IN BRIEF

AFN signs agreement on C-92

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) signed a protocol agreement with the federal government July 7 in order to make progress on Bill C-92 – An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families. The bill recognizes First Nations jurisdiction over child and family services.

Signing the agreement were AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller. And while Bill C-92 came into effect this year, language regarding funding in the law was sparse.

The agreement establishes that the AFN and federal government will meet regularly to discuss how First Nations will be funded as they take over child welfare and family services. The cost is estimated at $3.5 billion over five years.

However, Quebec has launched a constitutional challenge to the law on the grounds that the social services outlined in the bill are the responsibility of the provinces.

“I’d prefer to be in a discussion about who is doing the best job by Indigenous children, and not who has the right to be doing a miserable job — which is what we’ve been doing up to now,” Miller told the CBC regarding the provincial challenge.

The agreement has also been criticized by Indigenous child advocate Cindy Blackstock, who believes it will provide little more than lip service and is equally vague on funding.

“It’s really unclear to me what this actually is going to mean on the ground,” said Blackstock.

“How is it going to be different from the countless other memorandums of understanding and other documents the federal government has signed over the years?”

Eeyou Istchee’s frst Pride March

When Ancita Allain moved to OujeBougoumou from Chisasibi, she noticed a lot of “rainbows”. So much so that she decided to start a chat group for two-spirited people in the community which she is calling the LGBTQ2S Rainbows.

In late June, she was approached by a Youth councillor about holding a Pride March. “They wanted to do something to celebrate Pride month,” Allain told the Nation. “But there was too little time, so I made the poster and we held it two days later on July 1.”

The Pride March started at the band office at 3 pm and circled the community. It was the first of its kind in Eeyou Istchee – but both OujeBougoumou Youth Chief Mathias Bosum and Allain hope it catches on in other communities.

“While we were marching, a lot of the kids in the community came out

Photo by Ancita Allain

to march and support us,” explained Mathias. “Many of the people who marched that day didn’t even identify as two-spirited.”

According to Allain, there were close to 50 people walking by the end of the inaugural march.

The expectation now is to make it an annual event, with plans to include a barbeque at the end of the next year’s march.

“It’s important to let people know we’re here and it’s okay to be who you are,” Mathias said. “It meant a lot for everyone to feel accepted like that.”

Ouje-Bougoumou Chief Curtis Bosum fully supports the initiative. “Everyone has a right to their own lifestyle,” he said. “And everybody should feel supported by their community in being who they truly are.”

“At the end of the event I told the youth to be prepared for positive and negative feedback,” Allain added. “I told them that, no matter what happens, don’t go into hiding, don’t take steps back. We’ve done something important, and we were the first. Besides, there are no closets in teepees.”

Name games

In a long overdue move, the National Football League’s Washington Redskins team is in the process of changing its name.

Though the NFL franchise has been under pressure for decades to drop the racial slur “redskin” from their brand, the added scrutiny created by the Black Lives Matter movement and focus on racial injustice in the United States has forced the hand of team-owner Dan Snyder.

Snyder stated in 2013 the team would “never” change the name under his leadership – but the threat of losing major sponsorships has caused him to backstep those remarks.

FedEx, which owns the naming rights to the team’s stadium – as well as Pepsi and Nike – requested the team change its name in late June. Nike then removed the franchise’s merchandise from its website July 2. The team announced that it would be conducting a thorough review of its name the following day.

In the days after the announcement, Washington head coach Ron Rivera, who is Puerto-Rican and Mexican, said he hopes the team’s name is changed before the opening of the NFL season in September.

Rivera, who was hired at the end of last season, also said that he had been working with ownership on a name change for more than a month.