“They’re going to find remains wherever they dig”

 PROPUBLICA: https://www.propublica.org/article/border-wall-remains-native-american-organ-pipe

Lorraine Eiler

Tribal Leaders Warned Border Wall Construction Would Disturb Native American Remains. They Were Right.

Lorraine Eiler stood in the blazing August sun, surrounded by reporters, to offer a warning. The Trump administration was racing to erect a second border wall across Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, southwest of Tucson. If the bulldozers came, she said, they were bound to disturb the final resting places of her family and Hia-Ced O’odham tribal ancestors.

“People used to live here,” the 89-year-old said.

Fifteen days later, her fears were realized.

ProPublica has confirmed that Native American remains were unearthed in Organ Pipe amid soil overturned by border wall contractors.

The discovery, unreported until now, was made on Sept. 8, the National Park Service said in a statement. “Following established protocols, the University of Arizona conducted an assessment and confirmed that the remains are human and align with tribal cremation practices,” the agency said.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act governs the steps agencies must take following an inadvertent discovery of Native American remains on federal land. Those steps include halting any activity that contributed to the discovery until tribal communities are consulted.

“The National Park Service is committed to respecting tribal rights and traditions,” the agency went on to say, adding that it was “working diligently to identify the culturally affiliated tribe and ensure the respectful return of the remains, so the tribe may observe their religious and cultural practices.”

Eiler was alerted to the discovery by a cultural affairs specialist with the Tohono O’odham Nation, a larger tribe whose reservation is east of Organ Pipe, and later by the Organ Pipe superintendent’s office. Her family discussed what to do next. Ultimately, they decided to hold off on reburying the newly unearthed remains until construction in the area stops, fearing the work will disturb more sites.

“​​Who knows what more will come up,” Eiler said in an interview. “They’re going to find remains wherever they dig.”

Customs and Border Protection contractors have bulldozed a wide swath of vegetation parallel to the international divide. The agency has fashioned staging areas for heavy equipment by knocking down, uprooting and attempting to transplant select specimens of the monument’s native plants. Eiler was told the remains were found by a park service archaeologist near the base of a saguaro cactus that was still standing.

In a statement, CBP said it was advised of the discovery six days after it was made, that its cultural resource specialists examined the area and found no other remains, and that “no additional construction has occurred at this location to date.”

The discovery comes amid tensions between the Department of Homeland Security and tribal communities in the Sonoran Desert. In April, border wall contractors bulldozed through a large, well-marked earthen etching, known as the Las Playas Intaglio, that was believed to be at least 6,500 years old. (CBP said the incident was accidental.)

Soon after, the department awarded a $1.3 billion contract for construction of a 62-mile border wall across the entirety of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The tribe is fighting the project in federal court and has erected “no trespassing” signs to keep border wall contractors off its land. As ProPublica recently reported, DHS has responded by deploying masked federal agents as escorts for its work crews and conducting aerial surveillance of tribal members. The head of CBP has justified the need for a wall by describing the reservation as “one of the most dangerous smuggling and trafficking corridors on the Southwest border.”

Verlon M. Jose, the tribe’s chairman, expressed gratitude that the park service had notified his office of the discovery, but mourned the fact that it was necessary.

“When you have mass destruction and disturbance of land taking place where there are clearly sacred sites, cemeteries and other areas of cultural importance, these types of discoveries are bound to happen,” Jose said in a statement. “Every time this happens it is a wound to the heart of all members of the Tohono O’odham Nation — these are our ancestors, our family members — whose remains are being desecrated.”

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who appeared with Eiler and the chairman at the August news conference, blasted the government for failing to heed their warnings. “Tribal leaders and elders have warned DHS about the devastating consequences of bulldozing through their ancestral lands, beginning with the destruction of the Las Playas Intaglio,” she said in a statement. “For months, those warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Now, we are seeing exactly what they feared: sacred sites destroyed and ancestral burial grounds desecrated.”

---

James T. Watson, curator of bioarcheology in the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona, analyzed the remains recovered in Organ Pipe in the field.

While he was not authorized to discuss the details of his findings without park service approval, Watson said in an email that he confirmed the remains were human. The evidence suggested they were cremated in a manner consistent with precolonial practices in the region dating back 1,500 years, he wrote. 

Under NAGPRA, the graves protection act, Native American remains inadvertently uncovered on park service lands must be immediately secured, Watson explained, and the superintendent of the jurisdiction must notify “all relevant lineal descendants” with “potential cultural affiliation or ancestral ties to the land.”

“Work in the immediate discovery area must remain suspended for at least 30 calendar days,” he wrote, while the park service consults with tribal representatives “to determine the disposition and physical treatment of the remains.”

---

In a region as rich with archaeological sites as the American Southwest, the inadvertent disturbance of Native American remains occurs with some regularity. What sets the discovery in Organ Pipe apart are the extraordinary powers the Department of Homeland Security wields to expedite wall construction in the borderlands.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress passed the Real ID Act, which included a provision empowering the secretary of DHS to waive any law that might slow border wall construction. In the two decades since, DHS has invoked its powers 66 times, with 60 of those instances occurring under President Donald Trump’s two administrations.

When DHS uses this authority, it typically waives dozens of laws at a time. That was the case in 2019 when the department set its sights on Organ Pipe. A waiver issued by then-acting Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan set aside more than 40 of the nation’s most stringent environmental and cultural resource protection laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and others. Also on that list was the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the landmark 1990 law that acknowledged the nation’s long history of desecrating Native American burials and required that ancestral remains and cultural objects be returned to tribes.

In an internal 2019 report obtained by The Washington Post, park service officials identified nearly two dozen archaeological sites in Organ Pipe as at risk of damage or total destruction by government contractors.

Of particular significance is a desert oasis known as Quitobaquito Springs. Less than 200 feet from the international border, the springs provide one of the only reliable sources of groundwater and shade for miles around, and they were a longtime gathering place, grazing site and home for O’odham families.

“Archaeological evidence of human presence at Quitobaquito extends back thousands of years, at least to Archaic times,” the survey found, adding that the springs represent the “only known Hia C-ed O’odham village site in the United States.”

A park service report in 2024 noted that a cemetery at Quitobaquito holds the remains of at least two families, including Eiler’s, and 34 graves. Throughout the region, remains of 5,500 ancestors that were displaced have been made available for return to the Tohono O’odham Nation, according to ProPublica’s NAGPRA database.

“This sort of incident has happened numerous times across our homeland, and it’s always alarming to hear about a case from an O’odham point of view,” said David Martínez, a professor of American Indian and transborder studies at the University of Arizona and a member of the Hia-Ced O’odham and Akimel O’odham tribes, as well as the Gila River Indian Community.

“Those remains shouldn’t have been disturbed in the first place,” he said. “While there are protocols existing today to properly care for these remains, ultimately, whatever either the government or the corporate world is pursuing to build, we know that at some juncture that construction will continue, and it always leaves us feeling, I think, a little hollow.”

Today, Quitobaquito lies in the shadow of the border wall erected during Trump’s first term. Its construction required detonating explosives in the national monument, blasting apart an area called Monument Hill and outraging tribal leaders. According to Eiler, the remains recovered in September were not found at the springs, though government work crews are working in close proximity to the site.

This year, DHS hired Sundt Construction, an Arizona-based company, to build a second wall in the monument. The $443 million contract was finalized in May. (Sundt directed questions concerning the discovery of human remains on its job site to CBP.)

According to CBP, the 2019 waiver for Organ Pipe is still in effect, years after completion of the project that prompted it. A second waiver, exempting DHS from many of the same laws and applying to the national monument as well as a wildlife refuge to the west, was issued by Homeland Security’s then-Secretary Kristi Noem last year.

“Unfortunately, there is no end date to the effectiveness of the waivers,” said Dinah Bear, a Tucson-based lawyer who served for 25 years as a senior attorney in the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality under both Democratic and Republican administrations. What’s more, she added, “there’s nothing in the statutory language that ties the waivers to a particular project.”

The Department of Homeland Security’s waiver powers have been central to a high-profile legal fight over the department’s efforts to build a border wall through Big Bend National Park in West Texas, with a federal judge overseeing the case recently ordering a temporary halt to the project.

Borderlands advocates in Arizona are hoping for similar interventions. In Congress, Grijalva is preparing legislation to void existing waivers that have allowed DHS to disregard laws designed to protect tribal sovereignty, sacred sites and environmentally sensitive lands.

In the meantime, construction on the border continues. For Eiler, it’s not just the destruction in Organ Pipe that’s troubling. She sees the disturbance of tribal graves resulting from wall construction as reflective of a wider pattern of destruction across the border.

“It’s sad because it’s not only happening down there,” she said. “It’s happening all over the United States, and nobody’s saying much about it.”

LINK: https://www.propublica.org/article/border-wall-remains-native-american-organ-pipe

NOVEMBER: Native American Heritage Month

Native Heritage, History and Contributions Take Center Stage Amid Changing Federal Priorities

by Levi Rickert    November 1, 2026 

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Councilor Raphael Wahwassuck at the Forest County Potawatomi for the Bodéwadmi Gathering 2026 (Potawatomi Gathering). (Photo/Levi Rickert)

Overview:

National Native American Heritage Month recognizes the histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of Indigenous peoples while highlighting the ongoing challenges facing Native communities and the changing federal recognition of their heritage.

Nov. 1 marks the beginning of Native American Heritage Month, an opportunity to raise awareness of Indigenous history and contemporary Native issues and to recognize the Native people who enrich our nation’s culture and society.

National Native American Heritage Month, as it is officially called, is the culmination of a centuries-long effort to recognize the substantial contributions of Indigenous peoples.

Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker, a Cattaraugus Seneca Indian, historian, anthropologist, and author from New York, was an early proponent of establishing a day to honor Native Americans. Parker founded several influential American Indian rights organizations, including the Society of American Indians in 1911 and the National Congress of American Indians in 1944. He also advocated for American Indians to receive U.S. citizenship.

Parker persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to designate a day to celebrate the “First Americans,” an observance that took place from 1912 to 1915.

In 1914, Native rights advocate the Rev. Red Fox James, a Blackfoot tribal citizen, embarked on a 4,000-mile horseback journey to Washington, D.C., to petition the president for an “Indian Day.” He presented endorsements from 24 governors to the White House. In 1919, he again petitioned the state of Washington to designate the fourth Saturday in September as an “Indian holiday.”

Opening of the renovated Native American exhibit at the Grnad Rapids Public Museum (Phoot/Levi Rickert)

On Sept. 28, 1915, President Calvin Coolidge issued a proclamation declaring the second Saturday in May American Indian Day. The proclamation also included the first formal appeal for Native Americans to be recognized as U.S. citizens.

Decades later, in 1976, Jerry C. Elliott (Osage-Cherokee), one of the first Native Americans to work at NASA, authored congressional legislation establishing the first Native American Awareness Week, observed Oct. 10-16.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Presidential proclamations recognizing the month have been issued annually since 1994.

Today, Native American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to recognize the histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of the more than 575 federally recognized Tribal Nations, as well as Native communities across the United States. It is also a time to acknowledge the ongoing issues facing Indigenous peoples, including tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, voting rights, health care, education, and the protection of ancestral lands and natural resources.

Throughout the month, Native News Online will provide numerous articles to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.

LINK  

 

p.s. I like that there are Native American/First Nations movies and documentaries all month on Xfinity - free. Trace 

Only 34 Survivors received letters about Residential School record destruction

 

Only 34 Survivors received letters about Residential School record destruction by Connie Walker

Documents reveal the IAP notice program did not directly contact Survivors in Canada

Read on Substack

 

excerpt:

A couple of months ago, I spoke with an Indian Residential School Survivor. We were discussing the impending destruction of the largest archive of Survivor testimony from the Independent Assessment Process (IAP).

He was one of the more than 38,000 Survivors who participated in the IAP in order to receive compensation for abuse in Indian Residential Schools. The fate of their IAP records - including applications, transcripts, audio recordings and decisions - were at the centre of a Supreme Court of Canada court case in 2017. The Supreme Court ruled that Survivor records from the IAP should be destroyed unless Survivors decided to opt-in to preserve them.

The Survivor told me that he didn’t remember if he had gotten a letter or email about his options following the Supreme Court decision. He knew that his records were set for destruction unless he chose to preserve them by the September 2027 deadline but admitted that he wasn’t sure what the process was.

It made me wonder exactly what the notice program consisted of and how it was informing Survivors about their rights.

Image from My Records, My Choice website

This summer, our team at the Indian Residential School Records Project, spent weeks scanning over 70 boxes of documents relating to litigation of Indian Residential Schools. Since then we have been combing through them, uncovering the story of the battle over the IAP records and how the notice program would roll out.

After reading through the documents, I understood why the Survivor I spoke to couldn’t recall if he had gotten a letter or email about his options for IAP records – it was because he was never sent one.

In fact, only 34 Survivors received letters about their IAP records.

KEEP READING:  https://contactingconnie.substack.com/p/only-34-survivors-received-letters?r=cbskx&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer 

 

 PLEASE SHARE THIS INFO WITH YOUR FAMILY AND RELATIVES... Trace

Worth a Sunday morning listen:

Traversecityist shares an online audio drama called The Tanner Deposition that delves into United States v. Michigan and treaty fishing rights

By Wenona Singel on October 25, 2026

https://traversecityist.com/the-tanner-deposition Click the link above to open the three-part audio drama. Each part is between 28 – 30 minutes long.

From Traverscityist:

The Tanner Deposition, an audio drama in three parts, is based on the deposition of Helen Hornbeck Tanner (1916-2011) for United States v. State of Michigan. Tanner’s testimony included pivotal evidence which helped Michigan’s Indian tribes reclaim treaty-protected fishing rights. Created and directed by Gretchen Carr, it is made possible through the generous support of the Leelanau Press Research Fellowship and the Leelanau Historical Society. Introduction In 1836, the United States Government and Michigan Indian tribes signed the Treaty of Washington. In this treaty, and in subsequent treaties, the tribes sought permanent land bases, along with securing their right to hunt, fish and gather, which they had done for centuries and continued to do so in the Great Lakes and inland waters. That changed in 1872 when the Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano illegally terminated treaty obligations without Congressional approval. In 1930 a Michigan Supreme Court decision erroneously interpreted treaty law in a decision that gave the State control over Indian hunting and fishing. This ruling led to decades of conflict, including violent clashes between Indian fishermen and state authorities. Following a series of U.S. supreme court decisions in the 1960s, the United States filed a lawsuit against the State of Michigan in 1973 to reclaim these treaty-protected rights. This case entitled United States v. Michigan was filed in the U.S District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The Bay Mills Indian Community and Sault Saint Marie Tribe subsequently intervened as plaintiffs. In the years to follow, the Grand Traverse Band, Little River Band, and Little Traverse Bay Bands would also intervene as plaintiffs. Their claims rested on two foundations: evidence of the tribes’ long-standing commercial fishing practices, and the legal principle that treaties be interpreted as their Indian signers would have understood them. To establish those facts, the tribes and the United States brought in a team of expert witnesses which included anthropologists, archaeologists and ethnohistorians. Central to the case was the testimony of Dr. Helen Hornbeck Tanner. A senior research fellow at the Newberry Library. Tanner was known as one of the country’s foremost researchers of Great Lakes Indian history. Her research drew on federal land allotment records, genealogies, agent correspondence, missionary diaries, local histories, and oral tradition. In depositions that took place in January and April of 1977, Tanner testified that the United States Senate altered the 1836 Treaty without prior consent, and that the 1855 treaty was fraudulent. She resisted the imposition of Anglo-American legal terminology on Indigenous history. The attorneys for the State of Michigan approached her with visible skepticism, and questioned her financial dependence on litigation to suggest bias. They dismissed oral tradition as unobjective, and they repeatedly pressed her to translate Indigenous concepts into rigid legal categories. Dr. Tanner’s unflinching testimony helped to prove that Great Lakes tribes had fished treaty waters for generations, and that the treaty language protected their traditional way of life. In 1979, U.S. District Judge Noel Fox affirmed the tribes’ fishing rights. The ruling, known as the Fox Decision, sparked a resurgence of tribal organization in Michigan. Of all her service, Dr. Tanner considered her testimony in the United States versus Michigan to be the most significant of her career. Cast The Voice of Helen Hornbeck Tanner, Witness, Historian and Newberry Fellow is performed by Molly Tewson, who resides in Iowa and spends her summers at her family cottage on the north shore of Crystal Lake. She is the daughter of Dr. Tanner. The Voice of Gregory T. Taylor, on behalf of the Defendant, State of Michigan is performed by John McKinley, who resides in Traverse City, Michigan. The Voice of Stewart H. Freeman, on behalf of the Defendant, State of Michigan is performed by Barry Bricks, who resides in Benzie County, Michigan. The Voice of Peter W. Steketee, on behalf of the Defendant, Michigan United Conservation Club, is performed by Bill Pilgrim who resides in Benzie County, Michigan. The Introduction is performed by Mark L. Wilson. Mark L. Wilson, MPA, is an audio and video producer based in Traverse City, Michigan, and an enrolled citizen of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Through his company, New Leonard Media, he works with Tribal organizations, nonprofits, and artists to share their stories. He served two terms on the Grand Traverse Band Tribal Council, including as Vice Chair, has served as Mayor Pro Tem on the Traverse City Commission, and currently serves on numerous board and committees throughout the region. The Epilogue is performed by Jeremy Rice. Jeremy Rice resides in Northport, Michigan and is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. He manages cultural resources with Dirt Divers Cultural Resource Management, a Native-owned cultural resource management firm based in Cass Lake, Minnesota.

Say Their Names

 

First Nation community using its own data center to preserve its heritage

WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY, Ontario (AP) — For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have passed down their traditions and culture through oral storytelling. Now, a Canadian Indigenous community is using a data center to help preserve its heritage.

Oct 21, 2026

Wiikwemkoong's Chief Technology Officer Michael McCormick, right, and a worker inspect the community's data center in Wiikwemkoong, Ontario, Canada, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

By KELVIN CHAN — AP Technology Writer   

 

WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY, Ontario (AP) — For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have passed down their traditions and culture through oral storytelling. Now, a Canadian Indigenous community is using a data center to help preserve its heritage.

The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in rural Ontario installed a small data center as it modernized its recordkeeping systems. Among the digital files it holds are video recordings of Anishinaabe speaking their native language.

“Our language is one of the biggest things that most First Nations across the country are losing,” said Wiikwemkoong Chief Tim Ominika. “We will have our knowledge keepers, our language speakers who may be moving on to the spirit world, but their legacy is still going to be protected for many years to come by having our own data systems in place and protecting that.”

The idea of digital sovereignty has gained momentum in places like Europe, where leaders are wary of the widespread influence of American Big Tech. For the Wiikwemkoong First Nation and other Indigenous communities, it is also about asserting authority over their own information after historically being excluded from its collection and use by colonizers.

About the size of a single-car garage, the data center installed last year also stores the community's corporate documents, health data for residents, and security camera footage. 

👇

Braids

By Trace Hentz, blog editor

Every morning before the school bus came, I had my hair braided, two braids. She asked. I insisted.  First grade and on and on, we had to wear uniforms: yup, Catholic School.

One day, my adoptive mom had all my hair cut off, and I cried and thought I looked like a boy. I think it was 5th grade. I think, but not sure. She took photos. It was spring, maybe Easter. 

It took awhile to grow back.  I never let her do that again.

before she cut my hair, powwow LCO

 

 

 

Krystle Silverfox's work, Apprehension, speaks to her mother's experience in the #60sScoop

 Krystle Silverfox uses beading to bring healing and care to mother's '60s Scoop story

Artist's series titled 'Apprehension' will comprise nearly 300 documents

Edzi'u Loverin · CBC News ·  October 20

Artist Krystle Silverfox redacts her mother's foster care documents by beading over the personal or traumatic information contained on each page. (Submitted by Krystle Silverfox)

Krystle Silverfox spends her days taping the back of 286 documents that record her mother's early life.

Silverfox, an east-Vancouver raised artist now based in Whitehorse, then redacts her mother's foster-care files by beading carefully over the personal or traumatic information contained on each page.

"I tape the back so that way it ... doesn't just rip apart easy," said Silverfox, a member of Selkirk First Nation in Yukon.

"I see beadwork as a way to convey care and, like, putting things together."

Silverfox's mother is a Sixties Scoop survivor, one of thousands of Indigenous children who were apprehended by child welfare authorities from the 1960s to the 1980s and placed with non-Indigenous families.

This document belongs to Krystle Silverfox's work, Apprehension, which speaks to her mother's experience in the Sixties Scoop. (Submitted by Matthew Hanick)

Her work is one of four artist's pieces to be highlighted by United Contemporary gallery in Toronto during the 27th Art Toronto fair, which runs Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.

It's called Apprehension, which Silverfox said not only represents the Sixties Scoop, but also speaks to how she felt while looking at documents that share her mother's experiences.

"I'm apprehensive reading these because it's such a difficult thing to go through," said Silverfox.

"But then as I'm doing the work to redact things, it feels a little bit more empowering or more, I guess, healing."

She said she's beaded 23 of the 286 documents so far.

'It's a little bit educational, but it's also something that honours ... an experience that so many people have,' says Krystle Silverfox. (Submitted by Matthew Hanick)

"Beading on paper, it's a little challenging," said Silverfox.

"Paper is very delicate, right? So it's easy to rip. So it does take a lot of care and time to make sure I'm doing things correctly."

'Like viewing the receipts'

This year's Art Toronto has more than 100 exhibitors, including galleries, project spaces, and cultural institutions from Canada and around the world. Nearly one third of participating galleries will show work from Indigenous artists.

Melanie Trojkovic, gallery director at United Contemporary, said five or six documents from Silverfox's Apprehension series will be on display at the gallery's booth.

"We wanted to really celebrate female identifying artists at this time, and all of them who look to, research, archive, and honour family histories, as well as generational trauma," said Trojkovic.

"I'm hoping that majority of people will be able to access this history through her beautiful work."

Trojkovic, who is originally from Australia, said that history made her emotional.

"Here in Canada, the Sixties Scoop specifically was something that I was learning through Krystle's work," said Trojkovic.

"It's like viewing the receipts.... It just brings home all these lives that were impacted by this institutionalized scoop and apprehension of Indigenous children."

• The Sixties Scoop

• Q&A

  Krystle Silverfox moved from B.C. to the Yukon — to a town so small it doesn't have an art supply store

That education is one part of what Silverfox was hoping to accomplish.

"Talking about what happened is really important not only for myself and other Indigenous people to relate to it, but also people who don't even know what the Sixties Scoop is," said Silverfox.

"It's a little bit educational, but it's also something that honours ... an experience that so many people have."

Silverfox said another work that contends with four fragments of a Hudson's Bay blanket will also be featured at United Contemporary's booth during Art Toronto.

"On the blanket there's beaded text, and the text is inspired from early treaties and the Indian Act," said Silverfox.

"[It's] about the connection, what it was supposed to mean to have these contracts between early settlers and Indigenous people."

ICT News | October 23, 2026

 

Compensatory Payments for Historical Wrongs (Canada)

I think their land theft, killing sprees, oppression and Colonisation of all kinds prevent us from being ourselves. The societies we live in are geared to the requirements of the colonisers, not to the People.  Our lives are shaped by their rules, their attitude towards us – their contempt for us and their fear of our possible rebellion.  Their money will not change what they did, never... Not until the lands return to Native hands, and until then, we are still at war... WE STILL WAIT -Trace, blog editor

A different OPINION below :  

Over past 50 years--but primarily since 2017--Ottawa has paid out more than an estimated $110 billion to First Nations for lawsuit and class action settlements

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 22, 2026 /CNW/ -- Since 1974, the federal government has given an estimated $113.2 billion (inflation-adjusted) to First Nations in Canada as pay outs for lawsuits and class action settlements, according to a new essay published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

"Most Canadians are not aware of the enormous payments Ottawa has made to First Nations to settle legal claims and class action lawsuits," said Tom Flanagan, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Compensation for Past Treatment of Indigenous People.

The essay finds that between 1974/75 and 2025/26, Ottawa paid out $29.4 billion to First Nations to settle specific claims—essentially those cases where the court ruled the federal government had violated treaty rights or the Indian Act in the past.

Crucially, the number of claims settled and the value of the claims settled significantly increased starting in 2017/18, and it peaked in 2024/25 when 69 claims were settled for a total of $7.3 billion that year alone.

But specific claims are only one form of legal compensation for First Nations. Increasingly, class actions and other litigation based on claims of mistreatment of rights violations have been brought against the federal government, including for residential schools, the "sixties scoop," safe drinking water, and more.

Settling class action suits has cost Ottawa an estimated $83.2 billion since 2007.

"Because Ottawa's compensatory payments are for historical wrongs, the number of claims—and the amount taxpayers need to pay—should be going down, not up, but that is not the case," Flanagan said.

"The significant amount of money that the federal government has paid out, particularly in recent years, acts as an incentive to attract even more legal claims and class action lawsuits to be filed. This all begs the question of whether or not these efforts are improving the wellbeing of indigenous populations in Canada."

** 

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, and Montreal, and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit  www.fraserinstitute.org

Red Lake failed its kids

Red Lake Nation Chairman Won’t Step Down Amid Child Welfare Deaths

by Elyse Wild    October 19, 2026  NATIVE NEWS ONLINE

Credit: (photo/redlakenation.org/

Overview:

A tribal chairman announces he will not resign as the tribe's child welfare department falls under scrutiny.

Red Lake Nation Tribal Chairman Darrell Seki Sr. has released a statement that he will not be stepping down amid revelations that a pattern of neglect within the tribe’s child welfare program led to the deaths of eight children.

The statement comes just days after the tribe said the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council asked Seki to step down after Bureau of Indian Affairs documents detailing the agency’s September takeover of its child welfare department—called Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganiaadog (Ombi)—were made public.

The 11-page document includes assertions that Ombi staff had failed to act in several cases where children were endangered and later died as a result.  Records state that tribal officials, including Seki and Ombi’s Executive Director Cheri Goodwin, have refused to work with federal authorities to protect the welfare of Red Lake Nation’s children.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the tribal council issued a statement that it had requested Seki to step down from his position within two weeks.

The statement read in part:

“He acknowledged that mistakes were made in how important information was not communicated to the Tribal Council, and agreed to step down. We recognize the difficulty of these circumstances and respect his decision to make this announcement on his own terms as we continue working together to move our Nation forward.

We recognize the seriousness of these circumstances, particularly the allegations that have surfaced, the ongoing reassumption, and most importantly, the tragic loss of children’s lives. Our hearts and deepest sympathies remain with the families and community members who have experienced unimaginable loss. We must never lose sight of the lives and families at the center of these matters.”

However, Seki says he will not be stepping down. His statement, posted on Facebook, reads as follows.

To the Red Lake Tribal Members:

I have informed the Red Lake Tribal Council, in writing, that I am not retiring or stepping down. I remain the duly elected Chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and I will continue to carry out the duties of this office that the people of Red Lake entrusted to me.

Our Nation is going through a difficult time and our members are looking for steady leadership; we owe you, our membership, a Council that stands united in purpose.

I look forward to continuing to work together for the good of the Red Lake Nation. We are strong, and we must stand as one.

— Darrell G. Seki, Sr. Tribal Chairman Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians

Seki was first elected in 2014. He was reelected to another four-year term in June.

According to the tribe’s constitution and bylaws, removing a Tribal Chairman requires a referendum of eligible tribal voters. The referendum can be triggered by a petition signed by 25% of tribal voters or an affirmative vote of eight members of the Tribal Council.

Related

BIA Reports: Feds Take Over Red Lake Nation’s Child Welfare Program After Deaths of Eight ChildrenOctober 14, 2026In "Health"

Red Lake Nation Responds to Federal Takeover of Child Welfare ServicesSeptember 18, 2026In "Sovereignty"

IMPORTANT READ:  Star Tribune: https://www.startribune.com/red-lake-child-welfare-deaths/601901151

Book highlighting missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana wins award

by NBC Montana Staff , October 14, 2026 

A book featuring portraits of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana has won the 2026 High Plains International Book Award in the Art & Photography category. Photo: MAM press release

MISSOULA, Mont. — A book featuring portraits of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana has won the 2026 High Plains International Book Award in the Art & Photography category.

"Outrage: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Montana," published alongside a 2025 exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum, features portraits by Irish artist Brian Maguire.

Maguire began the project in 2020, working with Montana families to create portraits based on photographs of their loved ones. He produces two paintings of each person, giving one to the family and making the other available for public exhibition.

The High Plains International Book Awards recognize literary works reflecting life in the High Plains region.

MORE:  https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2026-10-19/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-book-wins-international-award?_amp=true 

I’m like the Indigenous Kool-Aid man

Howie Miller Turns Comedy into a Platform for Indigenous Representation

 

For comic Howie Miller, comedy is a way to confront racism, challenge stereotypes and make space for Indigenous people in an entertainment industry that has often reduced them to narrow roles.

October 18, 2026

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – For Howie Miller, comedy is more than a punchline. It is a way to confront racism, challenge stereotypes and make space for Indigenous people in an entertainment industry that has often reduced them to narrow roles.

The Edmonton comedian has spent decades turning personal experience into material while encouraging a new generation of Indigenous performers to step into the spotlight. His goal is not only to see more Indigenous comedians onstage, but to see Indigenous people represented across mainstream media as doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts and artists.

“We need our faces in mainstream media more and more, and not so much riding around on horses or drunk on a reservation,” Miller said. “We need to be doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, everything, because that’s what we are.”

Miller is originally from Paul Band, west of Edmonton near Wabamun Lake, and was born and raised in the city.  Adopted during the Sixties Scoop, he reconnected with his Indigenous family in his early 20s.

His path to comedy began in high school, where he discovered a talent for mimicry, accents and performance. He started pursuing stand-up in his early 20s while raising a family and later expanded into corporate entertainment.

“It was really in high school where I sort of developed a sense of humor and the art of mimicry,” Miller said. “It was very easy for me to articulate in accents and mimic things, and I got a great amount of pleasure of that, and that got attention to me, positive attention.”

As he developed his career, supporting his family became a central motivation.

“And then it just sort of fell into, like, I really need to get good at this because I have a family to support,” he said.

Turning experience into material

Miller said his Indigenous identity opened doors early in his career at a time when few Indigenous performers were visible in Canadian comedy. “People might think it was hard for me because I was Indigenous. Actually, that opened a gateway for me,” he said.

He credited Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club with helping him gain experience, build an audience and establish his name. “So it was really helpful in my career at the beginning. And I got my name out there and it opened a lot of doors for me,” Miller said. “So as far as stand-up is concerned, it’s been a very positive road for me.”

His experiences have also included encounters with racism and prejudice in Alberta and British Columbia. Those experiences became part of his comedy, allowing him to address subjects that are often left unspoken.

“That was always the underlying tone of my sense of humor, was to bring to light the situations that Indigenous people face in this country: racism, ignorance, you know, prejudice, whatever you want to call it,” Miller said.

“There’s a lot of it that we have to experience daily, and many people don’t know that, or they don’t realize it. So, if I can bring that to light in a humorous way, it’s sort of, you know, brushing off the dust off, because it’s something we don’t talk about.”

Comedy, he said, can make difficult realities easier for audiences to understand. “And I’m able to talk about it, and people can understand it,” Miller said.

Making room for the next generation

When Miller began performing, he said there were only a handful of Indigenous comedians and entertainers working across the country. Today, he sees Indigenous performers at comedy clubs and open mics in communities across Canada.

“When I started, there was probably only about four or five Indigenous entertainers or comedians in the entire country,” he said. “Now it’s such a pleasure to see so many faces.”

Miller said seeing Indigenous performers develop their own voices onstage fills him with pride. “It fills my heart with such joy,” he said.

He hopes his career has helped make the path easier for those performers, comparing himself to the Kool-Aid Man crashing through a wall and leaving an opening for others to follow.

“Not to say that I had anything to do with that, but, you know, I always tell people I’m like a Kool-Aid man.  I’m like the Indigenous Kool-Aid man. I crash through the wall, I make a big hole, and I want people to follow me,” Miller said.

“I want Indigenous people to follow me and, you know, just keep doing things. I can’t do this forever, and I’d like to continue and grow more. So it’s very positive.”

Miller has also performed with fellow Canadian comedian Howie Mandel during shows in the United States. “He’s a super nice guy. He’s super funny, and he’s treated me with the utmost respect, and it’s just wonderful doing those shows,” Miller said.

Another milestone came when Miller performed during commercial breaks at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Edmonton. The event was especially meaningful because Rexall Place was connected to his childhood memories of watching the Oilers.

“It was Edmonton. It’s my hometown, and I just felt, okay, I’ve made it,” he said. “I’m performing for, you know, 25,000 people here in a place that I grew up, and it was very heartwarming.”

Confidence as a starting point

For Indigenous performers hoping to enter comedy or other creative fields, Miller’s advice is to build confidence. “Confidence. Absolute 100% confidence. Confidence in yourself, confidence in what you’re saying,” he said. “You grow that confidence; it grows inside you. Once you have that confidence inside you, you can accomplish anything.”

Miller recognizes that confidence can be difficult to develop, particularly for Indigenous people affected by trauma and difficult upbringings. Still, he encourages emerging performers to trust themselves and their material.

“You just have to be confident in yourself, and that’s very hard sometimes for Indigenous people to be confident in themselves, given their upbringing, where they’re growing up,” he said. “You just have to be confident, self-confident, and confident in your material, and yeah, the sky’s the limit.”

For Miller, family remains an important source of pride beyond his career in comedy.

“I’m very proud of my four sons. They are in their careers. Some of them are in the entertainment or arts field. They are excelling, and they’re just amazing. The four sons are just, you know, they’re my four warriors. And I’m very happy and proud of them.”

Website: howiemiller.com⁠
Instagram: @howiemiller72⁠
X (Twitter): @HowieMiller⁠