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| Old News | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 |
The OFIFC has been involved for several years in developing curriculum for a recognized Courtwork certificate. Similar development in other programs led to the formation of the Original Peoples Learning Centre over a year ago.
The Courtwork course was delivered in partnership with the First Nations Technical Institute. Now, the Courtwork program and the OPLC are pleased to announce their first graduate: Pauline Sackaney of Moosonee. Congratulations!
Courtworker Loretta Peltier Honoured in Sudbury Loretta Peltier, a courtworker at the N'Swakamok friendship Centre in Sudbury was presented with Laurentian University's Fellowship Award. The award was given in recognition of the work Ms. Peltier has done with and for Aboriginal people. Congratulations Loretta, and keep up the great work!
Ontario Works Announces Learning, Earning, and Parenting Program The LEAP program focuses on teen parents on welfare and their children. It provides incentives to finish high school, build parenting skills and break the cycle of welfare dependency.
Fellowship Award Presented by Laurentian University
The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) and Grand River Employment and Training (GREAT) are pleased to offer our gratitude to those who have supported the development of our partnership.
We were recently successful in a proposal submission process to become the service delivery authority for the urban component of the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS) in Ontario. The urban component is designed to provide employment training services to Aboriginal people who are from out of province or who are otherwise unaffiliated with a First Nation or Metis organization in Ontario.
The proposal submission process highlighted the value of partnership in service delivery, and the assurance of service delivery in specified urban areas throughout Ontario.
The announcement of our successful venture only recently occurred. It is expected that negotiations will occur in the near future with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) to ensure a smooth transition of the urban component for September, 1999. As a consequence, there have been no decisions made to date on how service delivery will be implemented.
The continued support we have received in this matter is appreciated.
The 29th Annual General Assembly of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) occurred at the Fort Erie Friendship Centre from October 23 to October 25, 1998.
The OFIFC executive for 1998-99 is as follows:
| President | Vera Pawis-Tabobondung, Parry Sound |
| 1st Vice President | Ken Geroux, Barrie |
| 2nd Vice President | Marie Whattam, Ottawa |
| Secretary | Marie Meawasige, Sudbury |
| Treasurer | Sheila McMahon, Fort Frances |
Significant discussion items for the AGM, in addition to activity and financial reporting, included:
The feast and give-away took place on Friday night. Chi miigwetch and niawen:kowa to the Fort Erie Friendship Centre for their hospitality.
The 30th Annual General Meeting will be hosted by the Timmins Friendship Centre next October.
The 1998 OFIFC Annual General Meeting will be held at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre from the 22nd to 24th of October. The quarterly OFIFC Board Meeting will be held a day earlier on the 22nd. The Annual Meeting will be held in the gymnasium and begins at 9:00am each day.
Scheduled events include a volleyball game Thursday evening between the staff of the Fort Erie Centre and the OFIFC. The OFIFC is the odds-on favourite, though Fort Erie has been known to call in ringers from their terrific Youth Group. All in all, it's shaping up to be a great match.
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The OFIFC mourns the sudden passing of Jacob E. "Jake" Thomas, who died Sunday, August 16
at the age of 76. He is survived by his second wife Yvonne, fourteen children and forty-five
grand-children.
Born January 6, 1922 into the Snipe clan (which he thought might explain why he liked to fish), Jake spent his life learning and passing on his knowledge. He spoke five of the six Iroquoian languages fluently and was renowned as keeper of Indian language and culture. He taught Native Studies for many years at Trent University and in 1992 was appointed to the Board of Governors of McMaster University. He envisioned and built the Jake Thomas Learning Centre, located today in front of his home on Townline Road. Jake was one of the few people capable of reciting the entire Kaianerenko:wa, or "Great Law", and was among the first, if not the very first to do so in English. He left behind mountains of written work, audio and videotape which are still being translated and transcribed at his Learning Centre. Friends and family of Jake will remember him as a very wise, very resolved man with a clear view of the world. These characteristics rubbed off on those around him, and may help to explain why his company and knowledge were in such great demand. The day he died, he finished giving an abbreviated version of the Great Law to fifty young people in Rochester, New York. This September, Jake was scheduled to give a complete recitation of the Great Code in Mohawk in a traditional setting, to be filmed by a production crew from California. The end result was to be complete with simultaneous translation into the other Iroquoian languages and English. This past May, the OFIFC invited Jake to give teachings at our Staff Development Retreat in Honey Harbour. That day Jake taught us about Clans, how they originated, what they mean, how they differed between tribes, and how they are still used today. After an unexpected car accident, Jake was luckily fine but found himself staying a little longer than expected. That evening he told stories and related part of the Great Law to several people by a campfire on the lakeshore. For more information about Jake Thomas, please contact the Jake Thomas Learning Centre, RR#1, Wilsonville, Ontario, N0E 1Z0, (519) 445-4230. Many thanks to Bill Woodworth, a friend of Jake's, for providing some helpful information for this article. |
The Friendship Web National Database was premiered at the National Association of Friendship Centres' (NAFC) Annual General Meeting in Prince George, British Columbia. The database, designed by the Aboriginal Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Coordinators and developed at the OFIFC, is a full-featured on-line database containing information about Friendship Centre history, programs, and people across Canada.
The NAFC AGM presentation was very well-received and Friendship Web, along with the many Friendship Centre web sites developed by the ASI project, were demonstrated at an ASI kiosk outside the meeting hall doors.
Anyone can use Friendship Web to browse or search for information, and registered members (including Friendship Centre personnel) can also take advantage of the Chat Room and other services as they become available.
Links:
Friendship Web
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The OFIFC congratulates Georgina Isaac for receiving the Remarkable Woman Award, presented by the Rubena Willis Counselling Centre for Assaulted Women and Children. Georgina is the combined Criminal and Family Courtworker at the Parry Sound Friendship Centre. The award is presented each year to an Ontario woman who works towards the the elimination of violence against women and children. Georgina received the award on June 6 at the Colony Hotel in Toronto. Congratulations! |
Articles:
Parry Sound North Star, June 24, 1998.
Ka:nen is looking for a very colourful and very creative original work of Art. Your work of art could represent the off-reserve Aboriginal Community Action Program for Children (CAP-C) for Ontario.
First Prize: $300
Second Prize: $200
Third Prize: $100
Send your original to:
Ka:nen Our Children Our Future
146 S. Court Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7B 2X6
Your name, age, address, and phone number must be written on the back of your original work.
All entries must be received before August 20, 1998.
Ted Guardipee, a fifty year-old Blackfoot Medicine Man is walking from Kahnawake, Quebec to Vancouver, B.C. to raise awareness of water pollution and its potential threat to humanity. Ted will be passing through many major cities and towns across Canada and will need places to speak and sleep, and donations for food to sustain him on his journey. For more information, please contact the Community Health Worker Trainees of Anishnawbe Health Toronto at 416-920-2605 or 416-360-0486, or click on the linked Press Releases below.
Press Releases:
Initial Press Release, May 14, 1998
Information Update, May 15, 1998
This article originally appeared in The Toronto Star, 2 May 1998, p. B4, by Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Policy Reporter.
Click here for the full article.
Excerpts:
Milwaukee Wisconsin issued its final welfare cheque last month.
When it did, it became the first American state to stop sending free money to poor women and their children.
Today, most former welfare recipients work 40 hours a week at community service jobs or train under a program called
Wisconsin Works.
. . . .
"My advice to you (in Ontario) is to be clear about your message and don't waver," she said
in an interview from Madison, the state capital.
Rogers' other piece of advice is to plow welfare savings into job support.
But it is advice Ontario has been in no hurry to take. The Tories used $1 billion from a 1995
rate cut to fight the deficit. A $600 million reinvestment to cover transition costs and
increased support under their Ontario Works workfare program won't be fully phased in
until next year.
Rogers said Wisconsin is spending on average 43 per cent more per participant than it did
under the old system, which simply issued welfare cheques. "In the short term, it will help
that individual and her family and in the long term, your (welfare) figures will improve," she
said.
Click here for the full article.
Click here for related Toronto Star article April 17, 1998
Click here for related Toronto Star article April 14, 1998
April 10 and April 13 are designated holidays.
As always, an excellent way to contact us is by E-mail, please refer to our Staff List for E-mail addresses. Happy Easter!
Having a plan to handle the crash was the single most important part of restoring service. To restore the server, the primary hard drive was replaced, the server software was reinstalled, and the system was restored from a tape backup. Once the basic information was back some features required repair, final checks were made and the server was brought back on-line. Without a proper plan and a good backup, the interruption could easily have lasted twice as long.
Once the server was up and running again, a second disk drive was added to mirror the first. Should the new primary drive fail, the new mirror can take its place in less than an hour. Of course this precaution is not a substitute for a good backup routine. The OFIFC has some information on how to prepare a defence against losing data, please contact us if you would like to know more.
Response from National Association of Friendship Centres
Response from Chiefs of Ontario
The consultation will take place during November and December 1997. If you wish to participate in the process, please contact barbara Mathieu Courchene at the NAFC (613-563-4844 ext. 28) or Barbara MacCallum at the National Steering Committee by E-mail or fax (613-729-3515).
