My extensive reporting on aboriginal issues has been short-listed for two awards by the Canadian Association of Journalists.
From in-depth coverage of missing and murdered aboriginal women, to profiles of indigenous artists, leaders and environmental advocates, my work has been published in the Toronto Star, Windspeaker, Indian Country Today Media Network, The Tyee, THIS Magazine, and the Vancouver Observer.
Below are some samples from my aboriginal and indigenous portfolio.
More than 1,000 people protested against the controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway project as its public hearings moved to Vancouver on Jan. 14, the largest anti-pipeline demonstration since the 4,000-strong “Defend Our Coast” protests in Victoria last October.
Court cases continue for 10 protesters after controversy over logging on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast escalated to an injunction and arrests on Dec. 7.
Could the battle against Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline have a parallel in the NorthWest Rebellion, the 1885 uprising of Métis and First Nations which led to Canada’s infamous hanging of Louis Riel and others?
Mobilized by online social media, a good 3,000 people showed up for an Idle No More flash mob at the West Edmonton Mall, staging a full-scale Grand Entry, the ceremonial procession that opens pow wow gatherings.
Opposition continues to grow against Enbridge’s proposed 728-mile, $5.5 billion Northern Gateway pipeline, which would pump 525,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s coast, to be loaded on tankers for Asian export.
As Idle No More prepares for its next day of action on January 28, Indigenous activists and thinkers are taking time to reflect on the grassroots movement
Labour, First Nations and environmentalists warn that too much is at stake with the TransMountain project.
After more than a month of protests, hunger strikes, social media–organized flash mobs, round dances and teach-ins—and in the wake of Friday’s meeting between national aboriginal leadership and Prime Minister Stephen Harper—the sincerity of Harper’s pledge to focus on First Nations issues is being discussed heatedly among activists from coast to coast.
Idle No More again flexed its muscles across the country yesterday, the third and largest Indigenous day of action since the grassroots movement began one month ago, on International Human Rights Day.
In just one month since the explosion of the Idle No More movement, what has been termed the “Round Dance Revolution” – on account of thousands participating in circle dances in malls and intersections – has captivated the hearts of many.
David P Ball 