Indigenous Rights
Pope’s long-awaited, historic apology for Catholic Church’s role in Indian Residential Schools important first step
April 4, 2022
The 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line is available for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience or by the information in this report – 1.800.721.0066 / 1.866.925.4419 During the final, public audience with…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Indigenous Women’s March in defense of land and natural resources in Brazil
March 28, 2022
Highlighting MERE Hub Brazil Led by Indigenous women, Indigenous people mobilized in 2021 to counter governmental attempts to further dispossess and displace them of their lands and territories. The Brazilian government is seeking to open large areas to both domestic…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Kaji’ Ajpop Strengthens Indigenous Women’s Rights in Guatemala
March 1, 2022
KAIROS has a long history of working with partners in Guatemala on Indigenous rights, environmental and land defense, and gender justice. In 2021, KAIROS began exploring a new partnership and supporting the work of Kaji’ Ajpop, an association that promotes…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America
KAIROS wish list 2022
February 1, 2022
As Canada and the world grapples with multiple crises, including pandemic related impacts and extreme weather events fueled by global heating, KAIROS calls on all levels of government in Canada to prioritize a just and equitable recovery. This includes a…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Statement on the violent removal of Indigenous land defenders by the RCMP
December 2, 2021
Promises of reconciliation are empty when the RCMP continues to arrest Indigenous people on their own land. KAIROS Canada joined members of Climate Action Network – Canada (CAN-Rac) to call on federal ministers Marco Mendicino and Marc Miller and BC…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights
Opportunities and highlights from the Regional Gatherings
December 1, 2021
The three KAIROS regional gatherings – Great Lakes-St. Lawrence, Prairies North, and Atlantic – that happened in November were opportunities to share how the KAIROS network is learning and acting for justice, particularly for reconciliation. You may also be interested in reading Reflections on the Regional Gatherings….
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Regional News
Finding your roots in the Treaties: Reflections on the Regional Gatherings
December 1, 2021
The deeper we are connected to our ancestral roots, [the more we find] we are all in the same place because we have all been taught, no matter where we are at or where we come from on this planet, we are being taught…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Regional News
Letter of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders
November 5, 2021
KAIROS joins representatives of an ecumenical community to register our solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en peoples who are defending their lands in opposition to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. This pipeline violates the fundamental right of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights
Congratulations to all the winners of the youth poster contest
November 1, 2021
To mark its 20th anniversary, KAIROS wants to lift up the artistic work of young activists. We asked for original artwork that shares a message of justice, peace and hope – artwork that will help us as a movement and…
Post filed in: #KAIROS20 Anniversary, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
Testimonio and Storytelling: Canadian extractivism in territories affected by genocide
October 27, 2021
Join KAIROS, Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN), the Department of Human Rights at St. Thomas University, MiningWatch Canada, Atlantic Human Rights Centre, Solidarité Fredericton, NB Media Coop, and Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Solidarity Network on Monday, November 8, 2021 at 6:00pm EST for “Testimonio and Storytelling: Canadian extractivism in territories affected by…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
KAIROS Mandate Letters to the Prime Minister of Canada
October 25, 2021
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We at KAIROS write to you during a kairos moment, when multiple crises have converged and opportunities arise for transformational change. In our work we advocate for such change in elevating the rights and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples, women, temporary foreign workers, and ecological systems. The climate crisis and COVID-19,…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Thank you, Mi’kmaq Grandmothers, for protecting land and water through Indigenous self-determination
October 25, 2021
KAIROS welcomes the decommissioning of the Alton Gas Project and honours and thanks the Mi’kmaq Grandmothers for all their efforts in the protection of land and water. The Mi’kmaq Grandmothers have been steadfast in their defense of the Shubenacadie River system, treaty rights, and their ancestral homelands for years. Despite intimidation, coercion, and criminalization from the part of various governments, companies,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights
Spirited Reflection: Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 28, 2021
A growing, Indigenous-led, grassroots movement has claimed September 30 as Orange Shirt Day – a day to remember and honour the students of Residential Schools – since 2013. This year the federal government has responded to TRC Call to Action 80 and…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
A reflection on Decolonizing Ourselves: Land and the Spirit of Treaty
August 25, 2021
On Saturday, August 7, 2021, I had the privilege of joining approximately 60 others “on the land” at Fort Carlton, an hour or so north of Saskatoon. We were mostly settlers, interested in learning and thinking about land in new,…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Bill C-15 on its way to becoming law
June 18, 2021
This week marks an important moment which will be remembered as a good day in the struggle to uphold and recognize Indigenous Rights in Canada. With its passage in the Senate, Bill C-15, An Act Respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is now…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Passage of national UN Declaration Implementation Act a milestone for Indigenous rights and reconciliation
June 17, 2021
Nations and organizations are celebrating the fact that long awaited and hard-fought national legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) has successfully passed the final vote in the Senate. Bill C-15 An Act Respecting the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Women Resisting Extractivism Film Club | The Condor & The Eagle
June 14, 2021
For the June instalment of the Women Resisting Extractivism film night, KAIROS has partnered with theLegacy of Hope Foundationfor a screening and discussion of The Condor & The Eagle. This online event features co-hosts Chrystal Waban from KAIROS’ Indigenous Rights…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
TAKE ACTION! Urge senators to pass Bill C-15
June 10, 2021
The Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Coalition), of which KAIROS is a member, calls on all senators to ensure that Bill C-15, An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration), is adopted into law. The bill, which fulfills an election promise to…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
ELMNT FM Moment of Truth: Interview with Connor Sarazin
June 9, 2021
The interview covers the MMIWG info-hub, an overview of KAIROS, including the Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers project. ELMNT FM Moment of Truth is hosted by David Moses.
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
For truth and accountability: Justice for the death of First Nation children in Canada
June 9, 2021
The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-determination (IPMSDL), KAIROS partner in the Philippines, joins the utmost condemnation of the evidence of genocide towards Indigenous Peoples and First Nations of Canada with the recent discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Indigenous Rights
KAIROS echoes faith communities and Indigenous nations’ calls for accountability to mark numerous reconciliation anniversaries
June 9, 2021
Today’s beginning of Indigenous History Month has been overshadowed by the recovery of 215 stolen children at a former Indian residential school in British Columbia. Simultaneously, we are fast approaching the second anniversary of the 231 Calls for Justice for MMIWG2Spirit. These anniversaries and headlines have spurred feelings of grief and many of us are revisiting the Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action, yet another report’s anniversary…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
“Missing children and burial information” current status of the TRC Calls to Action
June 4, 2021
Indigenous Watchdog tracks and reports on how reconciliation is progressing in Canada across all 94 Calls to Action. With the recent discovery of a mass grave with 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School located on the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Ensure Bill C-15’s passage into law
June 2, 2021
KAIROS is encouraged to see the House of Commons once again adopt UNDRIP legislation. Bill C-15, An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, passed third reading in the House of Commons on May 25. Three years ago, Bill C-262, Romeo Saganash’s private Member’s UNDRIP bill – on which Bill C-15…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
A critical moment for upholding the human rights of Indigenous peoples
May 11, 2021
Our Nations and organizations welcome the significant progress that is being made toward adoption of federal legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A House of Commons committee has completed its review Bill C-15…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
KAIROS’ response to federal budget 2021
May 4, 2021
Heralded as a shift from the Washington Consensus, a doctrine of free-market economic policies that prioritizes austerity over social support, Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience outlines $101.4 billion in new spending targeted at those who were hit hard by pandemic – specifically women. While KAIROS applauds the shift to greater social…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
KAIROS statement on the death of The Honourable Thomas Berger
May 3, 2021
News of the death of former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger on April 28, 2021 at the age of 88 resonated deeply throughout the KAIROS network. A ground-breaking lawyer and activist, Justice Berger will be remembered for his willingness to listen to and advocate for Indigenous peoples…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Women Resisting Extractivism Film Club | Firewater Thunderbird Rising
April 29, 2021
Join KAIROS’ MERE Hub on Thursday, May 20th at 7:00pm EDT for the fourth installment of its virtual film club on the gendered impacts of resource extraction. This penultimate session will be hosted by Tasheena Sarazin, an Algonquin artist with roots from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and Bear Island. Tasheena is a hard-working mother of three children and an active member…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
The gendered impacts of the mining industry in Brazil
April 29, 2021
The impacts of the mining industry in Brazil are best known by the two major tailing dam bursts that took place in Mariana (2015) and Brumadinho (2019) in the state of Minas Gerais. These human-made disasters took the life of hundreds of people and caused massive environmental destruction. However, well before these breaches, the mining industry had been a source of afflictions and human rights…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America