First Nations Forward

Special report

First Nations Forward

Produced in collaboration with the Real Estate Foundation of BC, I-SEA, Vancouver Foundation, Vancity, Catherine Donnelly Foundation, Donner Canadian Foundation, Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, North Foundation, Willow Grove Foundation, Canadian Center for Journalism, Victoria Foundation, and the Port Moody Foundation. National Observer retains full editorial control over the topics and the reporting.

115 Articles

Five Indigenous women rocking their businesses with beauty

They are creators, entrepreneurs, teachers and artisans, remixing tradition, creating pieces for ceremony, powwows, self-care and fashion — making the world more beautiful with every bead, shell and prayer-filled piece of work.

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

January 4th 2018

Nuxalk people roll up their sleeves to construct a solution

The Nuxalk Nation started their own apprenticeship program, taking the housing situation into their own hands, literally. Through the community-based program, which matches empowered Nuxalk apprentices with advanced skilled workers, the Nation is building their own homes again, as their ancestors once did, from the ground up.

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

December 19th 2017

Grand Chief Littlechild to set up all-new National Council for Reconciliation

A year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would set up an interim board of directors to establish a National Council for Reconciliation, his government picked Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild to chair that board.

First Nations Forward

Carl Meyer

News

December 14th 2017

First Nations powering up B.C.

First Nations have managed land protection and conservation since time immemorial and those ancient values have powered up the modern energy sector in B.C. By the end of 2016, 30 First Nations had operational solar, run-of-river, geothermal, wind, and biomass projects powering their communities and the province.

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

December 4th 2017

Environmental pressures among the strongest drivers of economic self-sufficiency for First Nations

Clean energy sits at the very core of this expansion as the world shifts from high carbon industries to low and zero carbon. This is about the transition away from sunset industries to sunrise industries. It is about engaging directly with First Nations communities so that they can benefit from local power production, ownership and sustainable economic development.

Opinion

First Nations Forward

December 4th 2017

Murray Sinclair urges Canada to fix 'racist' proclamation in its constitution

Senator Murray Sinclair, who served as chief commissioner of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, wants to see a new royal proclamation solidify a new nation-to-nation relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples.

First Nations Forward

Carl Meyer

November 29th 2017

Trudeau didn't consult Indigenous leaders on solutions

Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said “Inuit were not consulted in the creation of the 10 principles,” while Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde said "we weren’t involved in developing a draft of that."

First Nations Forward

Carl Meyer

November 27th 2017

Tug in distress near Bella Bella highlights need for Indigenous-led marine response

Stormy weather left the American-owned Jake Shearer vessel, carrying up to 10,000 tons of fuel stranded, just off the coast of Bella Bella. The vessel was in distress just near Goose Island. This is an essential food harvesting spot for the Heiltsuk.

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

November 27th 2017

An Indigenous sisterhood empowers solar panel solutions

This is not a protest story. There’s a reason why women who sleep on fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago prefer to be called observers, not occupiers. And there's a reason why the women leading the tiny house movement in the path of the $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline prefer to be called pro-life rather than anti-anything else.

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

November 3rd 2017

An Indigenous economy in B.C.: the new narrative

"The process of decolonizing my spirit and finding my way back to my sacred responsibilities had begun," writes National Observer reporter Emilee Gilpin in Vancouver, B.C.

Opinion

First Nations Forward

Emilee Gilpin

October 17th 2017