Days after the statues of two British monarchs were toppled within the province of Manitoba amid growing fury over the legacy of Canada’s residential establishment , where Indigenous children were forcibly sent for much of the 20th century, the web site Walking Eagle News had its own take – not such a lot on the grief and outrage, but on the fixation with statues.

“Country was ‘mere seconds’ from reconciliation before the statue toppled: Manitoba premier,” ran the Walking Eagle News headline.

In another: “‘Fading from history’: Members of royalty appear translucent as statues toppled in Manitoba”.

As Canada is forced to form sense of its dark colonial past, and therefore the inequities and injustice that persist today, Walking Eagle News has quickly become a force wont to skewer powerful institutions and hold political leaders to account.

Described as “purveyors of only the best Indigenous news”, Walking Eagle first began as a comedy project for Tim Fontaine in 2017.

After leaving a career in Canadian journalism that spanned nearly 20 years , Fontaine turned to satire in an attempt to impress debate and capture the myriad frustrations felt by Indigenous peoples across the country.

He borrowed the name of the location from an old joke a few politician visiting Indigenous communities. During a visit, the politician is given the name Walking Eagle by an elder. After he leaves, a reporter asks the elder what the name means.

The response: “It’s a bird so filled with shit it can’t fly.”

“When Walking Eagle News first started, it had been very dry and deadpan,” Fontaine said. “And now, it just barely covers my anger.”
In late May of this year, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced it had discovered 215 unmarked graves, mostly of youngsters . within the following weeks, more communities announced similarly devastating discoveries on the sites of former residential schools. Fontaine’s work has served as gallows humour to assist people add up of tragedy.