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Indigenous

September-October 2015

When the cure is worse

Canada’s so-called Indian hospitals were depressing places that segregated, abused and even experimented on aboriginal patients. Gary Geddes speaks to those who were there about their long and painful legacy

Gary Geddes

  The first image: a small child in striped pyjamas, three years old, peering through the bars of a crib, directly into the lens of the camera. There’s intelligence in her eyes, but no indication of pleasure or recognition. Just a quiet, cautious curiosity. She’s holding a naked, hairless, rubber doll. Behind her, off-kilter on […] More »

Gender Block: Harper won’t have a glowing review to hang on the fridge

Hillary Di Menna

Last week the United Nations took a look at Canada’s human rights record. This has not been done since 2006, making this the first review since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister.  A Globe and Mail article written by Alex Neve, the secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, is currently circulating. Right away it quotes British member of the UN […] More »

Gender Block: the continued dehumanization of Aboriginal women and sex workers

Hillary Di Menna

Just after noon on April 2, the crowded bodies rallying outside of the Ministry of the Attorney General at 720 Bay St., Toronto (one of many like rallies being held across the country) were told that prosecutors were appealing the acquittal of Cindy Gladue’s alleged murderer. The joy from this news did not completely subside […] More »

Gender Block: missing and murdered aboriginal women calls for a national inquiry

Hillary Di Menna

This past Saturday was the funeral of murdered teen Tina Fontaine, held in her Winnipeg home community of Sagkeeng First Nation. The 15-year-old girl’s body was found wrapped in a plastic bag after being dumped in Red River. Let’s pause for a second here: Her body was dumped in a river. That’s horrifying. So too is […] More »

WTF Wednesday: Questions remain about B.C.’s $66 million “all talk” funding

Kelsey Braithwaite

Six months ago, Canada learned that British Columbia’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) spent about $66 million on “discussions and engagement” for indigenous organizations without taking strategic action. The questionable spending was highlighted in a November 2013 report titled “When Talk Trumped Service.” Produced by B.C’s child and youth representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, […] More »

FTW Friday: RCMP admits to over 1000 missing and murdered Indigenous women

Kelsey Braithwaite

On Thursday, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) leaked an RCMP project which stated there are about 1,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Later in the day, that number jumped to almost 1,200. In a 30 year span, 1,026 women and girls were murdered and 160 are missing. This is the highest count Canada […] More »

Throwback Thursday: Q&A with Sally Gaikezheyongai

Simon Treanor

With the recent murder of Loretta Saunders, and the growing outcry for a national public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women (which was denied last week), it seems more relevant than ever for us to understand the battle aboriginal women face daily. Today’s Throwback Thursday revisits a Q&A with Sally Gaikezheyongai, an aboriginal mother of […] More »

FTW Friday: Support grows for national inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women

Simon Treanor

This Monday, Nova Scotia’s provincial party leaders  added their support to a national public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. Their support comes following the tragic death of Loretta Saunders, an Inuk woman originally from Labrador who was studying in Halifax. On February 17, Saunders was reported missing from her dorm at […] More »

Throwback Thursday: Out in the cold

Simon Treanor

Today at This Magazine, we’re excited to introduce our new blog feature, Throwback Thursday. With our 50th anniversary fast approaching (!!!), we’d like to look at some of our best articles that never made it to the digital stage. In all cases, these articles are still relevant today: They are the issues that stick with […] More »

FTW Friday: This Week in Protests

Vincent Colistro

“The protesters should fall in love with hard and patient work – they are the beginning, not the end. Their basic message is: the taboo is broken; we do not live in the best possible world; we are allowed, obliged even, to think about alternatives.” -Slavoj Zizek As we all move slowly into the second […] More »

Friday FTW: Chilean indigenous group wins environmental lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corp.

Espe Currie

Here at This Magazine we’re hard at work on our Corporate Hall of Shame issue (coming in September!), an annual roundup of shady company dealings, corruption, lies, and a lot more. It can be pretty depressing around the office – in addition to all of the above, we’re also researching stories on environmental degradation, animal […] More »