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National Indigenous News October 1 · National Indigenous Newscasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is a look at your National Indigenous News.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Darrell Stranger.
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  SPEAKER_00: Canada is failing to meet international legal obligations by refusing to hold thorough investigations into the crimes committed in its residential school system, says a global human rights organization.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Permanent People's Tribunal issued its final report Wednesday saying that the residential schools posed widespread, systematic and most serious human rights violations.
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  SPEAKER_00: Released to coincide with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the 78-page report urged Canada to investigate, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators of these violations and to provide reparations.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Independent Opinion Tribunal accused the country of doing what they called very little to prevent the continuation of discrimination against indigenous peoples.
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  SPEAKER_00: The judgment also condemned Canada for showing deliberate contempt before the international community.
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  SPEAKER_00: It said the country refused to sign certain international conventions and modify its criminal law to include genocide, enforced disappearances, and apartheid.
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  SPEAKER_00: In its recommendations, the tribunal asked Canada to conduct thorough investigations into the disappearance and deaths of children in its institutions, and that residential schools' archives and records be conserved.
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  SPEAKER_00: It called on the government to provide financial support for research related to residential school burial sites, to commemorate and protect these sites, and to fund the revitalization of indigenous languages.
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  SPEAKER_00: All sacred objects held by governments, museums, national parks, and academic institutions should be returned to the communities to which they belong, it added.
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  SPEAKER_00: Several recommendations focus on improving conditions on reserves, particularly in the areas of health and education.
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  SPEAKER_00: Others address respect for territorial rights and reparations for land dispossession.
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  SPEAKER_00: Other recommendations also target the Catholic Church and other religious communities who operated the residential schools, including reparations for stolen land and the restitution of the lands where former churches are located.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Northern Alberta, marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Fort Mackay First Nation chief Raymond Powder issued an open letter advocating for true indigenous economic self-determination.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chief Powder linked recent external pressures on Canadian sovereignty, such as U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: tariff threats and annexation talk, to the lived history of colonization, emphasizing why treaty rights, cultural preservation, and land stewardship remain non-negotiable for First Nations.
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  SPEAKER_00: Powder highlighted Fort Mackay as a model for balancing resource development with environmental protection, pointing to its Moose Lake preservation efforts alongside Project 174C, Canada's sole indigenous-owned oil sands venture.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Supported by growing federal and provincial loan guarantee programs, he urged governments and industry to go beyond mere consultation.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: With Ottawa pushing to accelerate major infrastructure, Powder insisted First Nations must participate as equity partners, leaders, and decision makers, ensuring future national prosperity directly rights historical wrongs.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: The Medicine Hat Public Library in Alberta is setting aside$5,000 for Indigenous-led projects aimed at bringing more Indigenous culture, knowledge, and voices into its collections and services.
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  SPEAKER_00: The initiative will allow indigenous individuals or people with connections to the Indigenous community to submit proposals for projects at the library.
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  SPEAKER_00: The money can support a range of ideas, including books and other collection materials, artwork, public programming, traditional teachings, craft programs, staff education, and an elder in residence.
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  SPEAKER_00: The library is intentionally keeping the application process simple and is open to ideas beyond those already identified.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Medicine Hat Public Library says proposals must come from an Indigenous person or someone connected to the Indigenous community and must connect to Indigenous cultures.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: The library's goal is to create more opportunities for Indigenous people to contribute to the library while making Indigenous culture and knowledge more accessible to the broader community.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's a look at your national Indigenous News.