Indigenous History Month and what to expect from Eagle Feather News
- Kerry Benjoe | June 20, 2022
June is Indigenous History Month and although it’s been 15 years since it was proclaimed provincially, it only became recognized nationally in 2009.
However, many people still aren’t aware that we have the entire month to celebrate our unique history and not just one day. With that said, it’s great to be able to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day on June 21 with in-person activities, which have been on hold since the start of the pandemic.
For those who don’t know. Indigenous History Month was initiated in Regina by a group of young professionals. It was proclaimed first by the City of Regina’s mayor at the time, Pat Fiacco. Regina was also the first municipality in Canada to permanently install a Treaty Territory flag, as well as the Métis flag. Other cities and towns have since followed suit.
In keeping with the spirit of celebrating Indigenous History Month, you will find some longer features available online at www.eaglefeathernews.com throughout the month of June. So keep an eye out for those.
For those who don’t know, Eagle Feather News has had a long history with the Indigenous Communications Arts (INCA) program at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) and, this summer, the INCA Summer Institute has returned to in-person classes.
For six weeks, the students receive a crash course in journalism. This includes training in print, radio and television.
I spent some time with the students as part of the print section. The students each produced a print article, some of which will be featured in the June and July editions of Eagle Feather.
Congratulations to the students and thank you for all your hard work. After two years of online classes, I’m sure it’s been tough to adjust to the gruelling schedule.
Eagle Feather has always been very supportive to up-and-coming journalists.
For the last number of years, a student from the University of Regina’s J-School has joined our team for a semester as part of their internship requirement.
This year was no different.
In February, I interviewed two students for the position and made my choice.
I was looking forward to working with Mercedes Redman.
She not only impressed me during the interview process but for someone so young, she accomplished many things in terms of research projects, podcasting, writing and storytelling. She interned for the RezX magazine while still in high school and did a stint with CTV and Indigenous Circle.
Mercedes was passionate not only about storytelling but about telling Indigenous stories for Indigenous people.
When she passed suddenly on May 27 at the age of 22, it shocked many of us in the journalism community.
I am honoured to be sharing one of her last articles that she produced as part of the INCA Summer Institute.