Twenty shelter case workers at the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre didn’t know why they were being asked to gather Monday morning at the shelter on North Park Street. “We got an email from one of the big wigs at the Friendship Centre,” says Brent Cosgrove, who has been a case worker since the shelter first […]
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre shelter closing amid restructuring
The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre has long been a place for urban Indigenous people to find resources, community and even housing. But the centre’s shelter at 2029 North Park Street, the former home of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, has only existed since January of this year. There were 25 beds in the beginning, and […]
Posted inArts + Music
6 ways to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day this weekend
The first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation happens this Thursday, September 30. Converting the day known as Orange Shirt Day into a federally recognized holiday was one of the recommendations put forth in 2015’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations. The federal holiday aims to imbue reflection on the legacy of residential schools and honour […]
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Three local organizations get government cash to provide affordable housing
Halifax Regional Council gave the green light to three affordable housing projects this week. The city got money to pay for the projects from the federal government’s rapid housing initiative; the funding was earmarked for at least 28 units to the tune of $8.65 million. And with the number of people who are unhoused in Halifax doubling […]
Posted inArts + Music
L’nuwesimk: El-noo-wee-simk: Speaking Indian
Exhibit 201 Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre 2158 Gottingen Street (6pm) Burying grounds at Sinnot Hill Park, 31 Windmill Road, Dartmouth (8pm) Granville Court, Granville at Duke Street (10pm) For their Nocturne piece L’nuwesimk, the artists Ursula Johnson and Angella Parsons are proposing something very small and incredibly wide at once: At three sites in Halifax […]
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New home for Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre moving forward
Regional council approved an agreement Tuesday to sell the former Red Cross property on Gottingen Street to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society. Terms and conditions of the deal are contained in a confidential report that wasn’t released to the public, but what is known is that the sale will be at market value and is […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Government must do more to address First Nations’ water woes
Neskantaga First Nation in Ontario has had to boil water since 1995. “We’re over 20 years already where our people haven’t been able to get the water they need to drink from their taps or to bathe themselves without getting any rashes,” Neskantaga Chief Wayne Moonias told CBC News in 2015. Their water issues have […]
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Judge stops sale of St. Pat’s-Alexandra to developer
Judge Patrick Duncan issued the above order late yesterday afternoon, ordering a temporary stay of the sale of St. Pat’s-Alexandra School to Jono Developments. The matter will be taken up February 16, when the judge has scheduled a five-and-a-half-hour hearing. The order came after Halifax lawyer Ron Pink filed a Motion for Judicial Review of […]
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Seven Sparks’ program heals with sweat
Complete blackness envelops me. The chanting and heavy breathing of everyone else rings loudly, like thoughts in my own head. I retreat under my towel from a blast of cedar smoke and scorchingly hot steam. This is hopefully the closest sensation to burning alive that I’ll ever feel. Finally, I murmur the sacred words and […]