AFN votes on way forward after $47.8 billion child welfare reform deal is defeated
-CP-The executive team from the Assembly of First Nations will meet in the coming days to discuss how to proceed with new negotiations for a child welfare reform deal after chiefs voted against the government’s proposed $47.8 billion agreement at a meeting in Calgary. AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who had helped negotiate the deal and pushed for it to be approved, was blunt in her assessment of the outcome in her closing remarks to the special chiefs assembly last Friday. “We also recognize the success of the campaign that defeated this resolution. You spoke with passion, and you convinced the majority to vote against this $47.8-billion national agreement,” she said. “There is no getting around the fact that this agreement was too much of a threat to the...
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Chauffer charged with impaired driving
By Austin Evans Writer Six Nations Police arrested a chauffeur for drinking and driving on the job. Six Nations Police officers responded to an impaired driving complaint at a public community area at 4:05 pm on October 5. Witnesses told police they hired a driver of a commercial vehicle to transport them from an event at the location, and they refused to board the vehicle after suspecting that the driver was impaired. Police said the driver admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages before operating the vehicle when police spoke with her, and officers observed her showing signs of impairment. As a result of the investigation, police have arrested and charged 65-year-old Hamilton resident Leslie Karpatfi with impaired operation and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration over 0.08%. The accused is scheduled to...
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Annual fall festive marks the change of season
By Austin Evans Writer The Six Nations of the Grand River Development corporation’s (SNGRDC) annual Fall Festival gave the Six Nations community a chance to spend one last weekend of warm weather going on rides and raising money for the food bank. While the kids played in bouncy castles and painted pumpkins on October 19, the adults took the chance to throw pies at several Six Nations community leaders. The development corporation hosts the Fall Festival annually to raise money for Six Nations programs. SNGRDC Public Relations Officer Katie Montour said each year staff vote to pick the program they donate to, with this year’s votes overwhelmingly going to the food bank. “The raffle and the pie in the face, 100% of the proceeds are being donated to the Six...
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Where will Six Nations be in 100 years…
October 25th is just two days away. A day that celebrates the new homelands of the Haudenosaunee sealed by Haldimand Treaty of 1784. Lands that continue to be protected by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council and its peoples. It took years for the Haudenosaunee to move onto the land while the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council(HCC) continued the ongoing fight with both countries that would become Canada and the U.S. over lost lands in the U.S. and Canada’s attempt to impose restrictions on what has become the longest standing democratic government in the world. A designation not unnoticed by countries around the globe. Canada spend decades whittling away at the strength and substance of the HCC and its people before it moved, with RCMP, to arbitrarily remove them from office and installed a...
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Today In history
Oct 20 In 1960, Sir John A. Macdonald Hall, the law school of Queen’s University, was officially opened by prime minister John Diefenbaker. (Queen’s removed Macdonald’s name from the building in October 2020 at the end of a months-long process that began after a petition to change the name gathered support. The first prime minister of Canada played a key role in setting up the residential school system that removed Indigenous children from their families.) In 2021, the Newfoundland and Labrador government was getting rid of the term “savages’’ from its official description of the Indigenous people depicted on the province’s nearly 400-year-old coat of arms. Premier Andrew Furey said amendments to the Coat of Arms Act were introduced for second reading in the legislature. The amendments included replacing “savages’’...
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Six Nations to build its own hospice
By Austin Evans Writer Six Nations will be building the first Indigenous-led and Indigenous-operated hospice in Canada with Ontario’s support. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC), who will be providing the majority of the funding, unveiled their plans for the hospice, currently named Six Nations of the Grand River Community Hospice at its future site on 2144 Fourth Line Road. The hospice will house five residents at a time, providing them end-of-life care which incorporates traditional Haudenosaunee teachings. “Having our own hospice will be amazing for our members to be taken care of our way,” said Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill. “Our members will be able to live out their lives with loved ones and family surrounding them.” The Ontario Ministry of Health (MoH) is investing up to $1.25 million to support...
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‘You are not my king,’ Indigenous Australian senator yells at visiting King Charles
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Indigenous senator told King Charles III that Australia is not his land as the British royal visited Australia’s parliament on Monday. Sen. Lidia Thorpe was escorted out of a parliamentary reception for the royal couple after shouting that British colonizers have taken Indigenous land and bones. “You committed genocide against our people,” she shouted. “Give us what you stole from us — our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty.” No treaty was ever struck between between British colonizers and Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Charles spoke quietly with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while security officials stopped Thorpe from approaching. “This is not your land. You are not my king,” Thorpe yelled as she was...
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First Nations player continues to have a leading role with another OHL club
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Many thought that Dalyn Wakely would be moving on after he racked up more than 100 regular season points a year ago with the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Well, those folks would be half right. Wakely, a 20-year-old forward who is a member of Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario, is no longer with the Battalion. But instead of commencing his pro career, Wakely, who was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft this past June, is now a member of the OHL’s Barrie Colts. Wakely spent slightly more than two weeks at the Oilers’ training camp. There was plenty of talk he might be sent to the Oilers’ top minor league affiliate,...
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Six Nations Intermediate Three-Pitch tournament sunny skies bring out the smiles
By Austin Evans Writer The aggressive gameplay at the Intermediate Three-Pitch Tournament led to a win for the defending champs. Six schools from Six Nations and Mississaugas of the Credit brought their best softball players from Grades 7 and 8 to compete in the Intermediate Three-Pitch Tournament on October 3. Just as the junior teams had two weeks prior, Kawenni:io and Oliver M. Smith-Kawenni:io (OMSK) were set to face off in the championship game. It was an explosive, heavy-offense championship match. Kawenni:io got three batters home off a homerun at the bottom of the third inning, only for the first OMSK batter to score his own homerun at the top of the fourth inning. Kawenni:io’s team included some players from Lloyd S. King Elementary, but Coach Emily Longboat said the...
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Indigenous Australian who confronted King Charles III says she won’t be ‘shut down’
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Indigenous senator has intensified her criticism of King Charles III, again accusing the British monarch of complicity in the “genocide” against Australia’s First Nations peoples and declaring on Wednesday she will not be “shut down.” Sen. Lidia Thorpe’s comments followed an encounter with the monarch at a parliamentary reception Monday where she was escorted out after shouting at him for British colonizers taking Indigenous land and bones. Despite facing political and public backlash, Thorpe was resolute in a television interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and said she would continue to press for justice. “The colonial system is all about shutting black women down in this country,” Thorpe said from Melbourne. “For those that don’t agree with what I have said and what I have...
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‘For the good of all Indigenous people’: N.L. government discussing implementing United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – a piece of legislation that was over 25 years in the making – wasn’t adopted in Canada until 2016. That’s nearly a decade after it was passed by the United Nations in 2007. At the time, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand were the only four countries that voted against it, explained Keith Cormier, former western vice-chief of Qalipu First Nation. Now the push is on to have Newfoundland adopt it as well. UNDA Following its adoption in Canada in 2016, Cormier said, came The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or UNDA, which is the act to implement UNDRIP in Canada. “Back in the fall of 2022, I think it was,...
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Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions
A group of Black and Indigenous women say they want a national public inquiry into a recent spate of police-involved deaths, after nine Indigenous people were killed in interactions with police in August and September. About two dozen people gathered on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, including the families of eight people who died. The families say accountability and justice for the deaths of their loved ones is difficult to get, and that concrete actions need to happen to address police brutality and to offer support and resources for the people affected. Laura Holland, a Wet’suwet’en woman and the mother of Jared Lowndes, said police-involved killings are a state of emergency for Indigenous people. “We’re being killed on the streets, in our homes, everywhere, and no one is saying anything,” she...
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RCMP introduce body-worn cameras this winter
By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In effort to increase transparency in policing and improve accountability, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s federal police force, will soon be equipped with body-worn cameras. Frontline general duty officers that work in the communities of: Ucluelet, Ahousaht, Tofino, Mission, Prince George, Cranbrook and Kamloops will be amongst the first to start recording evidence from the first-person perspective or point of view (POV), according to B.C. RCMP, or “E” Division, senior media relations officer Staff Sgt. Kris Clark. “This initiative will see more than 10,000 cameras rolled-out across the country when rollout is complete. E Division will rollout over 3,000 cameras to the frontline beginning this winter,” said Clark. “The RCMP is committed to taking the necessary steps to enhance trust between the...
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NCN warns parents kids shouldn’t be “running around terrorizing” the community
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative A 13-year-old boy struck by a bullet in his bedroom was the victim of a “targeted” shooting over the weekend, in a community that continues to grapple with violence, fears of dangerous weapons and youth crime. According to RCMP, around 2:25 a.m. on Saturday morning, they got a call about someone being shot inside a home on the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN). According to police, shots were fired at the house from outside, and bullets passed through a wall in the living room and into the victim’s bedroom where he was struck while lying on his bed, while five other people who were in the home at the time, including three other youth, were not injured. The boy was transported to a Winnipeg hospital...
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Marathon Active Living Centre in the works
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter MARATHON – This town along Lake Superior has big plans for a multi-use complex that includes a hockey rink, pickleball courts, a playground, basketball courts and swimming pools. Two nearby First Nations – Biigtigong (Pic River) and Netmizaaggamig (Pic Mobert) – have committed to providing a combined $1.5 million to help finance construction of the Marathon Active Living Centre, a news release from the Town of Marathon said. “These projects have been on the books for Marathon for close to a decade,” Mayor Rick Dumas told Newswatch Tuesday. The town talked with Biigtigong about a partnership to build a rink for both parties five years ago, he said. “Now we’ve worked out a plan with Biigtigong and Netmizaaggamig with financial support recognizing their...
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Mixed reactions to Manitoba premier’s wind power plan
By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Premier Wab Kinew’s announcement last month that Manitoba would work with Indigenous partners to create wind power has brought mixed reactions among local First Nations and Métis. In September, the premier announced the province will help Indigenous bands create 600 megawatts of new wind power. The intent, he said, was to bring affordable, clean energy to Manitoba and produce jobs for the Indigenous bands — an idea that has brought mixed reactions from local bands. Waywayseecappo First Nation chief Murray Clearsky says he’s interested in moving forward with wind turbines, partially because the current cost of electricy is a significant portion of their expenses. “I think we have to start looking at stuff like this,” Clearsky told the Sun on Friday. “Because right...
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Search warrant finds cache of firearms in Cold Lake FirstNations
By Chantel Downes Local Journalism Initiative In a public statement released on Monday, Daniel McLaughlin, Communications Manager for Cold Lake First Nations (CLFNS), said CLFNS was aware of the police activity in the LeGoff townsite. He noted that CLFNS leadership had been in communication with the RCMP, closely monitoring the situation and cooperating with law enforcement to ensure all necessary steps were taken during the ongoing investigation. McLaughlin assured the public that the community was not in immediate danger and urged calm while the investigation continued. “At this time, the community can be assured that there is no immediate danger. We ask residents to remain calm and allow the RCMP to complete their investigation,” he said, adding, “Further details will be shared as they become available.” Cst. Cory Riggs, Public...
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Oil removal work begins on ‘fragile’ Second World War-era wreck in coastal B.C.
An oil salvage operation is underway on the fragile wreckage of a U.S. army transport ship that sank almost 80 years ago off coastal British Columbia in a race to head off an eruption of thousands of litres of oil that a coast guard official says is “near imminent.” The Canadian Coast Guard said the 77-metre-long Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski has been burping up “slow but consistent drops of oil” since the fall of 2022 at the shipwreck site in Grenville Channel, part of the Inside Passage off northern B.C. Jeff Brady, superintendent of marine environmental hazard response in the west for the coast guard, said the discovery comes after 44,000 litres of heavy fuel oil and 319,000 litres of oily water was successfully extracted from the sunken ship in...
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First Nation calls for all-season road amid rising winter temperatures
By Angela Amato Local Journalism Initiative Reporter With the winter months nearing, many First Nations communities across the country are worried that shorter and shorter seasons for ice roads are increasingly threatening the livelihood of their people. “We rely on winter roads to bring in fuel, heavy structures for construction, groceries, housing supplies, everything,” said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam in an interview. “Everything for the community … It’s how we survive.” Many Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation members live in the town of Fort Chipewyan on the southwest edge of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta, approximately 224 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. Access to the town of nearly 800 is limited to boat and aircraft in the summer months, and winter roads when it is cold enough for ice to...
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