Victoria resident reaches aboriginal youth with technology

Jeff Ward is using the Internet to teach ancient aboriginal languages, and that has led to recognition for being a role model from the National Aboriginal Health Organization.
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UNICEF Canada Report on Aboriginal Children’s Health Shows Disparities Between Aboriginal Children and National Averages

UNICEF Canada is marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child with the release today of a report called Aboriginal Children’s Health: Leaving No Child Behind- the Canadian Supplement to State of the World’s Children 2009.UNICEF Canada partnered with the National Collaborating Centre on Aboriginal Health to produce the report, which examines the health of Aboriginal children in Canada through the perspectives of national experts and analysis of existing data. The report concludes that health disparities between First Nations, Inuit and Métis children relative to national averages is one of the most significant children’s rights challenges facing our nation.
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Aboriginals show health gains: Report

Aboriginal health in B.C. has made significant gains in some areas but deteriorated in others, according to a provincial report released Thursday.
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Manitoba First Nations declare swine flu state of emergency

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has declared a state of emergency in Manitoba First Nations over the swine flu pandemic.
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Manitoba First Nations declare swine flu state of emergency

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has declared a state of emergency in Manitoba First Nations over the H1N1 pandemic.
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Aboriginal children's health below national averages: UNICEF

The infant mortality rate across Canadian First Nations reserves is up to seven times higher than among the general population, according to a report released Wednesday from UNICEF Canada.
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Alcohol worries kept hand sanitizers from flu-hit reserves

Federal officials spent days debating whether to send hand sanitizers to First Nations communities struggling with swine flu outbreaks because of their alcohol content, a Senate committee heard Tuesday.
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Kids, natives most in need of vaccine

Five-to-40-year-olds and Canada's aboriginal communities should be the first to get vaccinated against human swine flu, experts say as Canadian officials decide who gets priority for the flu shots.
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Northern Manitoba native groups co-ordinate swine flu response

Critical incident managers from northern Manitoba aboriginal reserves are in Winnipeg this week to co-ordinate their response to the swine flu outbreak.
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First Nations prime ground for H1N1 pandemic

Treaty 6 chiefs in Saskatchewan and Alberta will sign an agreement this week to work together on a medicine chest task force.
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Field hospital for flu-struck Manitoba reserve denied: Chiefs

During a meeting between the federal health minister and First Nations leaders Wednesday, the federal government turned down a request to set up a field hospital in a northern Manitoba First Nations region hit hard by swine flu, according to one of the chiefs who attended.
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Aboriginal healing - Native health care showing improvement

A large gap still exists between overall aboriginal health and that of the average Canadian with lower life expectancy rates and higher infant mortality and suicide rates for natives.
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Swine flu reaches Nunavut's Baffin region

The swine flu outbreak in Nunavut has spread to the Baffin Island region, meaning cases have been confirmed throughout the entire territory.
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Nunavut Inuit wouldn't change diet over contaminant fears: study

Many Inuit living in Nunavut say they wouldn't change their diet over concerns about contaminants in their traditional foods, according to recent research.
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Swine flu hitting northern Ont. First Nations; Lots of flu, Sandy Lake chief says

Swine flu has started to circulate in First Nations communities in northern Ontario, with hundreds of people falling ill on the Sandy Lake First Nation reserve.
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First Nations must pay out of pocket for swine flu drug or face delay

Members of First Nations in Saskatchewan are encountering bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to getting drug coverage for Tamiflu, an antiviral drug sometimes used in the treatment of swine flu.
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Black ooze at old Cold War station frightens Labrador town

Health officials have told residents of a small community on Labrador's coast to be wary of possible contamination from an abandoned military site in their midst.
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Manitoba First Nations, health system straining under flu outbreak

Flu-like illnesses continue to hit hard in Manitoba's First Nations communities, especially St. Theresa Point, where a two-month-old flown to Winnipeg Monday night became 27th medical evacuee from the community.
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Province issues plea for nurses to work in flu-stricken north

Manitoba's health minister has issued a public plea to doctors and nurses to help northern communities hit hard by swine flu.
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Swine flu count leaps to 143 in Nunavut

Officials said 47 new cases of swine flu were confirmed in Nunavut on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections from the H1N1 influenza virus to 143.
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Remoteness allied to overcrowding

Canada's pandemic readiness will be tested as much in remote aboriginal communities as in the schools and workplaces of the big cities. Although the influenza H1N1 (swine flu), declared an international pandemic yesterday by the World Health Organization, has been mostly mild, it has begun to strain the resources of fly-in reserves such as those in the northeastern corner of Manitoba.
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First Nation hit by H1N1 flu struggling to get medical supplies: chief

The spread of H1N1 flu to two isolated First Nations in Manitoba is a crisis says one chief because his community doesn't have the basic medical resources to deal with the situation.
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Procession marks first anniversary of residential schools apology

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine walked beside Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl on Thursday as they led a procession of about 1,000 aboriginals, students, union workers and church officials to the steps of Parliament Hill to mark the first anniversary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology for residential schools.
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Aboriginal truth panel set for relaunch under new chair

A commission charged with gathering the stories of residential school survivors received a second start Wednesday when the Conservative government announced the names of the three people who will lead the journey into one of Canada's darkest chapters.
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Nunavut disputes WHO's concerns about swine flu spike

Nunavut's top health official is downplaying fears about the severity of swine flu there, especially after the World Health Organization stated concern about a spike in flu cases in the predominantly Inuit territory.
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Flu close to pandemic stage

The World Health Organization is on the brink of declaring the H1N1 influenza an official pandemic, and Canadian officials are watching two particularly vulnerable populations: young people and aboriginals.
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WHO getting close to declaring H1N1 pandemic

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was getting close to declaring a full-blown pandemic caused by the H1N1 virus, which has infected more than 26,500 people in 73 countries.
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Severe flu cases surge in Manitoba aboriginal community

The Manitoba government is reporting a surge in the number of people requiring intensive care for influenza-like illnesses, particularly among a relatively young aboriginal population.
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Helping aboriginal women avert diabetes

It was once common practice to tell pregnant mothers to put their feet up and eat for two.

Michelle Mottola, Director of the R. Samuel McLauglin Foundation – Exercise and Pregnancy Laboratory, centre, is helping to promote the importance of a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy to prevent gestational diabetes.
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Fontaine to step down as Assembly of First Nations chief

He became one of the most powerful aboriginal politicians in the country by preaching about the need to end native poverty.

And on Thursday, Phil Fontaine delivered that same message as he officially announced he will step away from his role as chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
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Métis pin big hopes on tiny Alberta upgrader

Twelve kilometres from the northern Alberta town of Cold Lake, a small Métis community is opening its land to industrial oil processing, in hopes the novel partnership will help fund construction of more homes and sewers.
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Northerners should take charge of Arctic's future, conference speakers say

Several high-profile northerners speaking in Ottawa this week say people living in Canada's North must set the tone in discussions and decisions being made about the Arctic.
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H1N1 flu cases confirmed on First Nations, in Winnipeg

The H1N1 influenza virus is responsible for at least two cases of severe illness at St. Theresa Point, and more than two dozen new cases were reported in Winnipeg, health officials confirmed today.
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Ottawa looks to redefine rules for Indian status

The Conservative government says it will rewrite the 19th century Indian Act this summer with "willing" aboriginal groups, opting not to challenge a court ruling that struck down the law's definition of Indian.
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New health services for Siksika Nation

The Siksika Nation, which is about an hour south of Calgary, has a new health services building.
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Arctic holds 13 per cent of world's undiscovered oil

The forbidding landscape of the Arctic contains 13 per cent of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and as much as 30 per cent of its natural gas deposits, a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey says.
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Most kids earn failing grade on exercise, report finds

Most Canadian kids are earning a failing grade for physical activity levels, as they continue to miss targets for daily exercise, a new report finds.
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More stain repelling chemicals found in Inuit's traditional food than in store foods

The Inuit's traditional diet of caribou, fish and whale contains more nonstick chemicals than store-bought foods, but the exposure poses minimal risk, say authors of a recent study.
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Suspected H1N1 flu outbreak hits reserve

An isolated First Nations community is scrambling to retool its pandemic plan after a suspected outbreak of H1N1 influenza sent five children and two pregnant women to hospital with a severe respiratory illness.
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Province Unveils New Tools to Help Manitobans Reduce Their Risk of Diabetes

New, easy-to-use online resources will help more Manitobans identify the risk factors that can lead to Type 2 diabetes and find ways to prevent or delay the onset of the disease, Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announced today.
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N.W.T. studies making aboriginal languages equal to English, French

A second Arctic territory is moving to give aboriginal languages equal status with French and English following the release of a new report arguing that Canada's southern language law simply doesn't fit the Northwest Territories.
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