Descendants of Choctaw code talkers gather in Fort Worth for historical marker unveiling
By David Moreno/Fort Worth Report Nuchi Nashoba grew up looking at a photograph of her great-grandfather Ben Carterby inside her grandmother’s Oklahoma home. But, she didn’t know much about the man in the frame other than that he was a World War I veteran. It wasn’t until 1989 — when Nashoba was in her late 20s — that she learned a deep secret about her ancestor. Carterby was one of the Choctaw code talkers — a group of 19 Native American soldiers who used their language to transmit encrypted messages to the Allies during campaigns in northern France. The soldiers were sworn to secrecy and hid details of their service from families for decades. Over the past 20 years, Nashoba has led advocacy efforts to spotlight the group’s hidden legacy...
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Potlotek shut down main road in Cape Breton following cannabis raid, RCMP abandon police vehicles
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post A group of RCMP officers abandoned their vehicles in Potlotek First Nation and walked out with rifles and guns in full view Thursday morning after women in the tiny Cape Breton community blocked police cars following a raid at a cannabis store. Police executed a search warrant at the Sikku Shop at 7 a.m. and rammed in the steel door causing windows to break. They later removed the door, some windows, and signage on buildings. A U-Haul truck was filled with product, coolers and a debit machine. Women flooded the area outside the dispensary early in the morning and put their cars or stood in front of the police vehicles so they couldn’t leave. There were at least eight marked...
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A gray whale that swam 20 miles up a Washington state river is found dead
By Mark Thiessen A juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species’ population declines. The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in the Willapa River, which feeds into the ocean at Willapa Bay. A number of gray whales are currently in the bay on their 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) spring migration from birthing grounds in Baja California, Mexico, north to feeding grounds in Alaska. The larger issue that the population of gray whales in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean has faced since 2019 is reduced food availability in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas...
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Eabametoong begins work on 300-home subdivision
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com FORT HOPE — Eabametoong First Nation is preparing for Phase 1 of a project to add about 300 homes to the Treaty 9 community. Crews are clearing roadways and spaces on the east side of the community in preparation for construction of housing on 48 lots in the East End Expansion’s first phase, slated to begin later this spring. Phase 1 is to be followed by 58 lots and 16 rural lots in the second phase, and more than 160 lots in the project’s third and fourth phases. A new school will also be constructed in the area, Chief Solomon Atlookan said this week. Eabametoong First Nation lost its old school, the John C. Yesno Education Centre, to arson in January 2024....
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B.C. faces ‘complete opposition’ after telling First Nations of plan to suspend DRIPA
By Wolfgang Depner and Alessia Passafiume British Columbia’s government has proposed suspending its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, according to two sources in a meeting between Premier David Eby and First Nations leaders. One of the sources told The Canadian Press a three-year suspension of the legislation has been proposed, while the other didn’t give a time frame. Eby said on Wednesday it was “non-negotiable” that the legislation designed to reflect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights on Indigenous Peoples would be changed. DRIPA has been cited by First Nations involved in two landmark court victories last year that sparked concern about implications for private land ownership and the province’s mining rules. One of the sources told The Canadian Press that the proposal “effectively places every...
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Federal privacy law changes would expand sharing of personal data across government
By Jim Bronskill The Liberal government proposes making it easier for federal agencies to share and reuse the personal data of Canadians through a major overhaul of the Privacy Act. The act governs how federal agencies collect, use and disclose personal information, and gives people the right to see and correct data about them the government holds. The law has not changed substantially since it took effect in 1983. In a policy paper issued Thursday, the government says that in most cases, reusing personal data or sharing it with another program for an alternative purpose requires the person’s consent or must meet one of the few legal exceptions. “These rules were designed to protect privacy, but they make it harder to deliver modern, connected services that rely on secure data...
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Tory MP echoes calls for Carney to apologize to Grassy Narrows over protest remarks
By Alessia Passafiume The Conservative critic for Indigenous Services is adding his voice to calls for Prime Minister Mark Carney to apologize to Grassy Narrows First Nation after he said he could “outlast” a protester raising concerns about mercury poisoning in her community. Conservative MP Billy Morin told The Canadian Press Carney “laughs at First Nations’ frustrations over the Liberals failing to keep their promises,” and that his remark was more arrogant than a similar quip former prime minister Justin Trudeau made to a Grassy Narrows demonstrator in 2019. Chrissy Isaacs, a Grassy Narrows First Nation woman suffering from mercury poisoning, was in Toronto on Monday to demand compensation from the provincial government for mercury contamination in her community. The Dryden Paper Mill released thousands of kilograms of mercury into...
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Eby faces ‘complete opposition’ after proposing suspension of DRIPA sections
By Wolfgang Depner and Alessia Passafiume British Columbia Premier David Eby says he will stake his government on suspending sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act for up to three years. Speaking after a meeting with First Nations leaders, Eby says his government will pass legislation this session to suspend sections of the law that place the province at the greatest legal risk, in light of a court ruling that cited DRIPA and raised questions about B.C.’s mining rules. A source who attended the meeting says there was “complete opposition” to the suspension plan from First Nations in attendance. Eby says the suspension will be a confidence vote on his government, and he hopes First Nations leaders will at least tolerate the pause as the government...
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B.C. Appeals Court sides with First Nation over Aboriginal title on Nootka Island
By Darryl Greer The B.C. Court of Appeal has overturned a lower-court ruling after finding the judge used an “arbitrary boundary” to determine a First Nation’s Aboriginal title over a swath of Nootka Island off western Vancouver Island. A three-judge panel says the B.C. Supreme Court made three legal errors when limiting the Nuchatlaht Nation’s claim over a 201 square kilometre portion of the island, finding the nation had met the test for “sufficient occupation” when the British Crown asserted sovereignty. The Nuchatlaht’s lawyer, Jack Woodward, said in an interview Thursday that they are “jubilant” about the recognition of the ownership of their land. He said the Nuchatlaht is a small, remote community that has been “somewhat ignored and neglected by the rest of society for a very long time.”...
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Alberta introduces bill to reduce child access to sex images in public libraries
By Lisa Johnson The Alberta government introduced legislation Thursday to ensure children won’t be able to access sexually graphic images in books at public libraries. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams stressed at a news conference that the government isn’t banning books. He held up a page of a graphic novel with a sexually explicit example of the images they seek to restrict. “We will require that they are put behind a counter in a place that children cannot find them while wandering these libraries,” Williams said after tabling the bill. “When a family walks into a public library, they should feel confident that appropriate safeguards are in place, that their children will feel comfortable there.” He said pornographic material paid for by the taxpayer shouldn’t be accessible to children. “It’s...
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Bureau of Indian Affairs officer pleads guilty to sexually abusing teen on Montana reservation
By Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A former federal law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual abuse after prosecutors said he raped an intoxicated 14-year-old girl on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and tried to cover it up. Prosecutors said defendant Murrell Deela, who was then an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encountered the girl at a gas station on the reservation in southern Montana in August 2024. When the girl tried to run, Deela performed a “takedown maneuver” on her, put her in the back of his patrol car and drove to an unlit park where he sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Deela later took the girl to her grandmother’s house. The girl reported the assault the next day, the documents said. After...
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‘Tyler’s life mattered’: 5 or 10 year sentence suggested for manslaughter
By Carrie Ivardi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — Tyler Blouin was described as a kind, funny and protective young man to a full courtroom on Thursday. Blouin, 20, died as a result of a physical altercation in the area of Camelot and St. Paul streets around 2:30 a.m. on May 5, 2024. Brady Nugent pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in the incident on May 5, 2024 and on Thursday in a Thunder Bay courtroom, details of the incident were heard during a sentencing hearing. The Crown is seeking 10 years incarceration, while the defence is asking for five years. Crown attorney Danielle Wood summarized the case as a senseless attack by a person with a troubled past, on a vulnerable person. She added that Nugent...
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Employee accused of $6M-plus fraud involving Guardians money
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio An employee at a national non-profit is accused of fraud involving more than $6 million in public funds earmarked for Indigenous Guardians programming. The First Nations National Guardians Network, or NGN, provides funding, networking, training and education opportunities that support First Nations-led stewardship and sovereignty. In a Thursday email seen by Cabin Radio, the non-profit – which administers funds from the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change – told operators of Guardians programs it had found “evidence of a sustained pattern of unauthorized financial transactions that appear to have been made by a member of staff.” An investigation identified suspicious transactions over a period of months, NGN stated. “As soon as this fraud was detected, the NGN Council promptly notified...
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Walking together: Bridging two worlds to protect one landscape
By Cory Bilyea, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wingham Advance Times HURON COUNTY – Members of Neyaashiinigmiing’s Bagida’waad Alliance joined staff and volunteers from Maitland Conservation for a muddy spring walk on Mar. 26, using bird migration, the history of local trees and changing waters as starting points for collaboration, reconciliation and sharing care for the land. What began as a simple nature hike quickly became something more as two perspectives, shaped by different shorelines and histories, came together around the same urgent question — how do we protect this landscape together? Bagida’waad team members Natasha Akiwenzie (manager), along with her son, Chris Akiwenzie, and biologist Dylan White, led a guided hike along the Maitland River at Wawanosh Park Conservation Area, which used to be known as the Menesetung (laughing water),...
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‘Absolute betrayal’: First Nations blast Eby in leaked transcript of DRIPA meeting
By Alessia Passafiume A leaked transcript of a meeting between Indigenous leaders and British Columbia Premier David Eby, about his plan to suspend the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, shows them accusing him of “absolute betrayal” and colonialism. Speaker after speaker in the 17,000-word transcript of Thursday’s meeting, obtained by The Canadian Press, criticize Eby’s handling of DRIPA, which he says needs to be suspended for up to three years. DRIPA is at the centre of a legal and political storm after being cited by First Nations in two landmark court cases last year, including an appeal ruling that says the act should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into B.C. laws “with immediate legal effect.”...
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Highway 4 reopens after First Nation protest over cannabis crackdown, police say
By Eli Ridder A Nova Scotia highway is up and running this morning after it was blocked by First Nations protesters following an RCMP raid on a cannabis shop. Highway 4 through Potlotek First Nation in Cape Breton has reopened, RCMP say, and a Potlotek band councillor says the protest is over. RCMP said it raided a shop Thursday morning, arrested two men and seized cannabis products. It marks the latest in an ongoing dispute between Mi’kmaw governments and a provincial government cracking down on unregulated marijuana. The province says cannabis sales aren’t a treaty right because only Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. is allowed to sell the product. Mounties also said Thursday evening that Highway 102 near Shubenacadie, N.S., had reopened following a blockade there. This report by The Canadian...
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Otherworldly Soundscapes – Inuit sisters PIQSIQ bring throat-singing to a global audience
By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nation Indigenous artists continued to break new ground at the 55th Juno Awards, held in Hamilton on March 29. The Juno Honouring Ceremony, presented the day before, featured a performance by Cree singer-songwriter Siibii, along with Allied Nation, Little Creek Singers and YB Nakota. Aside from traditional and contemporary Indigenous music categories, Indigenous artists were represented in six other competitions. Inuit throat-singing duo PIQSIQ celebrated their first nomination for Global Music Album of the Year for their album Legends. The recognition marked another milestone for sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay, whose fusion of traditional practice with modern technology pushes the boundaries of contemporary soundscapes. While they long performed live with only their vocals and a looping effects station, this album was...
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Damaged RCMP vehicles recovered after First Nation protests in N.S., police say
By Eli Ridder Police in Nova Scotia have launched investigations after RCMP vehicles were damaged and highways were blocked following a raid on a First Nations cannabis shop that a local leader says ruined years of building trust. RCMP officers, with the help of Potlotek First Nation leaders, on Friday morning recovered seven police vehicles that were left behind during protests the day before and ended a partial blockade that remained, according to a news release. Photos of the recovered vehicles shared by the RCMP show an unmarked police car missing its wheels, while glass windows were shattered and tires slashed on several of the SUVs. An RCMP spokesperson confirmed all but one of the seven vehicles left behind Thursday were damaged. Isaiah Bernard, a Potlotek band councillor, said in...
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Louis Riel Cup returns to Warman with unity through sport
By Nicole Goldsworthy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SaskToday.ca WARMAN — A celebration of hockey, culture and community is centre stage in Warman this weekend as the Louis Riel Cup returns for its second edition. Hosted by Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) in partnership with NexGen Energy, the tournament will opened Friday at 7 p.m. at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex. The Louis Riel Cup — themed “Unity Through Sport” — brings together Métis, First Nations and non-Indigenous athletes in an inclusive tournament designed to foster connection both on and off the ice. This year’s event features seven men’s teams and five women’s teams, competing in round-robin play across two rinks. Finalists will be determined through games running Friday and Saturday, with winners announced Saturday afternoon. While this is only the second Louis...
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OMG is providing custom passes for its Metis citizens into Alberta National Parks and historic sites
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News The Otipemisiwak Metis Government (OMG) has renewed its five-year agreement with Parks Canada to provide its citizens with free access to national parks and historic sites within Alberta. This time, the OMG is using a custom-designed park pass featuring original art designed by Alberta Metis artist Krista Leddy, with beadwork from Maddison Post, Morgan Johnson, Elena Mercuri, and Sarah Olsen. “It’s a beautiful new hang tag that they can put in their vehicle and have proudly in their vehicle when they go through the parks and the historic sites,” OMG president Andrea Sandmaier told Alberta Native News. The pass will provide them with free entry into Banff, Elk Island, Jasper and Waterton Lakes national parks, as well as Banff Park...
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