“We all know as Indigenous peoples how hard it is to reach out for additional services and supports,” Mishquart says. “That is why we are very unique in what we do for our [citizens].”

Continue Reading

Anishinabek News

ABPA responds to the Liberal Government’s Announcement of a National Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program

Published

on

By

ROBINSON-SUPERIOR TREATY AND FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION TERRITORY, THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO (November 22, 2023) –  This week, the Liberal government announced the next steps for a long-awaited National Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program in the next year’s federal budget. However, Indigenous leaders are still waiting for details on how the program will work and whether the program would help communities invest in the natural resource sector and facilitate equity ownership in energy, mining, forestry, and other infrastructure projects.

Following is a statement from Jason Rasevych, President of the Anishnawbe Business Professionals Association, regarding the Government of Canada’s Economic Statement and commitment to National Loan Guarantee Program for Indigenous peoples:

“Indigenous leaders have been calling on this type of program for decades. We have seen some examples in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, but there are some limitations on what type of project can be supported including the amount and timeline. The lessons learned from the successes and challenges of the current state and forecasting the market demand should be part the new program design and seek compliance with Indigenous-led values and the principles of Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. The announcement of a national Indigenous loan guarantee is a positive commitment that protects lenders from potential defaults and derisks the weighted average cost of capital; however, much more needs to be considered on how it prioritizes applications by geography, industry, and deals with jurisdictional dissonance across the provinces permitting regimes. We need to make sure that the human rights risks inflated by financial programs that create a larger gap between the classes of have and have not Nations are minimized and not motivated by a government – political agendas. We need the loan guarantee program to enhance and support Indigenous communities looking to participate in various sectors at different financial thresholds of resource development and ownership of enabling infrastructure like corridors and facility ownership. These projects should be assessed to consider respect for the rights-holders throughout the financing and project lifecycle, and that the proponent has achieved the free, prior, informed consent of Indigenous peoples impacted as a condition for approval. If the mandate and decision to provide the loan guarantees is supporting government or partisan plans it will create more friction for Crown-Indigenous relations, especially on how those loan guarantee decisions are being made. Indigenous communities will also need grant funding to develop the business case and economic model for the loan guarantee applications and there should be a mechanism to consider backing Indigenous-owned or operated lenders and financial institutions for a multiplier effect.”

In the past, there has been budget allocations to realize Canada’s role as a key global supplier of critical minerals for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and other low-carbon technologies, which suggests dependence on intensive mineral extraction. Given Northern Ontario’s forest and mineral abundance, the region has an integral role to play in achieving these aspirations. Resource developers and governments will need to demonstrate understanding of the necessary and pivotal role that First Nations play within this paradigm given their unique rights and land title.

While the announcement could be promising as a path to reconciliation and economic growth through its support of developing strong partnerships with First Nations, success will only be realized through effective roll out and accountability. The federal government will need to demonstrate a well-executed and collaborative approach with First Nations. ABPA stands ready as an advocate for the First Nations business community and will be watching and eager to play a role in ensuring the above outlined programs meet the demands of the North.

The current ABPA Board of Directors include:
• Jason Rasevych, President, Ginoogaming First Nation
• Rachael Paquette, Vice-President, Mishkeegogamang First Nation
• Ron Marano, Vice-President, North Caribou Lake First Nation
• Jason Thompson, Secretary/Treasurer, Red Rock Indian Band
• Brian Davey, Director, Moose Cree First Nation
• Steven McCoy, Director, Garden River First Nation
• Tony Marinaro, Director, Naicatchewenin First Nation

About the ABPA:
The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (www.anishnawbebusiness.com) is a nonprofit, member-based organization based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. ABPA serves the First Nation business community within the Treaty #3, Treaty#5, Treaty #9 and Robinson Huron and Superior Treaty Areas. The ABPA develops and expresses positions on business issues and other public issues relevant to First Nation business, on behalf of its members. They provide a forum for the First Nation business community to develop policies and programming which contribute to the socio-economic well-being and quality of life of First Nations peoples in Northern Ontario. They also serve non-First Nation businesses by providing information, guidance, and access to a wide-ranging network through events and sponsorship.

-30-

Media contact:

Jason Rasevych
President
Anishnawbe Business Professional Association
E-mail: jrasevych@gmail.com
Telephone: 807-357-5320

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2023 5039589 Ontario Inc.