While Nestlé extracts millions of litres from their land in Ontario, Canada, residents have no drinking water

The Guardian

Just 90 minutes from Toronto, residents of a First Nations community try to improve the water situation as the beverage company extracts from their land. Story here.

First Nations Were First Farmers in Manitoba

MANITOBA CO-Operator

U of M students search site for historical artifacts. Story here.

RELATED: "Is Modern Agriculture Threatening Traditional First Nations Food and Medicine?"(Story & Video)

Easterville, Chemawawin Cree Nation in Manitoba Evacuated Due to Forest Fire

CBC News

First wave of evacuees expected to arrive in Winnipeg tonight. Story here.
RELATED:  Climate Change and Life on Earth. When Will the Treadmill Stop?

Is Modern Agriculture Threatening Traditional First Nations Food and Medicine? (Story & Video)

by Larry Powell  

(A PinP exclusive.)

First Nations researchers in Manitoba sound a warning note.

Deformed berries in the study area. 

Standing Medicine People Project photo.

                                                                                  

They call it “The Standing Medicine People Project.”  

Researchers from three reserves in south-central Manitoba, Long Plain, Swan Lake and Rolling River, have teamed up with the charity, “Food Matters Manitoba,” (FMM) to conduct the project. 

They collected samples of six wild plants which grow there – pin cherry, saskatoon, nannyberry, raspberry, grape and the medicinal herb, wiike (or sweet flag). Indigenous gatherers throughout North America have harvested them traditionally as both food and medicine, for centuries. The team submitted the samples to “ALS Laboratory Group,” a certified lab in Winnipeg. There, they were analyzed for 103 different pesticides and heavy metals. 

The lab detected several in either the roots, the soil, or both. However, most of the readings were well below levels of concern. In other words, the risk of getting sick from environmental contamination is low. And, if certain precautions are taken, the berries and herbs are still considered safe to eat.

Still, concerns linger. 

The Toxic Contamination of Manitoba First Nations Communities

briarpatch

According to the Treasury Board of Canada's "Contaminated Sites Inventory," of the 77 “high priority” contaminated sites in Manitoba, 70 are situated in First Nations communities. Story here.

Two Big Names Perform For First Nations Beset With "Big Oil" Misery

Neil Young has announced that he will perform  four benefit shows in his native Canada to raise  money for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation  (ACFN) Legal Defense Fund. The “Honour The Treaties”  Very Special Guest, Diana Krall will also perform. The ACFN refer to themselves as K'ai Taile  Dene, meaning "people of the land of the willow.”   A Legal Defense fund was set up to support the ACFN’s legal challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructingtheir traditional lands and rights. As people of the land theACFN have used andoccupied their traditional lands in the Athabasca region for thousands of years,hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain themselves and continue spiritualcultural rights passed down through generations. The ACFN’s legal challenges will ensure the protection of their traditional lands, eco-systems and unique rightsguaranteed by Treaty 8, the last and largest of the nineteenth century land agreementsmade between First Nations and the Government of Canada, are upheld for the benefitof future generations.For more info on the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, please visit: http://www.acfn.com/.

Royal Proclamation, Environmental Laws Highlighted at Idle No More Rally

Winnipeg Free Press

More than 200 people attended an Idle No More rally held this evening at the Manitoba legislature. Details here.