Latest news with #BrokenheadOjibwayNation
CBC
25-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Baby bison roaming Brokenhead Ojibway Nation for 1st time in decades
Its been more than two decades since Brokenhead Ojibway Nation had a buffalo herd, but that changed in December. This calving season the community is welcoming some new hoofed neighbours.
CBC
25-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation welcomes 1st buffalo calves in decades
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation is seeing a brand new generation of buffalo born for the first time in more than two decades. "It's a big part of our culture as a people. It brings the community together. A lot of people come out and drive out here, like to look at them, talk about them," said Brokenhead Buffalo Ranch manager Jeremy Robert Chartrand-Kaysea. The reservation's lands, 75 kilometres north of Winnipeg along the Brokenhead River, fall within traditional buffalo territory. The new herd was brought to Brokenhead in late December from Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan. Before that, Chartrand-Kaysea and his team worked tirelessly to prepare the old buffalo pasture. Brokenhead had a herd in the 1990s that was disbanded in the early 2000s. Before working on the ranch, Chartrand-Kaysea had never seen a buffalo calf, and now he gets to watch the newborns take their first steps. "As soon as they drop from the mother, they can actually stand up and they can run right from birth, so they're born pretty strong. The first thing they do is, of course, they get their milk and just follow their mothers around." This year the herd of 22 birthed 11 healthy calves, with three or four more expected. The pasture's open grass plains and brush make the perfect nursery for the calves, Chartrand-Kaysea says. "Pretty much the mothers been taking them back and forth, walking all around the pasture, showing them everywhere to go and whatnot. And it's pretty nice." Even with the joy of their birth, tragedy also befell the herd. One of the calves showed signs of sickness soon after birth and was rushed to a veterinarian. Both the calf and its mother died days later. The community grieved along with the herd. "The one who passed away was the one that showed us mainly everything. She was the one who actually got close to us," Chantrand-Kayseas said. "With life, there's death. Sometimes there's things out here that happen that we can't control and we can't beat ourselves up about what happened. Things just happen." The Buffalo Treaty The return of buffalo to the reservation was made possible by the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led initiative that is returning buffalo to Indigenous communities across the U.S. and Canada. The treaty was signed in Montana in 2014, with several Canadian and U.S. tribes gathering to find a way to bring Indigenous communities and the buffalo together, both culturally and spiritually. All Indigenous communities that sign on to the treaty are required to create safe spaces to share the land with the buffalo. Brokenhead got involved when Chief Gordon Bluesky had a chance at a meeting in Ottawa with Chief Lynn Acoose of Sakimay First Nation, who, as a caretaker of a buffalo treaty herd, had to meet the obligation of passing a herd on to another community. Bluesky and his council had been discussing the possibility of returning the buffalo, and this chance encounter made that idea seem like a feasible reality. "I just feel like the timing was perfect," Bluesky said. A community welcoming As soon as talks got underway, the team got to work. Brokenhead's abandoned buffalo pastures were rebuilt to house the new herd and excitement began to stir in the community. Many community members fondly remember the old Brokenhead buffalo herd, including the chief. "We introduced the buffalo mid-, late '90s to the community, and at that time, the community really liked having the buffalo … here," Bluesky said. "That was one of the things that I always noticed when I came back home in '95 — I remember when the buffalo came here and I missed them as much as everyone else did." When the buffalo arrived, the community held a ceremony to welcome them to their lands. With the birth of the calves, there's been rising interest in the new arrivals. "Right now, we're just really happy to have our herd back in Brokenhead. A lot of people have been really coming out and having a look," the chief said. "The arrival of the new babies, the calves, is a great sign. It's a sign that the animals feel safe and they feel secure enough to where they will have their babies. So it's a great feeling and I know a lot of members are very happy to see that." The reintroduction aims to bring the buffalo back to their traditional lands and, in the long run, to provide healthy food options and cultural education for community members, Bluesky said. Land-based educator and Brokenhead resident Carl Smith has seen the community respond positively to the new hooved community members. He worked on the old Buffalo Ranch, which he said was more of an economic venture. "I would say, like, it's a new look this year, this time around, I think 'cause it's not there for the money, it's there for the viewing and respecting the animal," Smith said. The return could build more land-based connections for the community, he said. "That was part of our connection to the land was buffalo, all the hoof animals that we used for food and everything, tools and everything," he said. "That was respecting them." Smith sees the reintegration of the buffalo as a big step toward reconnecting with cultural perspectives surrounding the animals. Since the arrival of the buffalo, community members have been visiting the pasture to leave offerings or to conduct ceremonies. Chantrand-Kayseas said working alongside the animals has been both humbling and educational. "I never actually thought I'd actually be able to work in here, but it's been really good," he said. "It's calming. It's peaceful. We get to work in nature, and it's just a beautiful day." Baby bison roaming Brokenhead Ojibway Nation for 1st time in decades 2 minutes ago Duration 4:02 Its been more than two decades since Brokenhead Ojibway Nation had a buffalo herd, but that changed in December. This calving season the community is welcoming some new hoofed neighbours.
CBC
17-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Transfer of youth-serving organization The Link to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation marks a 'day of hope'
A century-old Winnipeg-based organization that works with families and youth in crisis is getting a new start and taking another step toward reconciliation. The operation of The Link is being shifted from a not-for-profit organization that relied heavily on government funding to being owned and led by Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. "We are sharing a very important milestone. Today, we gather to announce the repatriation of services to our First Nations people," board chair Candace Olson said at a news conference on Thursday, after which a memorandum of understanding was signed with Brokenhead. The Link, on Mayfair Avenue, provides both short- and long-term support for youth and their families through counselling, crisis intervention, group care, a 24-hour youth shelter, housing support, education and employment assistance. Seventy per cent of the families who access its programs and services are First Nations, "so it's incredibly important that we make these steps forward," said Olson. Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the transfer of "a major social service organization" to a First Nation is a first in the province's history. "This isn't just about a transition of responsibility, it's actually a transformation of systems," she said. "This is a day of hope, a day of courage." The organization was established in 1929 as the Sir Hugh John Macdonald Memorial Hostel, named for judge Hugh John Macdonald, son of John A. Macdonald. The latter, Canada's first prime minister, is regarded by many as an architect of the residential school system. The organization's initial mandate was to "provide a Christian home for under-privileged boys living in the wrong environment due to bad home conditions," according to the Manitoba Historical Society. It adopted the Macdonald Youth Services name in 1993 and changed it again to The Link in 2021 in the spirit of reconciliation. It is now Manitoba's largest organization for youth and families in crisis, employing more than 300 people and helping 10,000 families annually. But it has always been done "under a colonial government structure," Olson said. "We're looking forward to taking this journey towards restoring what was taken and supporting Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in re-establishing sovereignty." A transition committee will be assembled soon to facilitate the process and ensure the care people receive is rooted in First Nations culture, values and traditions, she said. That process is expected to take about four months. "It's a return to our original responsibility — caring for our children in a way that reflects who they are, where they come from and what they need to thrive," said Gordon BlueSky, chief of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, which is about 70 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. "For generations, First Nations families have been impacted by systems that weren't designed with us in mind. From residential schools to the Sixties Scoop to modern child welfare, our people have seen too many children separated from their culture and community," he said.
CBC
02-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Manitoba First Nations leaders say they want to hear more about reconciliation in federal election
Some First Nations leaders in Manitoba say they're disappointed reconciliation has taken a back seat so far in the federal election campaign. The issues of Canadian sovereignty, and which party will be most capable of handling U.S. President Donald Trump and the ongoing trade war, have overshadowed other issues that are important to Indigenous communities, says Renee Greyeyes, president and CEO of the Indigenous Chamber of Commerce Manitoba. "At the federal level we haven't heard a whole lot … especially when it comes to Indigenous businesses or what supports are going to be there" during the campaign, now in its second week, she said in an interview. Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Chief Gordon Bluesky said he would like to see the prosperity of First Nations mentioned "in the same breath" as the rest of the country's, as parties make pledges to strengthen the economy amid U.S. pressure. "I'm still waiting for that large announcement, whether it be in our infrastructure, whether it be in … our economic gaps that we have," he told CBC. "We have all these communities with a lot of these low-hanging fruits and challenges … [which] I really believe that the federal government and the provincial government can really come together on, and to really start to build and create reconciliation." During a campaign stop in Winnipeg Tuesday, Liberal Leader Mark Carney responded to reporters' questions about his commitments to reconciliation by pointing to actions he took soon after becoming prime minister, including meeting with the leadership of Indigenous organizations and doubling an Indigenous loan guarantee program. "The process of reconciliation, which is fundamental to our country, fundamentally part of our being … must proceed," he said. "This is a long process, but we've taken those initial steps to move forward." Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday his government would establish an Indigenous opportunities corporation, which would offer loan guarantees to Indigenous communities as part of a series of commitments the party says will speed up energy projects and end the sector's dependence on the U.S. market. "We want to give control to First Nations so that they can make these investments," Poilievre said. A spokesperson from the federal NDP said in an email the party remains committed to working alongside Indigenous communities as they "empower, uplift and demand justice for their peoples." Meanwhile, the Assembly of First Nations is calling on all federal parties to commit to upholding rights and advancing nation-to-nation relationships if they form government. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in a news release Tuesday that more than $50 billion worth of projects are set to launch on traditional lands over the next decade. "The potential benefit of these projects is in the trillions of dollars," she said. "They represent a cornerstone of Canada's future economic growth, but they won't advance without First Nations support." Reconciliation at core of resource development: chief Derek Nepinak, chief of Minegoziibe Anishinabe — a western Manitoba First Nation formerly known as Pine Creek — said that while reconciliation isn't front and centre in the campaign leading up to the April 28 election, it's at the core of debates surrounding issues like resource development. "If anyone's going to be developing … Canada's rich mineral wealth, they're going to have to go through Indigenous leadership," Nepinak said in an interview. "That means negotiation, consultation, accommodations and reconciliation being at the heart of those conversations." Nepinak said he believes that may indicate a shift in how reconciliation is talked about going into the future. "It doesn't diminish or take away from the importance of reconciliation by … not having it embedded in a platform," he said. Brokenhead Ojibway Nation's Bluesky said some Indigenous people may have historically opposed voting because of Canada's colonial roots, but more are starting to believe their voices do matter, he said. "We can really start to make real changes … if we were to work together," said Bluesky. WATCH | First Nations leaders want more focus on Indigenous issues in campaign: First Nations leaders hope for more focus on reconciliation in federal election 11 hours ago Duration 2:05 Some First Nations leaders in Manitoba say amid all the talk of U.S. President Donald Trump and tariffs, Canada's relationship with Indigenous people has taken a back seat during the federal election campaign.
