Local First Nation faces high suicide rate

Oct. 30, 2007 - The Tsuu T’ina First Nation suffers from a suicide rate nearly five times the non-Native provincial average, states a report from a fatality inquiry into a youth who took his life. Read More>>

Women's History Month a time to honour First Nations Women

OTTAWA, Oct. 30, 2007 - Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine and Kathleen McHugh, Chair of the AFN Women's Council, say Woman's History Month is a time to honour the accomplishments of First Nations women and the central role they play in their families and communities. Read More>>

Six women studying in maternal care course

IQALUIT, Oct. 29, 2007 - Six women are in training to bring birthing back home through the maternity care worker program in Iqaluit this year. Read More>>

Qikiqtani General Hospital opens to great fanfare

IQALUIT, Oct. 29, 2007 - An 11-year plan to improve health care in the Baffin Region came to fruition with the grand opening of the Qikiqtani General Hospital on Friday, Oct. 19. Read More>>

Canada's First Nations should benefit from Global Tobacco Treaty

OTTAWA, Oct. 29, 2007 - "The Canadian government has abandoned tobacco control in First Nations communities," asserted Atul Kapur, President of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. Read More>>

A symbol of health, healing

PICTOU LANDING FIRST NATION, NS, Oct. 27, 2007 - The symbolism was not lost on the crowd when a single eagle soared overhead during the opening on Friday of the Pictou Landing First Nation’s new health centre. Read More>>

Ailing CamBay health centre finds a cure

CAMBRIDGE BAY, Oct. 26, 2007 - Sheets of plywood nailed over the Kitikmeot Health Centre's second floor windows and back entrance are the last visible remains of an Aug. 1 fire that caused $2.2 million in damages and closed the facility for six weeks. Read More>>

After 11 years and $64 million: a hospital

Oct. 26, 2007 - The new Qikiqtani General Hospital finally opened in Iqaluit on Friday, Oct. 19, after 11 years of planning and $64 million spent, with a fitting prayer. Read More>>

Kugluktuk says yes to alcohol committee

CAMBRIDGE BAY Oct. 26, 2007 - Encouraged by their young people, more than 60 per cent of Kugluktuk voters said that they support the creation of an alcohol education committee in a community-wide referendum held Monday, Oct. 22. Read More>>

Eel Ground School Invites Media and Aboriginal Participation with Ground Breaking Video Conference on Teenage Stress/Suicide Prevention

EEL GROUND, N.B., Oct. 25, 2007 - On Thursday, November 1st. Eel Ground First Nation School in partnership with Atlantic First Nation Help Desk will host the National Video Conference on Teenage Stress/Suicide Prevention featuring the World Premiere of “After the Thunder: The Simon Bishop Story”. Read More>>

Shining a light on research

Oct. 24, 2007 - On the same day that the Faculty of Health Professions flung open the doors to a new home for research at Dalhousie, it took the time to reflect on recent research successes. Read More>>

Aboriginal conditions examined

Oct. 24, 2007 - A new study aims to examine the conditions of Winnipeg's aboriginal population. Read More>>

'Proud' Inuit youth hail prohibition plebiscite

Oct. 24, 2007 - The youth of Kugluktuk learned yesterday they had won a determined campaign to curb the rampant alcohol abuse of their parents and relatives in their remote Arctic village. Read More>>

Battling the Bottle

Oct. 23, 2007 - Bootleggers. Drunkenness. Suicide. Kugluktuk, Nunavut has plenty of problems. But this time, the children are demanding solutions. See Video>>

Winnipeg's urban aboriginal community goes under microscope

Oct. 23, 2007 - An international group that usually works with the World Bank and the United Nations has teamed up with First Nations leaders in Manitoba for a study on the urban life of aboriginal people. Read More>>

Build communities, protect environment to assert Arctic sovereignty: Inuit leader

Oct. 23, 2007 - The Conservative government must address the northern prosperity gap and protect the environment as part of its plan to assert Arctic sovereignty, says the head of the major Inuit organization. Read More>>

The North "like Darfur"

Oct. 23, 2007 - Most of the time, Nick Finney's job is to respond to rapid-onset humanitarian disasters — floods, earthquakes and health emergencies. But in First Nations communities in northern Canada last winter he witnessed "the slowest evolved disaster that I've ever worked in." Read More>>

The Chiefs of Ontario is offering the following Training to Community Support Services Workers: Healing Using Traditional Medicine

Oct. 22, 2007 - This workshop will examine a variety of traditional medicine plants, their healing properties and current and traditional application. Read More>>

Refocusing indigenous health

Oct. 22, 2007 - An article in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health found a strong correlation between social support and health in Canadian indigenous people. Read More>>

Conference to look at health care, racism link

Oct 21, 2007 - Some folks prefer to see family doctors who are fresh out of graduate school, because young physicians are armed with the latest in medical education, while others want to consult veteran doctors because of their years of experience. Read More>>

New Iqaluit hospital officially opens

Oct. 19, 2007 - Nunavut leaders celebrated the opening of Iqaluit's new hospital Friday, but the territory's health minister warned that it will face challenges recruiting nurses and other medical staff for the facility. Read More>>

Healing, youth focus of Yukon residential school conference

Oct. 19, 2007 - Former residential school students attending a conference in Whitehorse this week say they want children and youth to get involved in the healing process. Read More>>

Aboriginal leader concerned about youth violence

Oct. 19, 2007 - Manitoba's top aboriginal leaders are meeting with the mayor of Winnipeg Friday to discuss youth crime. Read More>>

KIA rejects Aglukkaq’s plea for help

CAMBRIDGE BAY, Oct. 19, 2007 - Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut's minister of health and social services, asked the Kitikmeot Inuit Association this week to use benefit agreements with mining companies to help her government deal with the social impact of mines in the region. Read More>>

Child welfare plans “grievously flawed,” says native group

Oct 18 2007 - BC Children’s ministry officials will meet with First Nations leaders concerned about what they call a “grievously flawed” consultation process in plans for a regional aboriginal child welfare program. Read More>>

Project tackles high amputation rates for aboriginal diabetics

Oct. 18, 2007 - Health officials are working to determine why aboriginal diabetics in Manitoba are much more likely to have a limb amputated than other people with the disease. Read More>>

Plight of poor, First Nations "national disgrace"

TORONTO, Oct 18, 2007 - Widespread poverty in Canada, particularly among aboriginal peoples, is tarnishing the international reputation of a country that considers itself a moral beacon to the rest of the world, activists told a union-led rally Wednesday. Read More>>

Send Ottawa health bill: Karwacki

REGINA, Oct. 18, 2007 - Since the federal Conservative government is unwilling to negotiate with Saskatchewan on equalization, David Karwacki says Ottawa should be billed $1.1 billion for failing to meet its obligation to First Nations people. Read More>>

Casino gives to cancer centre

Oct. 18, 2007 - A major contribution by a First Nations-owned casino is slated to help the development of a new cancer centre. Read More>>

Aboriginal Sports Circle selects executive director

Oct. 16, 2007 - The new executive for the Aboriginal Sports Circle is hoping their mandate to promote and increase the capacity of aboriginals in a variety of sports for officiating, athletic development and coaching will yield positive results. Read More>>

Throwing lifelines: Gee-Gees quarterback Sacobie becoming a beacon for aboriginal youth

OTTAWA, Oct. 15, 2007 - uOttawa quarterback Josh Sacobie is tied for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport lead in touchdown passes and is second in passing yards, helping the surging No. 2 Gee-Gees to a 7-0 record for the first time in eight seasons. Read More>>

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria spreading in cramped conditions

NUNAVUT, October 15, 2007 - The start of 2007 brought with it a skin infection previously unseen in Nunavut. Read More>>

Yukon Sport For Life Funding Announced

WHITEHORSE, October 15, 2007 – Community Services Minister Glenn Hart has announced that the second phase of the Yukon Sport for Life funding for 2007/08 has been awarded. Read More>>

Native community must embrace diversity within itself, youth told

EDMONTON, Oct. 15, 2007 - James Makokis stood in front of hundreds of aboriginal young people on Sunday wearing a dress. Read More>>

Oil Versus Water

Oct. 15, 2007 - Dene and Cree First Nations people live close to and in the midst of the largest tar sand deposit in the Athabasca River region and oil extraction is harming their water supply. Read More>>

Arts project aims to help at-risk youth

Oct. 14, 2007 - Best known for his role as a troubled teen on television, Edmonton-based actor Dakota House is using the arts to reach out to at-risk aboriginal youth. Read More>>

AFN chief urges Harper to show commitment to First Nations in throne speech

TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2007 - First Nations will be watching the throne speech closely next week to see just how committed Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to ensuring the well-being of Canada's aboriginal peoples, the country's top native leader said Friday. Read More>>

UN to be asked to inspect reserves

Oct. 12, 2007 - A large Quebec umbrella group for aboriginal peoples said it will ask the United Nations to send inspectors onto Quebec reserves to examine how the federal government conforms to the UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sept. 12. Read More>>

The doctor is out

RANKIN INLET, NU, Oct. 12, 2007 - Health care providers in Rankin Inlet have a gleaming, well-equipped, two-storey health centre. What they really need now are some doctors. Read More>>

No quick fix for agency nurse problem: Aglukkaq

Oct. 12, 2007 - Nunavut can't immediately reduce its dependency on agency nurses who may fill as many as two in three nursing jobs across the territory, says Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Read More>>

Shelter from a storm of booze and violence

RANKIN INLET, NU, Oct. 12, 2007 - The Kataujaq Safe Shelter is empty now, but Evelyn Thordarson doesn't expect it to stay that way for long. Read More>>

A life of daily danger

Oct. 11, 2007 - As night falls over Montreal, the disturbing reality facing many First Nations people in this city becomes apparent as the park benches, alleyways and stairwells surrounding Cabot Square, at Atwater metro, transform into sleeping dens for dozens of urban indigenous people, most originating from Northern Quebec. Read More>>

Red tape keeps native families at risk in mouldy, flood-prone homes: critics

OTTAWA, Oct. 10, 2007 - Families are still living in mould-contaminated homes more than two months after Health Canada called for immediate repairs on the Fort Albany First Nation in northern Ontario. Read More>>

TB victim tells his tale

YELLOWKNIFE, Oct. 10, 2007 - Quarantined in a hospital room, John Gruben seldom had visitors. Read More>>

Visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing: The Housing Policy for First Nations: a Complete Failure

KAHNAWAKE, QC, Oct. 10, 2007 - Within the scope of his visit toCanada, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari, met today with the Chief of the AFNQL, Ghislain Picard, who was accompanied for the occasion by Chief Simon Coocoo (Wemotaci), Chief Raphael Picard (Pessamit) and Mr. Jimmy Papatie (representative of Kitcisakik). Read More>>

Conversation on health ends with record participation

VICTORIA, BC, Oct. 10, 2007 - The final numbers are in. The Conversation on Health has ended with over 12,000 submissions and thousands more people taking part in public forums, providing their ideas on the future of the health system. Read More>>

Silicone contaminants could drift north: researchers

Oct. 9, 2007 - Silicone-based chemicals used in some hair and body products are raising alarm among scientists who say such pollutants could enter the Arctic environment and end up in the northern food chain. Read More>>

Study probes link between soapstone and cancer

Oct. 9, 2007 - Forty-six-year-old Jimmy Cookie feels dizzy and has trouble breathing every time he carves into a slab of soapstone. Read More>>

Aboriginals to deliver family services

MAPLE RIDGE, BC, Oct. 6, 2007 - It's not going to be an overnight process, turning heavy responsibilities such as youth justice and child protection over to First Nations agencies. But in a few years, hopefully at least by 2020, aboriginal faces will be alongside white faces when an aboriginal family needs help. Read More>>

Traditional food better despite pollutants, researchers say

Oct. 5, 2007 - Northerners should continue to eat traditional food despite the presence of contaminants, researchers told a northern contaminants workshop in Lake Louise, Alta., on Thursday. Read More>>

Vouchers replace cash on dry reserve in bootlegging fight

Oct. 5, 2007 - Band officials are taking drastic steps to eliminate bootlegging on the Pauingassi First Nation, a remote Manitoba reserve where alcohol is prohibited. Read More>>

Nunavik resident sought for health forum

Oct. 5, 2007 - If you want to make a difference in Nunavik's health care and social services system, then Quebec's new health and welfare commissioner wants you. Read More>>

Scientist helps Nunavik say no to trans fats

Oct. 4, 2007 - Northern Quebec's Nunavik region could soon be one of the first in Canada to ban trans fats, with the help of a Quebec researcher who says they cause health problems that are becoming a major concern in the North. Read More>>

Carving to blame?

Oct. 4, 2007 - U of M will soon lead what it calls a historic research project to determine whether soapstone carving, hunting and other cultural activities are causes of lung disease among Canada's northern Inuit people - who are dying of the ailment at higher rates than any others across the country. Read More>>

Native group sponsors vigils to underline plight of aboriginal women

OTTAWA, Oct. 4, 2007 - More than 30 vigils were held Thursday across the country to denounce a continuing epidemic of violence against aboriginal women. Read More>>

Native leader downplays report that says substance abuse problematic with payouts

WINNIPEG, Oct. 4, 2007 - As he introduced the recipient of the first residential school payment Thursday, Canada's top First Nations leader continued to suggest it may be racist to question how that money gets spent - despite a report by a national agency for victims that has raised the same worries. Read More>>

Sarnia's emissions affecting health, study says

Sarnia is fabled as Canada's chemical valley because of its many petroleum plants, but a new study says the community's industrial prosperity has a dark side: The area is the most polluted in Ontario when it comes to smokestack emissions. Read More>>

National suicide conference this weekend

YELLOWKNIFE, NWT, Oct. 3, 2007 - Yellowknife's youth suicide prevention programs have helped the city land the National Suicide Conference this weekend. Read More>>

Sharing the story of a missing sister

Oct. 3, 2007 - Barely blinking her almond-shaped eyes, Sandra Gagnon reveals how time has whittled down her family. Read More>>

U.S. researcher gets grant to fight diabetes

OKLAHOMA CITY. Oct. 3, 2007 - A researcher at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center received a $6.6 million grant to help fight diabetes, particularly among the state's American Indian population. Read More>>

Northern leaders decry Environment Canada budget cuts

Oct. 3, 2007 - Northern aboriginal leaders demanded answers from Ottawa on Tuesday about changes at Environment Canada, fearing that budget cuts and staff changes there could spell trouble for northern environmental programs. Read More>>

Assembly of First Nations to Host 3rd National Youth Summit, Develop 5 Year Action Plan

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 2, 2007 - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine is pleased to announce that the 3rd National Youth Summit, Rebuilding Our Nations - National Unity, Voices from the Community, will takeplace from October 30 to November 1, 2007 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. Read More>>

Second Annual Sisters in Spirit vigil asks “What has changed?”

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 2, 2007 – Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) President Beverley Jacobs and Amnesty International Canada Secretary General Alex Neve will hold a press conference on October 4 along with family member Sandra Gagnon to ask “What has changed?” in regards to the racism, discrimination and horrific levels of violence facing Canada’s Aboriginal women. Read More>>

Aboriginal kids face provincial care problems

Oct. 2, 2007 - On-reserve aboriginal kids who enter the Children's Services system in Alberta face potentially substandard care compared with children in urban centres, Alberta's auditor general has concluded. Read More>>

Aboriginal health worker a model for Interior communities

Oct. 2, 2007 - Barb Mack is a friendly face that greets patients in need at the Cariboo Memorial Hospital emergency room. Read More>>

Access to Healthcare May Lead to Lower Amputation Rates for First Nations Communities

Oct. 1, 2007 - Canadian First Nations people are at much higher risk for type 2 diabetes and its risk factors than the overall Canadian population. Read More>>

Nunavut risks losing more nurses

Oct. 1, 2007 - Nunavut is in danger of losing the few home-grown nurses the territory has fostered, according to a graduate of the Nunavut Nursing Program, one of the GN's much-lauded solutions to the health staffing crunch. Read More>>

AIDS walk highlights need for support

Oct. 1, 2007 - Christal Capostinsky has been HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) positive for close to 13 years. Read More>>

Contaminant levels dropping among Arctic mothers, blood studies show

Sept. 29, 2007 - A new study has found that levels of contaminants, including lead, mercury and PCBs, are all dropping in the bodies of some aboriginal mothers, suggesting that global efforts to reduce pollutants accumulating in Arctic food animals may be paying off. Read More>>

Native teens provide input on risky drinking

Sept. 28, 2007 - Local Aboriginal youth offered their suggestions and ideas to the Thunder Bay District Health Unit Friday on better ways to tackle risky, or binge drinking in the region. Read More>>