Indigenous Rights
Wet’suwet’en land defenders are not criminals
January 22, 2020
On January 13, the RCMP set up an Access Control Checkpoint on Wet’suwet’en territory, exactly one month after the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada “to guarantee that no force will be used against Secwepemc…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Strong medicine for toxic resource extraction
January 15, 2020
The final report of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Inquiry released on June 3 outlines 231 recommendations for addressing the ongoing discrimination and violence targeted against Indigenous women in Canada. The detailed report diagnoses patriarchy and…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
New understanding of Indigenous history inspires MHCC staff
January 15, 2020
As twenty Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) staff members seated themselves in a circle in a small, windowless room, a sense of trepidation was in the air. While some had experience working with Indigenous communities, others were only faintly…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Hoy 12 Tz´i´ en el calendario maya día para pedir justicia para las mujeres y la Madre Tierra
November 25, 2019
(Translation in English provided below) Es propicio para pedir justicia para las mujeres, que cese la violencia en su contra. Hoy 25 de noviembre, día en que se conmemora y se recuerda la lucha de las mujeres, como las hermanas…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Priorities for Canada’s 43rd Parliament
October 25, 2019
Canadians have elected a minority government. Collaboration is critical for the survival of Canada’s 43rd Parliament and is urgently needed to appropriately address mounting and systemic issues. Indigenous rights and wellbeing, the climate crisis, migrant justice, and support and protection…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Acción Ecológica’s releases analysis of October 2019 mobilizations
October 24, 2019
Acción Ecológica, KAIROS partner organization in Ecuador has released their analysis of the mobilizations that occurred earlier this month and the events that led to these. In it, Acción Ecológica celebrates the organizing efforts and achievements of the Ecuadorian people,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Cariboo region hosts eight Blanket Exercises in eight months
October 22, 2019
The Cariboo Region is pleased to have hosted eight KAIROS Blanket Exercise sessions for provincial government staff in Williams Lake, Quesnel and 100 Mile House over the past eight months. Participants included FLNRORD, MIRR, BCWS, BCTS and CSNR staff. The…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Indigenous still waiting for vows to turn into action
October 21, 2019
Chrystal Désilets likes to remain hopeful when she hears promises flow from the mouths of would-be MPs on the campaign trail. But too often, particularly surrounding Indigenous issues, it becomes the same old story. There’s plenty of talk while her…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Indigenous leaders reach deal with government of Ecuador
October 15, 2019
After almost two weeks of mass mobilizations, the people and Government of Ecuador reached a deal late Sunday night. In a dialogue aired live on national television and online, the President of Ecuador agreed to cancel Decree 883, the austerity…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Spirited Reflection: Orange Shirt Day as solidarity and visibility
September 29, 2019
Orange Shirt Day began in 1973 when six year old Phyllis Webstad entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in BC. Young Phyllis was wearing a brand new orange shirt for her first day of school – new clothes being…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
The next Session of Parliament must prioritize protection and fulfillment of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
September 14, 2019
OPEN LETTER TO ALL CANDIDATES IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and numerous reports by international human rights bodies have all documented the profound and tragic…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
A huge win for First Nations kids!
September 6, 2019
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the federal government to pay compensation to a huge number of First Nations children, youth and families harmed by the child welfare system. First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada tweeted:…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
The Chapeau Gallerie Regionale
September 3, 2019
The Chapeau Gallerie Regionale in Chapeau, Quebec is creating safety for community by taking others into safety, surrounded by the warmth of community and a love infused with genealogical expertise and local history. The sprawling brick heritage home that houses…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights
Youth taking the lead on reconciliation
August 14, 2019
Nearly three-quarters of Indigenous youth in Canada believe they will see meaningful reconciliation in their lifetime, an online poll has revealed. The Canadian Youth Reconciliation Barometer, a study done by Environics Institute for Survey Research and released in early July,…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Town of Okotoks to acknowledge traditional territories
July 31, 2019
An Okotoks town council meeting took a step forward on July 15, as Mayor Bill Robertson opened with an acknowledgement of Treaty 7. The acknowledgement will precede all future Town of Okotoks events, following a KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE) on…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Blanket Exercise boosts staff awareness about colonization effects on Indigenous patients
July 23, 2019
It moves some to tears. Others are shocked, yet hopeful. Anger, guilt and shame can also come with the heightened awareness hospital staff members have after taking part in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise. The interactive exercise – developed by KAIROS, an…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Reflexión: Loque significa caminar en tierra robada; una reflexión sobre el ejercicio de mantas de KAIROS
July 9, 2019
Como hija de inmigrantes nicaragüenses, no soy ajena a las historias de dictaduras respaldadas por los Estados Unidos y tampoco sus masacres. Las historias contadas durante el ejercicio de mantas de KAIROS en su versión guatemalteca me hicieron llorar de…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
Spirited Reflection: What it means to walk on stolen land
July 9, 2019
The Guatemalan KAIROS Blanket Exercise (adapted from the Canadian version) was recently held in Toronto. Two others have commented on the impact of the exercise— one as a settler, one as a First Nations woman, and now, a third as…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
September is Climate Action Month
July 8, 2019
KAIROS is promoting September as Climate Action Month to explore the climate crisis and highlight the work of our members and networks. On each day in September, an event, blog post, environmental challenge – or some combination of all three!…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
Acting on an Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
June 26, 2019
KAIROS Canada is deeply disappointed that Bill C-262, while passed by elected officials in Parliament, will die on the Order Paper in the Senate. Since it is highly unlikely that the Senate will meet again before the writ for the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Bill C-262 in limbo
June 21, 2019
Time may have run out on Bill C-262. Although originally scheduled to adjourn on June 28, the Senate is now expected to wrap up today, National Indigenous Peoples Day, leaving several bills, including Bill C-262, in limbo. In an Open…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Spirited Reflection: Ancestors, Imagined
June 21, 2019
Recently, I was fortunate to witness the Guatemalan expression of the KAIROS Blanket Exercise while in Toronto, Ontario. As a First Nations woman, I was struck by the similarities of this story of colonization to the one I had come…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
Spirited Reflection: Imagine
June 20, 2019
At a recent KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE), the facilitator commented that he often wonders what Canada would look like today if, instead of having forced Indigenous communities to adapt to colonial ways, the European colonists had assimilated the ways of…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
Retarder les projets de loi C-262 et C-337 mine le processus démocratique au Canada, et met en danger la réconciliation ainsi que la protection des droits humains
June 19, 2019
Une motion unanime des 338 députés de la Chambre des communes déclare que les deux projets de loi actuellement devant le Sénat, les projets de loi C-262 et C-337, sont « des mesures législatives majeures » qu’il est urgent «…
Post filed in: En français, Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
KAIROS urges Parliament to pass key human rights bills before time runs out
June 19, 2019
(Ottawa, ON) – KAIROS Canada joins Indigenous nations, organizations, and other human rights defenders in an urgent call to Parliamentarians to pass two critical bills that have been stalled in the Senate. In an Open Letter released on June 17,…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Stalling on Bills C-262 and C-337 undermines Canada’s democratic process, jeopardizes reconciliation and fails to protect human rights
June 17, 2019
17 June 2019 Open Letter to Parliamentarians A unanimous motion of the 338-member House of Commons said that two bills currently before the Senate, Bills C-262 and C-337, are “critical pieces of legislation” and urged that they be “passed into…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Advocates continue to push for Indigenous rights bill as deadline looms
June 17, 2019
A bill which would harmonize Canadian law with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) would need to restart its life in the House of Commons—after the federal election—if not passed by the senate before June…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Hyperbole and misrepresentation must not prevent Senate passing Bill C-262
June 11, 2019
We are hopeful that in a matter of days the Senate will vote to adopt a private member’s bill that would require the federal government to begin in earnest the work of implementing global human rights standards to protect the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights