Project PANDA takes out non-Indigenous criminal network operating out of Six Nations
By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER, ON – Six Nations Police have seized over $6.29 million in contraband tobacco and drugs from a manufacturing facility being operated by “members of a non-Indigenous criminal network,” generating profits that weren’t invested or utilized by the community. Police seized over 25,000 kg (or 25 metric tonnes) of contraband tobacco, with an estimated street value of more than $6.29 million in May. The seizure also included over $3 million in illegal cannabis and 15 firearms after shutting down what they called a “criminal network” producing and manufacturing contraband tobacco on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in May. The four month long investigation began after the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau’s (OCEB) launched Project PANDA in...
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Six Nations Fire Department displays their life saving skills
Not even rain can stop the fun of Six Nations Community Awareness. Six Nations Fire department thrilled community members with a display of firefighting techniques and of course a barbecue! (Photo by Jim C. Powless)...
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Can you smell it yet…
It looks like Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) decision to license cannabis sales and growth has raised its controversial head…again. Only this time it’s about the sudden introduction into the community of massive cannabis grow-ops with no notification to the community. In fact, in one neighbourhood it came in the shape of a farmer plowing a field one day to suddenly having as many as 100 greenhouses go up behind their homes to grow cannabis. One day it was a field. Today it’s a massive grow-op and a neighbourhood appears to be left on its own to deal the intrusion of the SNEC created blunder. A blunder not only the neighbourhood is questioning but the community is asking how the grow-up was allowed to go up without any community consultation....
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: The Road To Recovery
by Xavier Kataquapit www.underthenorthernsky.com As a First Nation person I have been terrorized by alcohol and drug addiction all my life. I grew up with this reality and continue to witness the effects of addictions today. From the time I was a child I realized how terrible life was because of alcohol and drugs. I vowed to never head in that direction however, as soon as I went into my teen years I joined the party. Lucky for me, my cousin, who had gone to treatment, studied as a drug and alcohol First Nation counsellor, returned to my community and started up an Alcoholic Anonymous healing group. I joined that group and began to figure things out. Thanks to that help, support from others on the road to recovery and...
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Arrows looking to make a splash during their 2025 season
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Arrows have some lofty expectations for their 2025 campaign. And despite a bit of a blip on Sunday night, the local Junior A lacrosse squad has shown some early indications it might just be able to reach its goals. The ultimate goal for the Arrows will be to win the Minto Cup, the Canadian Junior A title. One of the Arrows’ Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) rivals, the St. Catharines Athletics, will host this year’s national tournament from Aug. 16-23. As hosts, the Athletics receive an automatic entry into the Canadian tourney. In order for the Arrows to also compete they would have to win the OJLL championship or be league finalists if the St. Catharines club wins the 11-team Ontario circuit. “This...
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Six Nations Ironmen join Northern Premier Hockey League
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Ironmen are no longer just a tournament team. For the past five years the local men’s squad has primarily been put together to compete in the Fred Sasakamoose Chief Thunderstick National Hockey Championship. This event, annually held in Saskatoon, is the national tourney for Indigenous adult hockey squads. But it was announced last Wednesday that the Ironmen have joined the rebranded Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL). Starting with the 2025-26 season, which is expected to begin this October, the Ironmen will compete in the NPHL’s Metropolitan Division. The division will also include the Alvinston Killer Bees, Strathroy Jets, Tilbury Bluebirds, and Woodstock Lakers. Clubs will play a 20-game regular season schedule, consisting of 10 home games and 10 away matches. The Metropolitan Division...
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SPORTS BRIEFS
By Sam Laskaris Writer Rivermen split weekend matches Thanks in part to a 32-save shutout performance from Tye Belanger, the Six Nations Rivermen were able to conclude their weekend on an upbeat note. Belanger thwarted all shots directed at him as the visiting Rivermen, the local Senior B club, blanked the host Collingwood Cruise 12-0 in an Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) contest on Sunday night. The Rivermen, the defending OSL champs, also played a home game on Saturday. But the Six Nations squad was edged 12-11 by the Brooklin Merchants in that match, held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. With their weekend results the Rivermen are now sporting a 4-2 record. Brooklin is the only team to beat Six Nations thus far this season. The visting Merchants had also handed...
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Kivalliq Canucks withdraw from national U20 Indigenous tourney
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News The Kivalliq Canucks U20 team has been forced to withdraw from the inaugural National Indigenous U20 Championship in Toronto, Ont., from June 9 to 13. Team general manager Gleason Uppahuak of Arviat said there were too many obstacles to attending the tourney that hit the Junior Canucks all at the same time. He said the majority of his players have exams that week and he can’t risk doing any harm to their education. “A lot of the players still have three or four years left to attend the nationals, so we’ll come back stronger next year,” said Uppahuak. “Funding from the Kivalliq Inuit Association also turned into a problem. They never responded in time. “That trip would have cost us close...
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Could new land skills handbook be the death to cultural learning?
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News To say the new land skills program handbook for Nunavut schools is a total dud in the eyes of a former educator would be a an understatement. Mike Shouldice of Rankin Inlet said the new handbook on land skills and school trips will essentially end the land skills program. The former president of Nunavut Arctic College said the expectations of the new handbook, approved by cabinet and scheduled to go to print in the coming month, are totally unrealistic. “In my opinion, this will essentially kill the land skills program and any cultural learning and content,” he said. “Who the heck wrote this, somebody in the federal government? “It is risk management within the Government of Nunavut and Education is pushing...
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Paralympic chief challenges Brisbane 2032 organizers to top the success of Sydney
By John Pye BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — There was no better day to urge the people of Brisbane to do better than the benchmarks Sydney set for the Paralympics. International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons’ visit to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic host city Wednesday coincided with the start of the traditional rugby league grudge match that is the Origin series, one of the biggest annual fixtures on Australia’s sports calendar. “Without doubt, the year 2000 was a gamechanger and provided the foundations from which we could advance the Paralympic Games and wider Paralympic movement,” Parsons told a gathering at a Brisbane riverside restaurant, hyping Sydney’s overwhelming success in staging the Olympics and Paralympics almost 25 years ago. “After the tremendous success of Barcelona 1992, and the troublesome experiences of...
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Annual Squamish Herring Happenings event highlights ecological restoration
By Ina Pace, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Squamish Chief ‘Harriet the Herring’ made her celebrated return this year as community members gathered at Brackendale Art Gallery on May 22 for the annual Herring Happenings event. “Harriet the Herring” is back! The Squamish Chief attended the annual Herring Happenings event at the Brackendale Art Gallery (the BAG) on May 22. The event consisted of a presentation of recaps from both shore and water-based surveys, research from UBC about spawn trends, volunteers’ stories and short films, as well as awards and trivia. The event was hosted by conservationists and volunteers from non-profit Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative (MSI). The MSI have carried out spawn monitoring in various sites around Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound each year since 2020. They affectionately dub the herring and...
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B.C. orders Hobo Hot Spring restored, as new fence blocks off public use
By Nono Shen The British Columbia government has ordered the restoration of free natural hot spring pools that were mysteriously filled with dirt and boulders last fall. The government had launched an investigation into the damage to the free natural spring and Crown resource, known as the Hobo Hot Spring, last October. The Ministry of Forests last week said it couldn’t release a copy of the order to restore the springs because it’s related to an active investigation. However, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said it was working to fix the stream with the owner and general manager of the nearby Harrison Hot Springs Resort, which did not respond to a request for comment. Harrison Hot Springs Mayor Fred Talen said on Monday that the resort is...
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Ontario to amend mining bill, add Indigenous economic zones amid First Nations uproar
By Liam Casey Premier Doug Ford’s government is set to capitulate to some First Nation demands on a controversial mining bill, though it will not kill the proposed law outright, The Canadian Press has learned. Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford and Mining Minister Stephen Lecce say the province will amend Bill 5 to explicitly include duty to consult provisions throughout the bill. The bill, which seeks to speed up mining projects, is set to go through amendments Wednesday at committee as it moves towards becoming law. The new law would create so-called “special economic zones” where it can suspend provincial and municipal projects, but will also add in “special Indigenous economic zones” at the request of First Nations for projects they want fast-tracked. The province is set to designate the...
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B.C. water Bill 15 facing backlash from First Nations
By The Narwhal A growing chorus of First Nations leaders is warning that B.C. Premier David Eby’s push to pass Bill 15 is deeply damaging the province’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples. “The BC NDP are wrong. Premier Eby is wrong. We are united in our call that they must immediately withdraw the bill,” Don Tom, Chief of the Tsartlip First Nation and vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said during a Monday press conference in Victoria. “They are willing to look past any sort of environmental assessment, they’re willing to walk all over First Nations Rights, all under the guise of efficiency.” Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, would grant the provincial government broad powers to expedite pretty much any major infrastructure project, whether publicly or privately owned....
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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief says Speech from the Throne commits to reconciliation
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says Canada’s Speech from the Throne, delivered today (Tuesday May 27) by King Charles III in the Senate of Canada spoke of commitments to reconciliation. “The Speech from the Throne expressed commitments to continue the work of reconciliation and mentioned the importance of protecting Indigenous peoples’ languages. The Speech from the Throne expressed the government’s commitment to respect free, prior and informed consent, a critical legal standard respecting project developments. This is an unprecedented mention in a Speech from the Throne and we look forward to seeing this implemented by Canada in decision-making, especially one delivered by King Charles III. We have a lot of work to do with this government.” National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak also thanked King Charles III...
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Six Nations Elected Chief turned down to speak to Ontario’s fast track industry Bill 5
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) says in a statement it is opposed to Ontario’s Bill 5 and is calling on the province to pause the Bill until Ontario consults with Six Nations on legislation “affecting our inherent and constitutional rights, land governance, environmental protection, and jurisdictional authority.” Bill 5, known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, is currently at Queen’s Park and is expected to become law before the legislature breaks for the summer on June 5. The Ford government says the bill is needed so major infrastructure and resource extraction projects can happen faster . It says the fast tracking will reduce delays and eliminate duplication in the approval process. SNEC says it provided written feedback, opposing Bill 5. It...
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Runner Tom Longboat’s immediate family to shun Six Nations Elected Council’s Tom Longboat Run
Family issues letter says it can’t support Six Nations Elected Band Council’s cannabis industry cites social ills “This statement is being issued by the immediate family of Tom Longboat, the famed Haudenosaunee runner. The family will not participate in the Tom Longboat run on Six Nations Territory June 4, 2025. This is due to what the six nations “elected band councils” cannabis industry has inflicted upon the people, children and future generations of Six Nations. A societal catastrophe of death, drugs, overdoses, organized crime, human/sex trafficking, and all types of crime. All the result of Six Nations “elected band council” implementing their cannabis industry on Six nations. Just yesterday, I heard the emotional pleas of the Mohawk elder Tom Porter, about the same dire situation of death and destruction at...
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Residents across the Prairies flee, others on edge due to wildfire threats
Residents in areas across the Canadian Prairies are out of their homes while others are on edge as wildfires inch closer to their communities. In northern Manitoba, the town of Lynn Lake, with about 600 residents, was ordered evacuated due to an advancing wildfire. Data from the Manitoba Wildfire Service shows the out-of-control fire, which ignited almost three weeks ago, is more than 7,000 hectares in size. Lynn Lake is 775 km northwest of Winnipeg. In north-central Alberta, the 1,300 residents of Swan Hills were ordered to leave Monday night ahead of an advancing, wind-whipped fire. Meanwhile, people living southeast of Hinton, Alta., were told to prepare for a possible evacuation because of an out-of-control fire burning west of the former coal mining town of Mercoal. This report by The...
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First Nations press case against Bill 5
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source THUNDER BAY — Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, is “very concerning” in more ways than one, says Neskantaga First Nation Chief Gary Quisess. The legislation tramples on First Nations’ rights and weakens protections for wildlife, Quisess told Newswatch Monday afternoon, just hours after other Indigenous leaders spoke against Bill 5 at the province’s legislative grounds. Quisess, who took part in last week’s Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Chiefs Assembly that made a declaration against the big bill, said this is a tough time for his community to be in a fight over a proposed provincial law. “My community is evacuated because our infrastructure is failing,” he said from the Thunder Bay hotel that is his temporary...
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