Weekly Round-Up, January 14, 2023
January 14, 2023
A lot has been happening lately across Turtle Island. We know it can be hard to keep up, so we’ve compiled a list of news, events, and big stories related to Indigeneity and the climate crisis.
Opportunities
Writer, The Circle
Deadline: January 16, 2023
The Circle on Philanthropy recently launched a new project that’s the first of its kind: The Feast House. The Feast House is a place to celebrate Indigenous abundance and uplift Indigenous authority and sovereignty. The Circle is looking for a writer to work with our kin and develop 20 organizational profiles, including photos, to add to the Feast House, amplifying the vision and value of Indigenous-led organizations across the lands called canada.
Climate Policy Competition
Deadline: February 14, 2023
Are you passionate about finding solutions to the climate crisis? Do you want to make a real impact on the future of our planet?
Then the ICPS Climate Policy Competition is for you! We know that the climate is changing. We know that it is destroying the livelihoods and futures of millions of youth across the world. We know that we are not the ones who have caused it. But we believe that YOUth have the solutions to solve it – and to shape a better world.
National Indigenous Scholarship Program
Deadline: March 14, 2023
Awarded annually to five Indigenous undergraduate students (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) studying full-time at Western's main campus in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Engineering, Music, Health Sciences, FIMS, Social Science, Science based on their outstanding academic excellence and meaningful and impactful contribution toward Indigenous communities.
New Course: Home on Native Land
Self-guided | Online
Though they've been ignored and often trampled over the past 150 years, Indigenous Peoples have ways of relating to the land and to one another that allowed people to live on these lands and waters for thousands of years without disrupting the ecological balance. Those laws — upheld by Treaties and validated in case after case in the country's courts — offer a path forward not only for cultural understanding, but for our very survival in a time of climate crisis. Jump into this free 10-part course on Indigenous justice in Canada and discover the myths, absurdities, and possibilities that are baked into the laws of this land.
New Anishinaabemowin Language App
Self-guided | Online
This is a beginner-level Anishinaabemowin course consisting of 120 modules. Each module takes approximately 1 hour to complete. You will learn how to use various types of vocabulary and basic sentences (grammatical patterns). This course is designed to help learners attain a basic understanding of the dialect after completing the first 40 modules. Learners at this point should be able to provide one word responses. After completion of the entire course (120 modules), learners should find themselves with the ability to respond with 2 or more sentences.
Events + Training
Decolonizing the Human: an Introduction to Sylvia Wynter
January 30 — February 20, 2023 | Online
In this course, we will survey Wynter’s complex body of work, with special attention to what she calls the “sociogenic principle,” borrowed from Fanon’s insight that all phenomena must be approached as socially produced, not ontologically given. How does Wynter analyze the racial and religious demarcation of humanness historically, and how does she understand the importance of myth-making and story-telling in a vital reconfiguration of it?
Art, Activism, and Climate Change: Conversation with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
January 17, 2023 | Online
Harvard Radcliffe Institute and the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University present a series of virtual programs focusing on the intersection of art, activism, and climate change. The first program in the series will feature Leanne Betasamosake Simpson in conversation with Tania Willard.
No CO2 Pipelines! Let's Educate the IUB and Governor Reynolds!
January 17, 2023 | Iowa
Join several Iowa organizations on January 17th to educate the corrupt Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and our Governor, Kim Reynolds about the false climate solution--CO2 Pipelines. We will be delivering the groundbreaking report written by the Oakland Institute called The Great Carbon Boondoggle: Inside the Struggle to Stop Summit's CO2 Pipeline that "unmasks the billion-dollar financial interests and high-level political ties driving the Midwest Carbon Express.
Joye Braun Day of Action
January 20, 2023 | California
Join us for a rally for #PomoLandBack in honor of Joye Braun on Friday Jan 20th 2-5pm at the Little Red School House, on Hwy 20. At Rd 800 and Hwy 20 near Camp 20, halfway betweeen Fort Bragg and Willits. Join us as Forest Protectors honor Water Protector Joye Braun and continue her legacy by fighting to protect sacred Pomo cultural sites in Jackson Forest.
Agricultural Youth Forum
January 17-18, 2023
Anishinabek Nation will be hosting a Agricultural Youth Forum in North Bay January 17th, 18th. There will be some awesome speakers as well as a youth panel on agricultural development. We will also be there and would love to see you there !
News + Announcements
Dealing with Sask. First Act one of treaty commissioner's top priorities for 2023
January 11, 2023
Last year, Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan Mary Culbertson was critical of the proposed Saskatchewan First Act and now, in 2023, she is questioning the basis, accuracy and respect of treaty rights of the bill.
The provincial government introduced the Saskatchewan First Act last November, stating the act would assert exclusive provincial jurisdiction over natural resources in Saskatchewan.
Protesters rally at White House calling administration to block Willow oil project in Alaska
January 11, 2023
Protesters, some traveling from as far as the North Slope village of Nuiqsut, rallied in front of the White House Tuesday, calling on the Biden administration to block a major Alaska oil project.
The $8 billion ConocoPhillips development prospect, dubbed the Willow project, would be located on federal land in the National Petroleum Preserve-Alaska, and is expected to produce more than 180,000 barrels of oil per day. The Biden administration has committed to releasing a final environmental report for the project before February and a final decision before March.
UAE to launch Cop28 presidency with oil boss tipped for leading role
January 11, 2023
The United Arab Emirates will launch its presidency of global climate talks on Thursday, with the head of its national oil company likely to be given the leading role.
Sultan Al Jaber has served as climate envoy to the country, and is chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the world’s twelfth-largest oil company by production, and is hotly tipped to take on the pivotal role of president of the talks.
First Arctic Policy Hackathon Addresses Food Sovereignty
January 10, 2023
Use what you have, take only what you need, share what you have, and share what you know. That was the message from young leaders addressing food sovereignty in the Arctic at the first-ever Arctic Policy Hackathon (APH), which took place in Reykjavík in October 2022.
Ottawa moves toward creating Indigenous and human rights ombudsperson role
January 10, 2023
The federal government announced Tuesday it was appointing a ministerial special representative who will be tasked with providing recommendations for the creation of an Indigenous and human rights ombudsperson role.
On anniversary of Line 3 protests, rallying rolls on for rivers, rights
January 8, 2023
Two years ago, on Jan. 9, hundreds gathered in rural Aitkin County, where Enbridge was constructing its Line 3 tar sands pipeline.
On that snowy Saturday, I joined Indigenous and allied water protectors for a jingle dress dance and ceremony on Great River Road, where Enbridge was preparing to drill one of two Mississippi River crossings.
‘A watershed moment for Canada’: Advancing Indigenous rights in 2023
January 8, 2023
In 2022, Indigenous stories were in the mainstream news in ways we hadn’t seen before. From the ongoing injustices of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls to increased awareness of the harm of residential schools, some advocates say it finally felt like Canadians were paying attention to the country’s true history. ‘The West Block’ host Mercedes Stephenson spoke with Cassidy Caron, Métis National Council president, about the progress made to advance Indigenous rights in Canada so far, and where we need to go in 2023.