Teenager charged with 19 murders in Guyana school dormitory fire
Georgetown, Guyana Reuters A 15-year-old girl who is accused of having started a fire at a school dormitory in Guyana last week was charged with 19 murders on Monday. The fire killed 18 mostly Indigenous girls and one five-year-old boy in the building in the central city of Mahdia. The girl started the fire after […]
Explainer – What is Australia’s Indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’ campaign?
Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia plans to hold a federal referendum later this year to constitutionally recognise its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the establishment of a representative Voice that will provide non-binding advice to the parliament. A sticker of the Australian Aboriginal Flag along with the word “RESPECT” is pictured on a structure […]
Attacks on Brazil’s Indigenous people rose sharply in 2021 – Catholic report
Brasilia, Brazil Reuters Attacks on Brazil’s Indigenous people and invasions of their lands by illegal miners and loggers, mainly in the Amazon, increased dramatically in 2021, escalating an already “terrifying” situation, the Catholic Church’s Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) said on Wednesday. In its annual report on violence against Indigenous people, Cimi detailed a dramatic intensification […]
Saints of Past Ages: St Anne
In a special Saints of Past Ages, EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, takes a look at St Anne and why she is so important to Indigenous peoples in Canada…
In Canada’s Quebec, Indigenous people continue to fight French law
Montreal, CanadaReuters A sweeping law adopted by Quebec on Tuesday to promote French usage is elevating already simmering tensions with indigenous groups, who see the move as an imposition and have vowed to fight it. Bill 96, passed by a majority of Quebec legislators, sets stricter rules to enforce French usage in the province, adding […]
“Useless for us”: New Indonesian capital excludes Indigenous, poor
RINA CHANDRAN and LEO GALUH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports that the new capital city will uproot thousands of indigenous people, and offers little incentive for poorer residents in Jakarta to move…
Meeting between Canadian First Nations and Pope postponed
Toronto, CanadaAP A meeting at the Vatican between Pope Francis and Canadian Indigenous people who were abused at church-run boarding schools has been postponed because of the new coronavirus variant. National Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Assembly of First Nations said Tuesday that the delegation had planned to travel to Rome next week and meet […]
Essay: Spotty data and media bias delay justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people
In an article first published on The Conversation, WENDELIN HUME, of the University of North Dakota in the US, says addressing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the US means first compiling accurate data…
Australian Christian leaders say government move to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, including reparations, doesn’t go far enough
Last updated 2:50pm (AEST)Sydney, Australia Australian Christian leaders say the Federal Government’s $A1 billion Closing the Gap announcement does not go far enough to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, and acknowledge the past wrongs suffered by the nation’s Indigenous people. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the funding, including $A378.6 million in redress payments for survivors […]
World’s tropical forests and people imperiled by legal rollbacks under COVID-19
Mexico CityThomson Reuters Foundation Threats against Indigenous people and rainforests have risen during the coronavirus pandemic as governments have rolled back social and environmental safeguards to boost economic growth, land rights activists said on Thursday. Governments in five countries with tropical forests have weakened legal safeguards to aid economic recovery, while expanding projects near native […]