8TH FIRE: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada, and The Way Forward resources

Check it out this link to watch the four-part series 8TH FIRE on CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/8thfire/index.html

The link also contains many video resources and other sections such as Aboriginal 101 and Maps - all great classroom resources for a wide variety of subject areas and grades.

"A 500 year old relationship...coming out of conflict, colonialism & denial." 8TH Fire draws from an Anishinaabe prophecy that declares now is the time for Aboriginal peoples and the settler community to come together and build the '8TH Fire' of justice and harmony.

Anti-racism for white activists

Here is a "top 10" list for white anti-racists from the Colours of Resistance website. There are a lot of "top 10" lists out there for white anti-racists, but this one provides specific guidance for activists.

Ten things to remember: Anti-racist strategies for white student radicals (Chris Dixson): http://www.coloursofresistance.org/749/ten-things-to-remember-anti-racist-strategies-for-white-student-radicals/

Colours of Resistance resources

Check out the site Colours of Resistance archives for informative resources on a wide variety of topics: http://www.coloursofresistance.org/

About Colours of Resistance: Welcome to the archival website of Colours of Resistance! We offer this collection of articles and resources as a contribution to documenting our movement history and helping to advance contemporary analysis and organizing. Colours of Resistance (COR) was a grassroots network of people in the U.S. and Canada who consciously worked to develop anti-racist, multiracial politics in the movement against global capitalism. This network existed from 2000 until about 2006. Through this work, COR members aimed to help build an anti-racist, anti-imperialist, multiracial, feminist, queer and trans liberationist, anti-authoritarian movement against global capitalism. COR members were also committed to integrating an anti-oppression framework and analysis into all of our work.

Call for investigation of missing and murdered Aboriginal women

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CBC News - Missing aboriginal women prompt UN letter: Two Canadian groups requested investigation, accusing Canadian government of breaching convention

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/12/13/pol-un-aboriginal-women.html

The high price of fashion: Killer jeans

The Hidden Human Cost (from www.labourbehindthelabel.org)

Jeans with the faded or worn out look achieved by blasting sand at high velocities at denim often retail for as much as 180% of the price of a normal denim. Yet the hidden cost is paid by sandblasting operators working today in countries such as Bangladesh, China, Mexico and Egypt, many of whom will contract an acute form of the fatal lung disease silicosis due to fine silica particles gathering in the lung.

The first case of silicosis in the garment industry was identified in 2005 by doctors in Turkey, who were investigating the reason for a high incidence of lung and respiratory problems among the young men employed in the industry. By 2010, over 1000 affected workers had been identified in Turkey. 46 workers, mostly young men, had died of the disease and doctors suspect 5,000 other unreported cases. Silicosis can become fatal within 6 to 9 months.

For more information:

Shop Ethical: http://www.ethical.org.au/get-informed/issues/jeans-sandblasting/
http://www.ecochicmagazine.co.uk/eco-fashion-expo/fashion-expose/killer-jeans-how-distressed-is-your-denim 

BBC News - Sandblasted jeans: Should we give up distressed denim?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15017790

In Whose Honor: Documentary

See the website below for information about the documentary
In Whose Honor

 http://jayrosenstein.com/pages/honor.html

Remembering Aboriginal veterans: Forgotten Warriors film

Forgotten Warriors (1997): http://www.nfb.ca/film/forgotten_warriors

Questions, stills and interviews with the director: http://www3.nfb.ca/enclasse/doclens/visau/index.php?mode=theme&language=english&theme=30662&film=33238&excerpt=612143&about=2

Description from NFB: Although they could not be conscripted, when World War II was declared, thousands of Canadian Aboriginal men and women enlisted and fought alongside their non-Native countrymen. While they fought for freedom for others, ironically the Aboriginal soldiers were not allowed equality in their own country. As a reward for fighting, the Canadian Soldier Veteran's Settlement Act allowed returning soldiers to buy land at a cheap price. However, many of the Aboriginal soldiers were never offered nor told about the land entitlement. Some returned home to find the government had seized parts of their own reserve land to compensate non-Native war veterans. Whole First Nations communities still mourn the loss of the thousands of acres of prime land they were forced to surrender. With narrator Gordon Tootoosis providing an historical overview, Aboriginal veterans poignantly share their unforgettable war memories and their healing process. We join them as they travel back to Europe to perform a sacred circle for friends left behind, but not forgotten, in foreign grave sites. Director: Loretta Todd, 85 min.

Additional Information:
Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans Committee: http://www.firstnationsveterans.ca/index.php
Metis Veterans Memorial Monument: http://www.metisnation.ca/index.php/news/metis-veterans-memorial-monument-project
Aboriginal Veterans: Essential Facts and Timeline: http://www.waramps.ca/newsroom/archives/abvet/back.html 
Canada's Vets Stand Strong: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/11/05/canadas-vets-stand-strong-united-against-cuts-61647