The Indigenous Beat

When I was in elementary school one of the kids regarded as “tough” threatened to beat me up. I was frightened, mainly because I hadn’t done anything to him, possibly never even spoken to or about him.

By Maurice Switzer You know those double-edged news flashes , like when you find out that you’ve won the lottery but your divorced husband has the ticket, or the car dealer agrees to give you $2,000 more on your trade-in but jacks up the price of the

Strong nations are like good families. They owe their existence to ancestors who had strong personal beliefs and values, and who made a practice of passing those traditions on to their children and their children’s children.

Among the people I wish were still here is Merle Assance-Beedie, a wonderful woman from Beausoleil First Nation who was convinced that only kindness is capable of making the world a better place.

This article appeared Sept. 6, 2012 in J-Source, the online publication of the Canadian Association of Journalists.

If a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it? That’s an age-old riddle that assumes that the creatures of the forest don’t really count, just we two-leggeds.

May 25, 2012 Earl Graham President North Bay Golden Age Club 349 Wigston Drive North Bay, ON P1A 1X2 Dear Mr.

It’s always a treat to meet someone who is really proud to be an Indian – make that “Indigenous person” if you’re politically correct.

The students were looking for “an older person” to interview as a class project and so they asked me. Thanks very much. Anyway, they wanted to know what I thought about “the Aboriginal Worldview”.

Even someone who hadn’t made his acquaintance had to be impressed by the high opinion in which he was held by his employers.