17 days later, Indigenous woman’s hunger strike ongoing

Alma Kakikepinace started her hunger strike last month

CBC News, October 7, 2016

It’s been 17 days since Alma Kakikepinace ate a good meal or slept in a real bed.

But the 53-year-old resident of Sagkeeng First Nation said she’s willing to wait much longer before she gives up on her stand to improve housing on First Nations in Canada.

Kakikepinace has been on a hunger strike, living out of a makeshift camp hung with tarps and blankets, for more than two weeks. Temperatures are dropping, and Kakikepinace said she’s no closer to achieving her immediate goal of being granted a house in her community.

‘Using the courts to take down my teepee is not our way of life’: Siksika man fights for right to protest

Ben Crow Chief outside court.

Ben Crow Chief says band members were not consulted before post-flood rebuild began

By Meghan Grant, CBC News, October 7, 2016

After living in a teepee on the Siksika Nation for nearly a year, Ben Crow Chief appeared in a Calgary courtroom on Friday afternoon, arguing he should be allowed to continue his blockade protest.

“Using the courts to take down my teepee is not our way of life,” said Crow Chief. “We’re tired of being stolen from, we’re tired of being lied to.”

Elsipogtog facing overcrowding crisis due to housing shortage

Packed into living rooms and sleeping on sofas, people in Elsipogtog are crammed into two and three-bedroom homes, waiting for more housing to be built. (CBC)

Elders, councillors say First Nation is facing a housing crisis as families are packed into small houses

By Tori Weldon, CBC News, June 20, 2016

People in Elsipogtog are calling for immediate action on what they say is a worsening housing crisis, as many band members live in crowded and deteriorating homes while they wait for the council to assign them a place to live.

Split Lake protest decries First Nation living conditions

Protesters call on chief, council to resign

CBC News, May 16, 2012

Split Lake reserve in northern Manitoba, home of the Tataskweyak Cree, protest the band council, May 2012.

Protesters on the Tataskweyak Cree Nation in Split Lake, Man., are demanding the resignation of their chief and council over what they say are poor living conditions.
About 30 people have been protesting outside the band office in the northern Manitoba community since Monday night.
The protesters say overcrowded homes and schools, poor roads and a lack of running water are among the issues they and other band members face.

Mouldy homes on First Nations reserves a national crisis, UVic study says

By Judith Lavoie, timescolonist.com January 25, 2012

Almost half the homes on First Nations reserves in Canada are mouldy and the high levels of toxins are making people sick, University of Victoria researchers say.
The problem amounts to a national crisis, but, despite a patchwork of programs, little has been done to address underlying problems for two decades, their study concludes.
Conditions on many reserves are deplorable and dangerous, UVic medical anthropologist PeterStephenson, who led the study said in an interview Tuesday. “For small children, it’s disgraceful,” he said. “We haven’t seen any action on this for 15 to 20 years and it’s long overdue.”