Winter 2020
In February 2020, the Independent First Nations Alliance (IFNA) joined the Alliance, bringing the total number of member organizations to eleven, where it remains today.
In March 2020, Mamow Ahyamowen presented findings from the Learning From Our Ancestors project to the Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care. Shortly thereafter, staff and Steering Committee members gathered in Thunder Bay for a face-to-face planning meeting.
At the same time, many organizations were tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2, known more commonly as “COVID-19”. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. In the coming months and years, organizations’ priorities shifted to managing the pandemic and keeping communities safe. For this reason, a lot of the Alliance’s work was put on pause.