Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

First Nations facing more fiscal attacks

Rebecca Clarren’s next stop on her book tour for “The Cost of Free Land” is Bismarck on April 29, where she’ll be having a reading and open discussion about the dispossession of Indigenous land. Photo by Shelby Brakken, photo courtesy of Rebecca Clarren

Toronto, Sept. 7, 2012 – On the heels of recent cuts to First Nation services in such key areas as health and social services, the federal government is further marginalizing First Nation organizations by cutting core funding.

“It’s a shame that Canada has decided to cut First Nation budgets in order to justify its attacks on First Nations in general,” says Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee. “Canada has made a lot of statements about how they want to work with First Nations, yet every time we turn around they’re cutting funding to health, social services and other key areas that impact First Nations peoples’ day-to-day lives. Let’s be truthful here, Canada is aiming to divide First Nation communities so they can create a vacuum in order to gain control over our people and our land.”
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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.