Indigenous News: Cree woman wins beauty pageant, challenges Harper

Cree woman wins beauty pageant, turns spotlight on Canadian PM Harper

Canada needs a new prime minister, says Ashley Burnham. After first striking a blow for representation of Indigenous women in the mainstream media, the newly crowned Mrs. Universe, from Cree Enoch First Nations in Alberta, made politics her first order of business.

Canada’ s new crush – the first First Nations and Canadian woman to ever win the Mrs. Universe pageant – set the political sphere ablaze when she called on Indigenous people to vote out Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Read more at: http://ellebeaver.com/2015/09/01/cree-woman-wins-beauty-pageant-immediately-turns-spotlight-to-stephen-missing-and-murdered-women-not-a-priority-harper/

Wildfires in Northwestern Indian Country slowed as conditions improve

Fires throughout the inland northwest on Indian reservations have mostly slowed their progress of recent weeks. Not all are under control and fire season can last another six weeks but conditions overall have improved the past few days.

The Spotted Eagle Fire has recently moved northward and crossed onto the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana. This is part of the Family Peak Complex caused by lightning strikes the week of Aug. 9. On Aug. 28, fire moved onto the reservation in the vicinity of Heart Butte. The town and surrounding area have somewhere in the range of 1,000 to 1,500 residents and on Aug. 28 an evacuation notice was issued. That fire was listed at 698 acres as of that date. An evacuation shelter has been set up for those needing shelter and all services are provided free.

Read more at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/09/02/wildfires-northwestern-indian-country-show-improvement-161596

Moya-Smith: Even without context, Senator McCain’s comment stings

I consider the American narrative, as written, a humdinger of a lie.

Earlier, I’d written that it was complete bullshit, but then I reminded myself that there’s a difference between bullshit and lying. Bullshit is when you pretend to know something, but don’t:

“There were, like, only 4 million Native Americans here before Europeans came, so …”

Bullshit.

Read more at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/08/19/moya-smith-even-without-context-senator-mccains-comment-stings-161458

Human trafficking is part of story of missing and murdered Aboriginal women

The distraught woman paced the streets, clearly in search of someone. She broke down in tears when police approached. “I’m looking for my daughter. She’s being pimped out by a boy who’s in a gang, and I need to find her.”

In no time, a sting was set up. The trafficker was arrested and the girl restored to her family on a First Nations Reserve in northern Alberta. She was one of the lucky ones. Many more victims end up on Canada’s too-long list of missing and murdered women.

Read more at: https://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/human-trafficking-is-part-of-the-story-of-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women/

Unist’ot’en Camp on “high alert” under rumours of police raid

Policers officers have not directly confirmed or denied rumours of an impending raid of the Unist’ot’en Camp in northwestern B.C., which has long been on their radar for repeatedly denying the oil and gas industry access to its territory.

Corporal Janelle Shoihet, a media relations officer in Surrey, said a press release issued by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) outlining the “mass arrest operation” is currently under review and no police action has been taken yet.

Read more at: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/unistoten-camp-high-alert-under-rumours-police-raid

Photo: Ashley Callingbull Burnham was the first Canadian and first First Nations woman to win Mrs. Universe. (via Twitter)