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CTV News
4 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Muscowpetung First Nation holds commemoration of Treaty Day
WATCH: Members of Saskatchewan's Muscowpetung First Nation came together to commemorate Treaty Day. The members of Muscowpetung First Nation hosted a day of activities to commemorate Treaty Day in Saskatchewan. Members gathered Monday, collecting their annual payment of $5 – a tradition which has not changed – since the signing of treaty in 1874. Although much of the day was filled with games and a barbeque – there was an underlying importance of showing the children about the treaty signing and how it relates to the present day. 'I shook a lot of children's hands coming up and they were so excited to get the $5 and the meaning behind that. Seeing the Mountie, with the traditional gear that they have to wear, because that was the time of treaty,' Muscowpetung Chief Melissa Tavita told CTV News. 'Keeping all of those [details, they're] an important part of our history and teaching our children and having them come up to collect their dollars. It makes me feel good that the government is still holding to task our treaties.' The day's event concluded with fireworks and a fashion show.
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Rock formation Parlapuni a source of strength for outback community
Just outside the remote mining town of Pannawonica, a trapezoid-shaped rock sits on top of a spinifex-covered hill. The outcrop, about 1,400 kilometres north of Perth, has a touch of the supernatural. Its prominence in the surrounding Pilbara landscape draws comparisons with the Devils Tower outcrop in Wyoming made famous by Steven Spielberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While many in town know it simply as the Panna Hill, the area's traditional owners — the Robe River Kuruma people — call it Parlapuni. "It's the most peaceful place," Robe River Kuruma woman Tuesday Lockyer said. The Robe River Kuruma people believe Parlapuni was not always on the outskirts of Pannawonica. Thousands of years ago, the hill is believed to have sat on land belonging to a neighbouring Pilbara group — the Marthudunera people. Ms Lockyer said that changed during a bitter feud between the two groups. "While [everyone] was fighting one another, two old people decided to send out two birds from here called putt putts," she said. According to the story, the birds then sang a song that dragged the hill from Marthudunera country to where it sits today. In the end, Ms Lockyer said each group's elders stepped in and ended the feud. "[It] must have been going on for a while and they must have got tired of fighting one another," she said. Today, a clearing just in front of Parlapuni is one of Ms Lockyer's favourite places to gather with friends and share stories around a campfire. "You feel that the spirits are here," she said. "It's like home. It welcomes you home." In recent years, visiting Parlapuni has also meant confronting a distressing situation for the Robe River Kuruma people. Just in front of the hill is an empty river bed. It is one of several rivers that the Robe River Kuruma people say are running dry more often than usual. They attribute the situation to years of groundwater extraction by mining giant Rio Tinto to supply local iron ore mines and provide drinking water to coastal towns in the Pilbara. Ms Lockyer has been involved in a long-running campaign to reduce water extraction on Robe River Kuruma country. She said she had drawn strength from Parlapuni to sustain what had been a draining campaign. "It's like a David and Goliath fight. We are the little Davids," Ms Lockyer said. "But still we gotta have hope, you know, and we always do, that the country will get rain, we will get water." In response to the traditional owners' concerns, Rio Tinto is building a desalination plant in Dampier, which is set to be completed next year. The company believes that from 2030, no more groundwater will be taken from Robe River country. Ms Lockyer said passing down stories, like the origin of Parlapuni, was just as important as advocating for the protection of country. "Our obligation is not only to look after country but also to pass down the stories that have been passed down from our elderly generations," she said. "That's why we keep these stories going, and it's good that the stories will keep on going for many, many years."
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
'Peaceful' fiddlehead gathering in Neqotkuk First Nation
Social Sharing This is part of a series called Ann's Eye, featuring the work of Ann Paul, a Wolastoqey content creator. You can see more Ann's Eye pieces by clicking here. Hiya Nicholas is a plumber by trade, and knows too well how fiddlehead skins can get stuck in pipes. That's why when he takes people out to gather fiddleheads with him, he also teaches them how to properly clean the green ferns, a popular springtime dish in New Brunswick. WATCH | Connecting to culture through fiddlehead-picking: Ann's Eye: A day by the Tobique River with a lifelong fiddlehead harvester 3 hours ago Duration 2:47 Indigenous peoples, of course, have been gathering fiddleheads for centuries, said Ann Paul, who recently went fiddlehead picking with Nicholas and his grandson, Easton Sockabasin, along the Tobique River in Neqotkuk First Nation. "I appreciated going to get teachings from a different community," said Ann, a member of St. Mary's First Nation. "It was so calming and peaceful." It's the act of connecting with creation that inspires peace, she said. "When you feed yourself with the food from creation, it calms your soul." Scroll through the photos and watch the video to learn more. Ann's Eye Photographer Ann Paul brings an Indigenous lens to stories from First Nations communities across New Brunswick. Click here or on the image below to see more of her work.
ABC News
3 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Noongar artist Denzel Coyne on how learning to carve wood helped him heal
Denzel Coyne shows his young daughter how to throw a kylie, or boomerang, he made from jarrah wood. A descendent of a Stolen Generation survivor, the Noongar man with connections to Menang and Goreng Country started learning to make traditional Indigenous artefacts for the first time as an adult. Once he had begun, there was no looking back. On Menang Country in Albany, Western Australia, Coyne spends his days carving, sanding and polishing everything from shields to spears. "It helps me escape my past traumas, it helps me heal." It's a sense of healing, through reclaiming culture, he wants to offer other descendants of Stolen Generation survivors, as well as people who have experienced similar struggles. For Coyne, those struggles began with deeply painful early years. "At a very young age, I lost my mother, tragically. Someone murdered her when I was seven years old," he said. "I struggled without having my mother there to nurture and show me love. "From there, my dad basically raised the four of us by himself; me and my siblings. "Dad was part of a Stolen Generation and unintendedly, a lot of the Stolen Generations traumatic events and life's challenges and stuff like that was sort of passed down in a lot of ways." His dad later went to prison, Coyne said, and he was moved to a house where he was abused. As an adult, he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, doing several stints in jail. But when he became a father, his outlook began to change. "I think I needed a daughter to change my direction in life, really help me look at life in a whole new light." He was still in the grips of addiction, when Denzel said he was given an ultimatum. "Go to rehab, or I wouldn't be able to take my daughter home," he said. "That day was one of the hardest days of my life. I knew what I had to do." It was during the rehab program that an Aboriginal instructor began teaching Coyne, and the rest of the men's group, how to carve artefacts. "He wanted us to do some tactile learning, something that we can take away from that program, and to help uplift us when we're in a sad time," Coyne said. "Maybe if we didn't have that, I might not have stuck around, I just feel it was so important." On the other side of rehab, Coyne has started his own business, Born Wirn, and is carving out commissions for traditional artefacts. "It means tree spirit," he said. "I bring out the beauty and the grain of the wood and the grain represents the years of the wood, his spirit." Coyne is continuing to refine his skills, borrowing artefacts to study, and calling friends to share what knowledge they can. He strongly believes he is being guided by his ancestors as he learns. Coyne has also encouraged his partner, Noongar woman Penelope Williams, to take up the women's side of the business. For the most part, she was teaching herself. "He couldn't show me because it was woman side of things, but I think he trusted that I would be able to do it, so I got out there and then I started making them," Williams said. "I was in juvenile detention and that's where I learnt woodwork and wood burning, that has really helped me starting this. "When I first made my first one, I was so proud, I couldn't believe that I did it. "And the connection that I feel to my culture while making them, it's hard to describe, but I know making this stuff has helped heal my spirit." The process has prompted the couple to teach their hard-earned skills, holding workshops and talks with school groups and even at a hospital. "I think we could help lots of people, you know, just heal," Williams said. "We're giving them knowledge and culture that was taken." For Coyne, the work keeps him concentrated and connected. "I feel connected, spiritually, mentally," he said. "The whole process, it just gives me so much."
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
SBS News in Filipino, Friday 30 May 2025
Australia continues to push for removal of US tariffs, following a court ruling. A new art exhibition, titled 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, has opened in Melbourne that confronts Australia's colonial history and celebrates the richness and resilience of Indigenous culture. The National Museum of the Philippines announces the formal turnover of the 17-piece Kevin Weldon Earthenware Pottery Collection to the museum, marking a significant milestone in cultural cooperation and the preservation of Philippine heritage. SBS Filipino 30/05/2025 08:10 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino 📲 Catch up episodes and stories – Visit or stream on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Youtube Podcasts , and SBS Audio app.
