B.C. mayor hopes wildfire evacuees can return to Fort Nelson early next week
The Canadian Press 23/05/2024 13:56 The mayor of the regional municipality that includes Fort Nelson, B.C., that was evacuated due to a threatening wildfire says local officials are pushing for a Monday or Tuesday deadline to start allowing about 4,700 residents home after nearly two weeks. Rob Fraser says the “imminent risk” posed by the Parker Lake fire has been reduced, and officials are focused on rolling out a phased approach to residents’ return. He says in a video posted late Wednesday that some doctors had returned to the community along with grocery staff who were restocking shelves. Fraser says water, hydro and hydroelectric services were operational, and crews with FortisBC were in town examining the natural gas company’s infrastructure. The mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality says officials...
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Navajo Nation approves proposed settlement to secure Colorado River water
The Associated Press 23/05/2024 13:48 WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed water rights settlement that carries a price tag larger than any such agreement enacted by Congress would ensure water for two other Native American tribes in a state that has been forced to cut back on water use. The Navajo Nation has one of the largest single outstanding claims in the Colorado River basin. Delegates acknowledged the gravity of their vote Thursday, with many noting that securing water deliveries to tribal communities has been an effort that has spanned generations. “Thank you for helping make history today,” Navajo Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley told her fellow delegates as they stood and clapped after casting a unanimous vote. The Hopi tribe approved...
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Waste from mill worsening mercury contamination in river near Grassy Narrows: study
The Canadian Press 23/05/2024 12:37 A new study suggests industrial discharge from a paper mill in northern Ontario is exacerbating mercury contamination in a nearby river system and its fish. Researchers from the University of Western Ontario say that while the wastewater from the Dryden, Ont., mill doesn’t contain mercury, the sulphate and organic matter in it contribute to the elevated production of methylmercury in the Wabigoon River. They say the levels of methylmercury — the most toxic form of mercury — in the river’s fish may be twice as high as they would be without the mill discharge. The Wabigoon River is upstream from the Grassy Narrows First Nation, which has been plagued with mercury poisoning for more than 50 years. Brian Branfireun, who led the research team, says...
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RCMP adds ribbon skirt to uniform in effort to build bridges with Indigenous people
The Canadian Press 23/05/2024 12:19 The RCMP has added a traditional Indigenous ribbon skirt to its uniform. Commissioner Mike Duheme has announced on social media that officers can now wear the ribbon skirts when donning the red serge. He says the addition demonstrates the RCMP’s commitment to reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion. The RCMP did not immediately provide more details. Officers have also been allowed to incorporate eagle feathers and the Métis sash into their uniforms. The national force has aimed to build bridges with Indigenous communities for the role it played in colonialism. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2024. ...
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Plan to wake serial killer Robert Pickton from coma: Quebec police
The Canadian Press 23/05/2024 11:31 A spokesman for Quebec’s provincial police says British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton is in a medically induced coma after a prison attack and doctors planned to try to wake him soon. Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu says the plan to wake Pickton in the next few days and see if he can survive on his own was current as of Wednesday, but he wasn’t sure if it has since changed. Police previously said Pickton was in a life-threatening condition after Sunday’s attack at the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution, about 480 kilometres northeast of Quebec City. Correctional Service Canada said Pickton was the victim of a “major assault” and prison officers had not been involved. Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life...
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Special Chiefs Council confers over landmark agreement
Local Journalism Initiative The fight continues in earnest for First Nations children and families. The Special Chiefs Council of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) is meeting in Thunder Bay for two days, May 22 and 23, to discuss social services in NAN communities and the terms of a 20-billion-dollar long-term reform agreement for First Nations child welfare — one of two final settlement agreements. The meeting, which features presentations from community-led social services organizations and leaders, brings together Chiefs and representatives from across NAN’s traditional territories. Addressing those in attendance, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler paid his respects to community members who have recently lost family members and brought the matter at hand into focus. “This is about our children. It’s about our kids and our communities – and it’s to...
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First Nations Health Authority in B.C. investigating cybersecurity incident
The Canadian Press 22/05/2024 21:47 The First Nations Health Authority in B.C. is investigating after being hit by a cybersecurity attack. The health authority, which bills itself as the first and only provincial one of its kind in Canada, says it became aware on May 13 of “unusual activity” on its corporate network. It says an “unauthorize entity” was intercepted after gaining access to the network. The health authority says there’s evidence that certain employee information and limited personal information of others was affected. However, it says there’s no evidence the attack affected any clinical information systems it uses. The cyberattack is the latest in a series of recent incidents in B.C., though the health authority says there’s no indication of any connection. It says law enforcement and the Office...
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‘One of the most hated men in Winnipeg’: Trial sees letters from serial killer
The Canadian Press 22/05/2024 The trial of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki learned about him through his own words Wednesday, with pen pal letters in which he discusses everything from the persecution of Caucasians to his post-apocalyptic zombie novel. “A racist is someone who wakes up white in the morning,” Skibicki wrote to a fellow inmate in a series of letters entered into evidence at his trial. The letters, from over a year ago, also foreshadow Skibicki’s legal strategy and how he thinks he should not be held criminally responsible because of mental illness. Skibicki, 37, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women in 2022. The trial was originally to be heard by a jury. But both sides agreed to a judge-alone trial...
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‘Five feet nothing’: Pickton’s safety likely behind Quebec move, says ex-prison judge
By The Canadian Press 22/05/2024 17:13 When serial killer Robert Pickton was transferred from British Columbia’s Kent Institution to a maximum security prison in Quebec about six years ago, correctional authorities gave no public explanation or confirmation at the time, citing privacy. But Darryl Plecas, a former prison judge at Kent who went on to be Speaker of the B.C. Legislature, says he thinks he knows why — Pickton’s safety was likely at risk at Kent. Pickton is now in a Quebec City hospital with what police there called life-threatening injuries. Correctional Service Canada said Pickton, who was being held at the Port-Cartier Institution, about 480 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, was the victim of a “major assault” that did not involve guards on Sunday. Plecas, a criminologist who was...
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B.C. wildfires: Plans underway for residents’ return to evacuated town of Fort Nelson
The Canadian Press 22/05/2024 12:18 The mayor of the regional municipality that includes the evacuated community of Fort Nelson, B.C., says he’s optimistic crews have “a very good handle” on the wildfire burning outside town and plans are underway for residents to return. Rob Fraser says the first phase involved ensuring it was safe enough to move the Fort Nelson emergency operations centre back into town after it was moved as the fire threatened earlier this month, and the second phase involves utility services. Fraser posted a video update late Tuesday saying hydro, natural gas and telecommunications crews were in town working to ensure the services are safely up and running. The mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality says officials are working to ensure hospital and ambulance staff are...
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Building influence: Cree Nation plays leading role at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
By Patrick Quinn Local Journalism Initiative Reporter At the world’s largest annual gathering of Indigenous leaders and policymakers in New York City, the Cree Nation had a leading role in discussions about working collaboratively with state governments to advance self-determination. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is a high-level advisory body that has focused on raising awareness and gathering expert recommendations since 2002. Several side events examine pressing issues that help develop policies upholding Indigenous rights. Cree justice director Donald Nicholls moderated a side event April 18 – “Paving the Way for Future Generations: Reclaiming Indigenous Rights and Collaborating with State Governments for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Relations.” Grand Chiefs from the Cree, Algonquin-Anishinabeg and Atikamekw Nations were joined by Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Ghislain...
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Crown wraps evidence in Winnipeg serial killer trial, court to resume next month
The Canadian Press 22/05/2024 12:43 Crown prosecutors have finished calling evidence in the trial of a Winnipeg man who has admitted to killing four Indigenous women. The Crown presented nine letters between Jeremy Skibicki and an inmate in Nova Scotia, but their content was not read in court. The trial is to resume June 3, with defence lawyers calling an expert to testify about Skibicki’s state of mind at the time of the killings. Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman. His lawyers say he killed the women but argue he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Prosecutors say the killings were racially motivated...
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An allyship, a friend, and ‘Bread and Cheese’ Celebration was born!
Six Nations celebrates community and history at 158th Bread and Cheese event Photos by: Jim C. Powless & Austin Evans By Austin Evans Writer The line stretched from the Six Nations arena through the fairgrounds and down to Fourth Line Victoria Day Monday when thousands of people lined up to celebrate Six Nations annual Bread and Cheese Day. They took in some sun, lined up for rides, games, watched the parade and of course waited in line for the annual bread and cheese giveaway. Rene Bomberry was a regular attendee at Bread and Cheese for years before the pandemic. While COVID restrictions have been lifted, she still felt apprehensive about coming but decided that this was an important year to go. “I missed maybe the last five years, but I’ve...
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Pre-tendindians and Metis may be putting Indigenous rights at risk…Chiefs
By Turtle Island News Staff Indigenous leaders and groups say the rights of First Nations in Canada are under attack by pretendians and some Métis federations. “There were times we could go to jail for having ceremony, for speaking our language, for doing all the things we knew to be our identity,” Scott McLeod Chief of Nippising First Nation said. “But today it’s a different crisis. We are struggling with people who are trying to be us, who are trying to make claims for their benefit and they are occupying the spaces we should be occupying. It’s another fight… We’ve been struggling for 400 years to maintain our identity, this is just another branch of this battle.” Indigenous leaders from all over Canada attended the first Indigenous Identify Fraud Summit...
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OPP are assisting Six Nations Police with death investigation
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have been brought in to assist in the investigation of the death of a Six Nations man earlier this month. Six Nations Police released the identity of the deceased as Brandon Hill, 49, of Six Nations. Police said on May 10, 2024, at about 11:20 a.m., Six Nations Police Service (SNPS) received a report of an individual with life-threatening injuries found on the side of the road of Fourth Line Road near Mohawk Road in the Township of Tuscarora. The individual was transported by Ornge air ambulance to a hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries on May 11, 2024. A postmortem examination was completed at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto. However the results are not being released to protect the integrity of the...
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Ontario Chiefs to descend on Six Nations…in two weeks
By Turtle Island News Staff The Chiefs are coming. And they will be brining an entourage with them. In less than two weeks Chiefs from across Ontario will be meeting at Six Nations for the Chief’s of Ontario Annual Chief’s Assembly and Regional Election. It’s the first in person meeting since COVID-19. Six Nations will host the event from June 11 to 13 using many of the fcommunity’s facilities include the arena and community hall. Nathan Wright, Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) CEO, gave an update on the planning for the event at the General Council meeting on May 14 and said community members would also have the opportunity to view the proceedings at no cost, if they register, but other events will come at a cost. “There will be a...
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Six Nations and immigration…?
Six Nations doesn’t know what to do when it comes to questions about immigration. Councillor Helen Miller, chair of the Lands and Membership committee said the office manager is fielding calls from people wanting to immigrate to Canada, and those wanting to leave, but staff don’t know. “Lands and Membership is not mandated to deal with immigration. They don’t know the answers to the question or know what they’re supposed to do,” Miller said. She brought up the issue at Six Nations Elected Council’s General Council meeting on May 14 and said she knows they have to find a person to help answer the questions but currently, there’s nothing in place, and the Lands and Membership office doesn’t want to field the calls. “They would appreciate calls not being made...
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Six Nations will officially close Fire Station Number 3.
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) voted unanimously to permanently close and terminate fire services from Six Nations Fire Station Number 3 at its General Council meeting on May 14 and to return the land at 2134 Cayuga Road to the estate of Luella Ruth R. Elliot. SNEC also approved staff to begin the planning process for a community risk assessment to determine if another fire station is needed and where construction could take place. Acting Fire Chief Mike Seth told SNEC the community is growing and if another fire station is necessary the correct placement is crucial. “We want to do a risk assessment to evaluate the future growth of Six Nations,” he said. “Do we need to put a station there (Cayuga Road) and if not where is the...
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Pretendians…time for payback
We are what we pretend to be,” Kurt Vonnegut famously wrote, “so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Pretendians. The expose is, finally, everywhere. From academia to Oscars. People who come up with in their own minds an excuse to claim Indigenous status from the great Cherokee grandmother to today’s Pretendian that haunts the halls of academia, the time has come not just for Pretendians to be exposed, but to be held accountable for their actions. We can start by calling it what it is…fraud. These are not people who are claiming Indigenous status to further the cause of Indigenous people, but to grab onto “benefits” of being Indigenous. They are taking up places, largely in universities who for what ever reason went out hired an...
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