Rebate from Mohawk Online funds water in Kahnawake
By Eve Cable, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has announced a one-time rebate for the annual $59 water fee, which is in part due to funds “repatriated” as a result of Mohawk Online’s partnership with Entain coming to an end last year. “We’re trying to give financial relief to our community members, and this is a very small gesture but it’s something, after all,” said MCK chief Ryan Montour. An MCK press release from Monday morning quoted MCK grand chief Cody Diabo as saying that the rebate is “thanks to income that was generated through the sale of Mohawk Online,” though Montour clarified that Mohawk Online was not in fact sold when it ended its partnership with Entain. “It definitely wasn’t sold, it was probably...
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Possible cougar sighting caught on video
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun A suspected cougar sighting has been viewed by thousands of Westman residents after an animal was recorded walking through a Waywayseecappo field in broad daylight on Wednesday. Danielle Shingoose of Waywayseecappo First Nation told the Sun she caught the video, which was taken at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday. A large four-legged animal with a long tail is seen walking in a field before it enters a forested area, at maximum distance as her camera can zoom. “I was just about to take out the trash and I looked out the window and saw something moving in the field,” said Shingoose. “It looked like a big cat, so I took my phone out and started recording.” Shingoose zoomed her camera through her...
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Local First Nation signs letter of intent for major data centre
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local northeast First Nation has taken a bold step towards building a data centre within Fort St. John. In a March 5th press release, Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) announced it has signed a letter of intent with ABCT Pacific. The size, scope and cost of the project will be determined through a feasibility process both parties have entered, with PRFN being the majority owner. The letter of intent means PRFN will explore the construction and operation of a major data centre, according to the release. Data centres are storage facilities for computing machines and the hardware they require, such as servers, data storage drives and networking equipment. ABCT Pacific, a division of Alberta Clean Technologies...
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Indigenous women receive targeted support to lead Canadian conservation efforts
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A new fellowship program is underway to give Indigenous women across Canada the opportunity to lead conservation efforts and capitalize on their longstanding role in land and water stewardship. The First Nations Women Transforming Conservation Fellowship will be awarded to two women this year. It is designed to address the historical and ongoing underrepresentation of Indigenous women in environmental leadership. “The system they work within isn’t always designed with their needs in mind. It’s often a patriarchal, colonial framework,” said Valérie Courtois, Executive Director of Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which partnered with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada on the project. “But the reality is, Indigenous women have been the backbone of conservation in their communities.” The program will provide training and mentorship...
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Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
By Matt Sedensky NEW YORK (AP) — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing. The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste. “I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest. Tobin’s job...
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Six Nations Police charge Mississauga man in arson
OHSWEKEN, SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-A 24-year old Mississauga man is facing charges in connection with an arson investigation at Six Nations of the Grand River. The charges came after Six Nations Police (SNP), Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) West Region Canine Unit and Six Nations Fire and Emergency Services, responded to a Third Line Road structure fire at about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2025. An investigation determined a fire had been set intentionally to a structure. The fire caused minor exterior damage to the building. No injuries were reported. SNP arrested a man Wednesday, March 5, 2025, without incident at a Fourth Line address in Ohsweken. As a result of the investigation, Daryoush Khosravi, 24 from Mississauga, was charged with the following Criminal Code offences: Arson – damage...
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Grassy Narrows begins construction of mercury care home
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer After years of fighting for mercury poisoning redress, the Grassy Narrows First Nation broke ground on a mercury care home and wellness centre yesterday. Ninety per cent of the people of Grassy Narrows, also known as Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek, have some level of mercury poisoning, which is also passed from mother to child. The 6,500-square-foot facility will integrate traditional healing practices with modern medical care, including assisted living support, rehabilitation and traditional healing with health professionals working together to care for the patient. “Many times, elders and community members who have been significantly affected are also forced to live outside the community because of the complex care that they need to receive,” said Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. Minister Patty...
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Tribal nations are concerned that Trump’s cuts have the potential to violate trust responsibilities
By Graham Lee Brewer NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — In tribal nations across the United States, leaders are scrambling to respond to a directive from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to close more than a quarter of Bureau of Indian Affairs offices, which provide vital services to Indigenous communities. Trump and Musk are calling on the General Services Administration, or GSA, to begin terminating leases on all of the roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide, including 25 regional offices of the BIA. Those offices fulfill a wide variety of rights the U.S. owes to tribal nations, and some leaders and legal experts are worried the potential closures, layoffs and funding freezes could violate those trust responsibilities. “It’s a destabilizing action,” said Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of the American...
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Manitoba drops ‘God Save The King’ rule at school, tries to enshrine school nutrition
By Steve Lambert The Manitoba government put forward sweeping changes to the school day Thursday — eliminating a requirement to sing “God Save The King,” paving the way for more Indigenous instruction, and enshrining its school nutrition program in a way that one expert called constitutionally dubious. One of several bills introduced in the legislature would, if passed into law, eliminate a little-known rule that says students should sing “God Save The King” every school day. The provision has not been enforced in decades but was recently revived in the Mountain View School Division in western Manitoba. The move was met with public opposition from those who said it was not consistent with truth and reconciliation measures. Thursday’s bill was applauded by Scott Lynxleg, a school trustee in the Mountain...
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Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
By Matt Sedensky NEW YORK (AP) — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing. The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste. “I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest. Tobin’s job...
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One moment, calm waters. The next, a 900-pound dolphin landed on their boat
By Charlotte Graham-mclay WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A placid fishing trip turned “berserk” for three New Zealand men when a dolphin weighing more than 400 kilograms (900 pounds) appeared to fall out of the sky before crash-landing in their small boat. No one was badly hurt when the 3.4 meter (11-foot) bottlenose dolphin jumped aboard the open-top boat Friday, said Dean Harrison, the owner of the nearly 16-foot vessel. Harrison and two companions were fishing near the Hole in the Rock, a picturesque spot off the far north coast of New Zealand’s North Island, while dolphins frolicked ahead. The men saw a shadow across the bright summer sun and heard an almighty boom — before chaos unfolded. “This one decided to jump on board and say hello,” Harrison said....
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N.W.T.’s Yakeleya Newmark joins new National Council for Reconciliation
By Aastha Sethi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mahalia Yakeleya Newmark has been appointed to the National Council for Reconciliation’s inaugural board of directors. The council is a newly created, independent and Indigenous-led not-for-profit whose purpose is to advance reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. Its first board of directors was named this week. Yakeleya Newmark is among nine people appointed. The board is tasked with overseeing the council’s work to “monitor and evaluate reconciliation efforts” and develop a multi-year national action plan, the federal government stated, while producing annual reports on the country’s progress toward reconciliation. Yakeleya Newmark is Shúhtagot’ı̨nę and Métis and works as a policy analyst in Yellowknife. She recently served as a special advisor to the Northwest Territories’ minister of housing and the status of women...
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B.C. Conservative attacks ‘super angry’ Indigenous colleague over residential schools
By Marcy Nicholson -CP-The British Columbia Conservatives’ attorney general critic has doubled down on her comments about residential schools, saying in a video that a group of party colleagues had directed the “most vociferous hatred” at her over her views. Dallas Brodie didn’t name anyone, but appeared to single out the Conservatives’ house leader, A’aliya Warbus, by criticizing an Indigenous woman who sided with the governing NDP to criticize Brodie. Warbus is the only Indigenous woman in the Opposition ranks. “There’s a person in our party who’s Indigenous, and she, you know, was super angry and went to town and joined the NDP to call me out,” Brodie said in the video posted to social media. The rift in the party was triggered last month when Brodie posted on social...
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The OTC and Its Role in Treaty
By Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter “The OTC works to provide information about treaty relationships and is working on a Vision of Reconciliation for Saskatchewan” (otc.ca) Dr. Kathy Walker, Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, met with the PRRC on February 26thto discuss the creation and role of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC). The OTC was established in 1989 through the collaborative efforts of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) and the Government of Canada, recognizing a significant lack of understanding regarding treaties. FSIN represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan and is dedicated to protecting the spirit and intent of the Treaty promises. Treaties are recognized at three different levels of law. First, they are acknowledged in First Nationslaw. Second, they are considered constitutional law in Canada, as...
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San Carlos Apache teenager’s death reverberates throughout Indian Country
By Sejal Govindarao PHOENIX (AP) — From heartbreak and devastation to outrage, Emily Pike’s tragic death is stirring heavy emotions and spotlighting a crisis that has long plagued Native American communities, where a disproportionate number of people have been killed or have gone missing. In the case of the San Carlos Apache teenager, she disappeared from her group home in a Phoenix suburb in late January. Authorities posted her picture on social media, saying she was missing and had possibly run away. It was nearly a month later that sheriff’s deputies in a neighboring county reported finding and identifying Pike’s remains more than 80 miles (129 kilometers) from where she was last seen. Since then, news of her brutal death has reverberated through Indian Country and beyond. A crowd gathered...
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Indigenous leaders voice concern and anger over Trump tariffs
By John Woodside, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Threats of tariffs and economically coerced annexation are being rebuffed by Indigenous leaders, who are calling for special consideration for the rights and needs of Indigenous Peoples as Canada feels its way through the trade war. Cindy Woodhouse, the Assembly of First Nations National Chief, said the tariffs and threats from Trump are “unacceptable,” but added that Canada “will not defeat Trump’s colonialism with more colonialism in our country.” She gave her remarks while celebrating a dedicated building for Indigenous leaders and governments in the parliamentary precinct. At a press conference on Tuesday, Indigenous leaders signed the agreement that would hand over 100 Wellington Street in Ottawa. That building was at one time the American embassy, a coincidence not lost...
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New book interprets Piikani and Secwepemc rock paintings
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Piikani Nation Elder Harley Bastien calls technology “a double-edged sword,” but he’s quick to say that the DStretch software enhancement program is a positive thing. The program allowed Bastien and other Elders to interpret paintings on rocks in southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. Bastien is one of about 30 Elders who collaborated with former Parks Canada archeologist Brad Himour on the book Forgotten Dreams: A New Look at Ancient Rock Art Sites. Himour took photographs of the rock art and used NASA-developed DStretch technology to enhance even the faded parts of the pictographs. Elders were able to view the photographs and provide interpretations. Recording events on stone is one of many traditions impacted when Europeans arrived on Indigenous lands, said Bastien....
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Most Greenlanders are Lutheran, 300 years after a missionary brought the faith to the remote island
By Luis Andres Henao NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Most Greenlanders are proudly Inuit, having survived and thrived in one of most remote and climatically inhospitable places on Earth. And they’re Lutheran. About 90% of the 57,000 Greenlanders identify as Inuit and the vast majority of them belong to the Lutheran Church today, more than 300 years after a Danish missionary brought that branch of Christianity to the world’s largest island. For many, their devotion to ritual and tradition is as much a part of what it means to be a Greenlander as is their fierce deference to the homeland. The one so many want U.S. President Donald Trump to understand is not for sale despite his threats to seize it. Greenland is huge — about three times the size of...
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Indigenous leaders take a historic step toward a permanent seat at the table in Canada’s governance
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A new era in Canadian governance unfolded today as the federal government announced the creation of a permanent national space for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples, furthering its commitment to reconciliation and inclusive governance. The building at 100 Wellington Street and 119 Sparks Street, in the centre of Canada’s Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa, will serve as a hub for Indigenous leaders, governments, institutions, and organizations to hold intergovernmental discussions and organize events. “This space is more than just a physical structure. It represents the place we as First Nations are reclaiming as our rightful seat at the table,” Cindy Woodhouse of the Assembly of First Nations said at the event. The national space was formalized with the signing of...
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‘We lost our way’: Manitoba Tories sorry after rejecting landfill search for women
By Brittany Hobson The interim leader of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives apologized Wednesday to the families of two slain First Nations women after refusing to search a landfill for their remains and touting the decision in a provincial election campaign ad. Wayne Ewasko offered an “unconditional” apology in the house to the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. “We lost our way in regards to empathy and also lost our way in regards to closure being brought forward to the families of the victims,” he said. “We will … be better as a party moving forward, and you have my word on that.” Potential human remains were discovered last week at the Winnipeg-area landfill. It’s believed the remains of Harris and Myran ended up at the Prairie Green landfill in...
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