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Ancient Inuit drum songs, called Pisiit, that were once banned as part of colonialism are being revived in a course in Nunavut.
The Qaggiavuut Society says it will hold a five-day class on Pisiit, part of a broader effort to connect elders with the next generation of performers, in hopes of exposing the style of music to other Nunavut communities.
The tradition has struggled to survive over the years after the drum songs were banned by Christian missionaries for being too rooted in Inuit spirituality, the organizers said.
The course will be taught in Inuktitut without translation by eight elders from various regions of the territory.

A 2,000-year-old settlement with archeological evidence of ancient tools, homes, hearths and grave sites is about to become an outdoor classroom.
The Ye’yumnuts village near Dunåcan, B.C., is about to become a living Indigenous history lesson where the local school district will use the 2.4-hectare meadow as a place-based classroom.
The area was slated for a private residential development in the 1990s. But work stopped with the discovery of dozens of human skeletons, some curled in fetal positions and included mothers and their children, according to archeologists.
The Cowichan Valley School District has plans for field trips and projects with Cowichan tribal elders to bring a sense of time, place and reality to Indigenous relations classes that are now part of the school curriculum.

In a move seen as unprecedented, Pope Francis has effectively stripped Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal’s title following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy.
The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to conduct a “life of prayer and penance” before a church trial is held.
McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church’s yearslong response to allegations of priestly abuse there.

The chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says First Nations people will be hurt by the shutdowns at two uranium mining operations in northern Saskatchewan.
Uranium miner Cameco Corp. says it has indefinitely extended production suspensions at its McArthur River and Key Lake operations.
The company will permanently lay off about 550 employees, including about 250 Indigenous people.
Chief Bobby Cameron says the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is prepared to advocate for Indigenous workers to make sure they get proper compensation packages.

The federal government must “get out of the way” of First Nations in their efforts to bring about self-determination by ditching failed colonial policies — and start working with indigenous leaders to address issues such as justice, health, racism and child welfare.
This from Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett during her visit to the Assembly of First Nations gathering late last week.
Bennett says Canada has been the greatest barrier to itself when seeking progress on indigenous self-determination in Canada.

A Nova Scotia judge says the widow of a former First Nations chief can stay in their family home on reserve land even though she is not a member of the band or a status Indian.
Justice Gregory Warner of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled late last week that the woman can stay in the home she shared with her indigneous husband west of Kentville, N.S., mainly because a 2013 federal statute recognizes the equality rights of spouses in such situations, regardless of gender, race or ethnic origin..
The home in question was built in 1979 for former chief Lawrence Toney and his first wife with a $23,000 federal grant.
Toney’s second wife lived in the home with her husband for thirty years.

Canada’s minister of Indigenous relations says the federal government needs to “get out of the way” of First Nations in their efforts to bring about self-determination.
Carolyn Bennett has told the annual assembly of First Nations chiefs that Canada also needs a mechanism to protect First Nations rights and title by moving away from a colonial approach that leads to court battles.
She says her government is working toward a framework that would be a code of conduct to ensure it follows the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the demands of generations of Aboriginal leaders.
Bennett was speaking to chiefs across the country who elected Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde to a second term yesterday.
Bellegarde and his four challengers said in speeches before the election that the status quo based on colonial views cannot continue.
Bennett acknowledged the leaders concerns in her own speech, saying treaty rights that have belonged to First Nations since time immemorial must be recognized.