Diana Violet Bird reaches for a rosehip as she patiently teaches her nine-year-old daughter how to forage for edible wild plants in the forest. “When the flowers fall off, you get what’s called a rosehip,” she told her. “Rosehip is so good for you — it is medicine.” Bird, who is from Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, grew up […]
How Indigenous communities are working to boost COVID-19 vaccine rates
Alana Kennedy knows the toll COVID-19 takes. The virus spread through her family a few months ago. Kennedy, her mom, her dad and her niece all got sick. “We were all isolating together at my parents’ place and I was scared. We were all scared,” she said. Her mother is still in the hospital in […]
‘La Loche will survive this virus’: Seeds of hope in Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 epicentre
Indigenous leaders and residents of La Loche and area say the community remains resilient as it grapples with being the epicentre of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. The vast majority of the province’s active cases are in and around the small, remote community, located about 600 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. Read more
Calls for culturally-specific care amidst concerns over mental health issues in black communities
Eight years after Fiyin Obayan suffered from a mental breakdown, she still remembers how terrifying it was. “It was like I was a different person. I just kind of lost sight of reality. It’s like I kind of go in and out of it,” said the 28-year-old. Away from home, Obayan was registered in a […]
25 years after conviction, Robert Latimer still believes he was right to kill his daughter
Robert Latimer is adamant that he made the right decision. The Saskatchewan farmer was convicted 25 years ago of killing his 12-year-old daughter, Tracy, who had severe disabilities. Latimer wants that conviction overturned. Tracy Latimer had severe cerebral palsy and suffered chronic pain from repeated surgeries. She couldn’t walk, talk or feed herself. Robert maintains […]
A place in the circle: 2-spirit people seek visibility and supports
Brook Garner grew up feeling isolated. As one of the only First Nations children in his rural Saskatchewan community, he felt alone. “I was marked as different. I was bullied a whole bunch. It was not fun,” Garner, now 24, said. “Growing up in a mainly white community was just different because I didn’t look a […]