Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq and Government of Canada sign co-management arrangement for National Parks
By Adam McNamara – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter – Strait Area Reporter, The Advocate Cape Breton Highlands – The signing of an historic co-management arrangement between the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada was made on Dec. 10, regarding the future partnership in how National Parks are established and upheld. The Toqi’maliaptmu’k Arrangement, which in the Mi’kmaw language means: we will look after it together, expresses a new way for the Mi’kmaq and Parks Canada to move forward in partnership and honour Mi’kmaw ancestors. The announcement was made by Chief Sidney Peters, of Glooscap First Nation and Chief Leroy Denny, of Eskasoni First Nation, both who are co-chairs of Maw-lukutijik Saqmaq – The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, along with the Julie Dabrusin, the provincial Minister...
Register
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s new year’s message to Canadians
By Canadian Press Staff Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says she witnessed extraordinary solidarity across the country in the last year in response to wildfires, economic challenges and in advancing Indigenous reconciliation. In a recorded message to Canadians, released by Rideau Hall, Simon says the nation is courageous, inclusive and committed to building peace. She also thanked Canadians for their support when she was hospitalized with a respiratory illness in the fall. Simon was unable to take part in national Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa this year because of her illness. She also missed events for the state visit of the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Simon says the new year promises opportunities to strengthen the bonds that unite Canadians. This report by The Canadian Press was first...
Register
NO:IA / Happy New Year!
...
Register
Gayenawahsra Next Step program expands capacity with seven more units
The Gayenawahsra Next Step program has nearly doubled its capacity to provide violence-free transitional housing to single parents in Six Nations. Thanks to a $4.2 million investment from Canada’s Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative (ISHTI), seven additional units are being added to Ganohkwasra Family Assault Support Services’ existing transitional housing complex at 36 Sunrise Court. The eight-unit facility was first built in 1994, to provide safe living spaces for clients of the organization’s shelter and community counselling program, to help them escape intimate partner violence. To mark the occasion, Ganohkwasra held a grand opening on Nov. 27, to showcase two of the units that are within days of completion. Attendees could take guided tours of accessible and walk-up, one-bedroom units, complete with full kitchens and in-suite laundry. “I’ve been...
Register
Manitoba premier uses AI to make homemade Ojibwa translator
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press The tabs open on Premier Wab Kinew’s laptop will all but certainly surprise the average Manitoban. Google Gemini, Claude by Anthropic and other artificial-intelligence powered assistants can be found coding on his behalf, even when his computer appears to be asleep. Following a year-end interview with the Free Press, Kinew revealed he had been multitasking — with the help of large language models — the whole time. “I’m building an automatic translator for the Ojibwa language,” he said in his office Thursday during an interview that culminated with an impromptu monologue about AI. Upon completion, Kinew’s homemade software will be able to translate written paragraphs into Anishinaabemowin. The NDP leader said he’s doing his part to digitize the endangered dialect,...
Register
Six Nations Police & MTO inspectors check commercial trucks safety
Six Nations Police, with the aid of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, (MTO) conducted a community wide commercial vehicle safety inspection last Wednesday (Dec., 17) pulling over transport trucks at various points int the community for inspection. Six Nations Police Chief Darren Montour said the inspections, held periodically, came after complaints from community members about large trucks driving through the community. He said the inspection involved pulling over commercial vehicles at various spots in the community and escorting them to inspection areas. One of those areas was the parking lot of the community’s Gathering Place on Chiefswood Road. MTO inspectors, among other areas, checked tires, brake pads, lines, fluid levels (for hydraulic), air pressure gauges. They also check for proper documentation. A report on the inspections was not available at...
Register
Grand Erie District School Board report shows improved credits
Grand Erie’s Annual Education Service Agreement Report to Six Nations Elected Council did not include EQAO scores, but highlighted improved credit accumulation. The Grand Erie District School Board outlined student progress, staffing supports, and upcoming education priorities for Six Nations students during a detailed presentation to the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) was part of the annual reporting requirements under the Education Service Agreement with Indigenous Services Canada. “If you haven’t paid attention to [EQAO score release], across the province, it has been a very, you know, heavy topic for us. Across the province, we need to be aware we’re not reaching provincial average in many districts, so we’re unpacking a lot of that,” Superintendent of Education Julie White said. White and System Leader for Indigenous Education Stacey Hill delivered...
Register
Wisconsin archaeologists identify 16 ancient canoes in a prehistoric lake ‘parking lot’
By Todd Richmond MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that Indigenous people apparently left behind in a sort of prehistoric parking lot along a Wisconsin lakeshore. The Wisconsin Historical Society announced Wednesday that archaeologists have mapped the location of 16 canoes submerged in the lake bed of Lake Mendota in Madison. Tamara Thomsen, the state’s maritime archaeologist, said that the site lies near a network of what were once indigenous trails, suggesting ancient people left the canoes there for anyone to use as they traveled, much like a modern-day e-bike rack. “It’s a parking spot that’s been used for millennia, over and over,” Thomsen said. Lake Mendota is a sprawling, 15-square-mile (38.8-square-kilometer) body of water on Madison’s west side. The state Capitol building...
Register
No:ia: All I want for 2026 is a …
In just 24 hours it will be 2026. Around the world people will be celebrating the new year marking it with hope and smiles. And others will wonder just what will it bring and look to a healthy and happy year that will bring with it hard truths. With a new Prime Minister gun-ho to turn Canada into a clean energy superpower, pushing the country to not only launch new trade routes, but wants to see energy on the fast track is pushing resource and infrastructure development and he plans to push it in his economic corridor across the country. His proposed pipeline, that is apparently in the “national interest’ will without a doubt become only the first of a number of proposals he will maintain is in the “national...
Register
Today in History
Dec 28 In 1992, Pudlo Pudlat, one of Canada’s best-known Inuit artists, died in Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, at the age of 76. Dec 29 In 1890, the last battle in the American-Indian wars took place at Wounded Knee Creek, S.D. About 350 half-starved Sioux gathered on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a Ghost Dance, a religious ceremony in which the Indians believed their dead would rise again and lead them to good hunting grounds. When the Sioux refused to hand over their weapons to the 7th Cavalry, the troops opened fire. About 150 Indians, half of them women and children, and 25 soldiers, died in the battle. In 2021, Rideau Hall released the names of the 135 newest additions to the Order of Canada. Among the list of recipients...
Register
UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: A holiday All About Love
By Xavier Kataquapit www.underthenorthernsky.com Christmas is just around the corner and everyone is getting into the spirit of the holidays with music, decorations, department store shopping and stocking up on food for big family feasts. Decorations are happening everywhere and this year, we had an early supply of cold and snow, so we in the north, will definitely have a picture post card Christmas filled with mounds of white, frost and crystalline snow. This is also a bittersweet time for myself and many other people. We lost people during the holidays and there are tragic memories or commemorations that are inextricably tied to this time of year. We also have to deal with rampant consumerism where we are constantly badgered, bothered or encouraged to buy, spend and consume as much...
Register
Ironmen defeat Blitz twice to extend winning streak to three games
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Ironmen will be entering 2026 on a bit of a roll. That’s because the Ironmen, who are competing in their inaugural season of the Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL), find themselves heading into the new year on a three-game winning streak. Recent successes for the local senior men’s squad include a pair of victories against the Orangeville Blitz. For starters, the Ironmen travelled to Orangeville on Dec. 19 and thumped the host Blitz 9-3 in a match held at the Alder Street Recreation Centre. The Ironmen then doubled the visiting Blitz 8-4 in a contest staged Dec. 21 at the Six Nations Sports and Cultural Memorial Centre. The Six Nations squad is now sporting a record of 8-7. Perhaps more importantly, however, with...
Register
SPORTS BRIEFS: Tournaments to dominate coming months
By Sam Laskaris Writer Ironmen players and head coach receive all-star recognition The Six Nations Ironmen will be well represented at an all-star game this season. Six players and a coach from the local senior men’s squad will participate in the Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL) Metropolitan Conference all-star match in Alvinston. The contest, which is scheduled for Jan. 10, will be held at the Brooke–Alvinston–Inwood Community Centre Complex. The game will feature players from the conference’s North Division squaring off against their South Division counterparts. A skills competition will also be included in the all-star festivities. The Ironmen players that will be suiting up for the North Division are forwards Theo Hill, Brenden Anderson, Steven LaForme and Mitch Green, defenceman Isaac Sooklal and goaltender Tim Porter. Also, Ironmen head...
Register
First Nation hockey player averages more than two points per game in Junior A circuit
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Nolan Newton is turning heads with his play this season. Newton, a member of Saugeen First Nation in Ontario, is averaging more than two points per game with the Greater Sudbury Cubs. The Cubs are the two-time defending champions in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), a Junior A circuit. Cubs’ head coach Darryl Moxam has high praise for his star centre, who will turn 20 on Jan. 27. “Right now, I’m not sure you’d find anybody in the country playing any better on both sides of the puck,” Moxam said. “He’s still finding ways to contribute offensively at a very high pace and he’s not given up anything on the defensive side of the puck to get that done.” Newton...
Register
Internal government records flag gaps in federal dam oversight
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Hydroelectric dams on public lands are at growing risk of failure because the department responsible for them has no engineers, inadequate funding and no safety rules, an internal document warns. The document, obtained by Canada’s National Observer through an Access to Information and Privacy request, calls the state of affairs “unsustainable” at the Ministry for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), and cautions the federal government could face legal liability if any dams fail. The federal government is responsible for water power development on Crown lands under the Dominion Water Power Act, passed in 1919. The department operates four hydroelectric sites under the act: Rideau Falls at the mouth of Ottawa’s Rideau River; Kananaskis Falls and Horseshoe Falls, two...
Register
Indigenous explainers: What are land acknowledgements?
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Land acknowledgements have proven controversial – with some supportive and some critical – in the year 2025. Otherwise known as territorial statements, the acknowledgments are statements usually quoted before a public event, recognizing the Indigenous people who lived – and in most cases, still do – on the land prior to colonization. For example, the District of Taylor just completed its work on a land acknowledgment, recognizing the traditional territory of Treaty 8 whilst at the same time stating “the deep connection to the land and water, where everyone’s rights are respected, and opportunities are available for all to thrive.” The acknowledgement, read before meetings and events in the district, was constructed after extensive consultation with First...
Register
Northern lights inspire recovery in Telegraph Cove, B.C., year after devastating fire
By Nono Shen Mary Borrowman says she’ll never forget the moment she and her husband, Jim, watched the northern lights shimmer across the sky on the morning of Jan. 1, 2025, from their home in Telegraph Cove, B.C. “When we looked out our window, and we looked over the water, everywhere you could see in the sky were the most beautiful dancing red and green, and purple northern lights that we have ever seen,” said Borrowman. A day earlier, a massive New Year’s Eve fire in the quaint tourist resort on northeastern Vancouver Island had destroyed the Whale Interpretive Centre that she and her husband founded, the local pub and restaurant and the office of the Prince of Whales whale-watching firm. “I said to Jim, if that’s not a sign...
Register
In the news: Sask. shooting suspects still at large, major watermain break in Calgary
RCMP still looking for suspects in Sask. shooting The search continues this morning for a pair of suspects wanted in connection with a deadly shooting on a Saskatchewan First Nation. The RCMP says the shooting happened early Tuesday morning in Big Island Lake Cree Nation, about 400 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, which left one person dead and three others injured. No arrests have been made. Tuesday night, Mounties issued a statement advising the public they were lifting a dangerous-person alert for two suspects, as they believed there was no longer an imminent risk to public safety. The suspects were last seen riding an all-terrain vehicle, but no further details have been provided. Major watermain break probed in Calgary Officials in Calgary say there has been a significant watermain break in...
Register
Manitok Thompson lauches three sets of fabric design to promote Inuit language, culture
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News Longtime Nunavut politician and former Government of Nunavut minister Manitok Thompson is still finding ways to put her talents to use. Thompson, 70, has launched a new line of clothing accessories with Inuktitut words and sayings emblazoned on them, as well as traditional tools and values. Thompson, born in Coral Harbour, said what started her designing fabrics was that Inuit syllabic writing was a rare find on any fabric she could find. “So, I decided to design them myself,” said Thompson. “I got in contact with a company in Nova Scotia (North & Pole Fabrics), which I knew also had a place in Montreal. “I started designing the fabrics and produced three sets. There is a set with ulus from my...
Register
One dead, three injured in shooting on Saskatchewan First Nation, RCMP say
Mounties are searching for two suspects described as armed and dangerous after a shooting on a Saskatchewan First Nation that left one person dead and at least three others injured. Saskatchewan RCMP said officers received a report Tuesday morning about a shooting on Big Island Lake Cree Nation, about 392 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. Officers found one person dead and three people injured, but did not have details about victims’ injuries or how many additional people required hospital treatment. “Saskatchewan RCMP is working to determine whether the shooting is random in nature or targeted,” the police service said in a statement Tuesday. A dangerous person alert has been issued for the two suspects. RCMP are warning those in an area that stretches from Meadow Lake, Sask., to Bonnyville, Alta., to...
Register
