The Indigenous Beat

The Jan. 26 ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Commission says the federal government has been guilty of discrimination against First Nations children because they do not provide them the same level of child welfare services that exist elsewhere across the country.

Native Americans can't get anybody to believe their Creation Stories, most of which say we have been here since the world began. To try and convince us otherwise is like telling Christians and Jews that God didn't create Heaven and Earth – he bought them in a scratch-and-dent sale at Walmart.

"If all the books were to be destroyed by fire or rain or insects, there would still be the land to show us what we need to know to pick up the trail.”

By Maurice Switzer The good news for First Nations leaders anxious to see the Harper Conservatives swept out of office Oct. 19 is that the largest likely bloc of decided eligible voters in Canada resides within their million citizens-band members.

By Maurice Switzer Time can play tricks on us. What seems like a hurry to some is a snail's pace to others.

By Maurice Switzer For 83 years there has been a professional football team that chooses to name itself after the perceived colour of Native American skin pigment.

By Catherine Murton Stoehr and Maurice Switzer On Oct. 19 Canadians will elect a new federal government, and on that day they will decide whether or not they will be Idle No More.

Open letter to Jay Aspin, MP, Nipissing-Timiskaming: Dear Jay: Thought it was time I replied to your many letters that have been showing up in my mailbox more often than two-for-one pizza deals.

By Maurice Switzer Part-way through my first-ever archery lesson it struck me as sort of funny that a white guy was teaching an Indian how to use a bow and arrow.

By Maurice Switzer Flags have always fascinated me. How amazing that a single piece of cloth, fluttering in the breeze, can represent the past, present and future of millions of people who call themselves nations.