Six Nations lands caught in “obstacles” of federal policy
By Lisa Iesse Writer Six Nations Lands and Resources (SNLR) department says about 1,000 acres of the community’s land is caught in the red tape of Additions to Reserves (ATR) process. Six Nations Lands and Resources (SNLR) department hosted an info session March 20 to present information about what the ATR policy has looked like in the past, what it looks like now, and what it could be like in the future. About 20 community members attended the in-person session at the Six Nations Community Hall. SNLR is seeking community feedback on the ATR process. Lands resource director Lonny Bomberry, said the community consultation comes on the heels of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), announcing they are submitting a report on the ATR process to the federal government. The...
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Indigenous “presence” found at Norfolk cemetary
By Lisa Iesse Writer Norfolk County Council (NCC) is moving to a Stage 1 archeological assessment after “archaeological evidence of First Nations presence” was found at a local cemetery last year. The find comes two years after a county councillor charged there was no proof of Indigenous people in the county. “There was nobody here when the Europeans came here, (to) this particular area of Norfolk County within southern Ontario, in-between the lakes area,” said Councillor Chris Van Paassen at a NCC meeting on September 14, 2021. At that meeting, Councillor Van Passen also denied the current presence of First Nations in the area now known as Norfolk County. “The area of Norfolk county is not inhabited by Indigenous peoples, it has not been since before the time of European...
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Canada Post sale won’t affect Six Nations tax exemption
Canada Post has assured Six Nations despite selling off pieces of itself to private businesses Six Nations community members won’t be taxed. They’re also looking into getting Six Nations its own postal code, but says it’s not as easy as just pushing a button. Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri Lyn Hill gave an update at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on March 25 and said she met with Canada Post to discuss some issues and brought up the difficulties Six Nations faces having up to five postal codes. “The goal of the meeting was to discuss the retail sale of Canada Post and tax exemptions. There will be no sales tax and we discussed the interest for Six Nations to have its own single postal code,” she said. In January...
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Pssst…be on our side!
It was a secret. Media wasn’t suppose to find out about. But our readers know, Turtle Island News doesn’t like secrets! It was expensive. And it was likely paid for from the community’s own source revenues when the current Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) decided to host about 40 mayors from surrounding towns and cities that exist on Haldimand Proclamation lands, lands that belong to the “Mohawks and such others..” recently. Media wasn’t told. No photo ops of the 40 mayors (by the way Brantford didn’t show up) with Elected Council Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill or her councillors. It was supposed to be a quiet meeting to chat with the mayors. The glitzy gathering took place at the Gathering Place with SNEC’s land resource department explaining SNEC’s outstanding multi-billion dollar land...
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Weekly Cartoon
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ECHOES OF A MURDER – Two daughters, two parents, and echoes of a murder that rocked Indigenous activism
By Darryl Greer The Canadian Press In Halifax, Denise Pictou Maloney says the trauma and grief from the 1975 murder of her mother, Indigenous activist Anna Mae Aqaush, has never dimmed. Pictou Maloney was nine when she last saw her. In Vancouver, Naneek Graham vividly remembers American FBI agents visiting her family’s home in Yukon in the 1980s to threaten her father, John Graham, with prosecution if he didn’t co-operate with the murder investigation. Thirty-five years after the killing, Graham, a member of the American Indian Movement, was convicted of murdering Aquash by shooting her in the back of the head in South Dakota. For decades, the two families on opposite sides of Canada have been unwillingly bound by the legacy of the murder that rocked the Indigenous movement 49...
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Sports briefs: Sky Hawks capture Women’s Arena Lacrosse League title
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Ontario-based East division of the Women’s Arena Lacrosse League (WALL) crowned its 2024 champs this past Saturday. All regular season and playoff matches in the five-team league were staged at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. The Sky Hawks, who had placed atop the regular season standings with a record of 8-2-2, continued their dominance in the playoffs. For starters they thumped the Cobras 10-3 in their semi-final outing this past Saturday. And later in the day they doubled the Firebirds 6-3 to capture the WALL title. Local ALL clubs have season-ending playoff contests The three local Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) squads did not have any success in their opening-round playoff matches this past weekend. The Six Nations Snipers, Ohsweken Bears and Paris RiverWolves – who all...
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Tomahawks announce new coach and new general manager
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Tomahawks will have plenty of new faces and not just on the floor for their 2024 campaign. The Tomahawks, who captured their provincial Senior Series Lacrosse (SSL) championship last August, were dealt a blow a couple of weeks ago. That’s because Jay Smith, who had orchestrated the team’s Ontario title by serving as the head coach and general manager of the Senior C club last season, left the organization in order to accept a role with the Six Nations Rivermen, the established local Senior B squad. Following Smith’s departure some of the Tomahawks’ training camp sessions for this year were cancelled. On Monday, however, the Tomahawks announced who will be in charge of the club this season. Chad General was named as the...
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Kilgour returning to Chiefs’ bench as assistant coach
By Sam Laskaris Writer A seven-time Mann Cup champion is returning to the Six Nations Chiefs’ fold in an attempt to help the local lacrosse squad capture back-to-back national titles. It was announced on Monday that Rich Kilgour, a former Chiefs’ player who also served as the head coach of the Six Nations club from 2010-19, has agreed to rejoin the team as an assistant coach. “I just want to be part of a team and contribute,” he said. Kilgour will primarily work with the Chiefs’ defensive players, a role that had been filled last year by assistant coach Joey Cupido. Cupido had joined the Chiefs’ coaching staff as he was recuperating from an injury. But he is expected to resume his Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) playing career this year....
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Aysanabee, Tate McRae, Tobi lead Juno Award winners
By David Friend The Canadian Press Artists from three corners of Canada’s music scene emerged as big winners at the Juno Awards industry gala on Saturday as rapper Tobi, alternative singer Aysanabee and pop star Tate McRae came out on top. Each pocketed two trophies at the invite-only event held at the Halifax Convention Centre, a precursor to Sunday’s Junos broadcast on CBC. Oji-Cree musician Aysanabee’s “Here and Now” was named alternative album of the year, while he also won the songwriter’s award for his work on the album’s tracks. While accepting one of his awards the musician, born Evan Pang, asked his fellow Indigenous artists in the room to stand up and be acknowledged, saying this year saw more Indigenous artists up for Junos than ever. Representatives for the...
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Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games revived following lengthy hiatus
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games will return in 2025 following a 14-year hiatus. The Manitoba Aboriginal Sports & Recreation Council (MASRC), which is the governing body of Indigenous athletics and recreation in the province, announced details for next year’s Games at a news conference on March 18. Just two First Nations had applied to host the Games, Norway House Cree Nation and Sagkeeng First Nation. But instead of awarding the Games to one First Nation, MASRC officials opted to have the two applicants co-host the multi-sport competition. “There’s a bit of distance between the north and the south (parts of the province),’’ said Gabrielle Wishart, the MASRC’s communications coordinator. “And we thought it would make sense to split it up.’’ As a result,...
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Stranded orca was pregnant, while efforts to save her other calf turns on rising tide
ZEBALLOS, B.C.- A killer whale calf stranded in a lagoon without its mother to guide it to the open ocean off northern Vancouver Island appears traumatized as a rescue team tries to coax it to move toward a possible reunion with its extended family, a marine scientist says. Jared Towers said Tuesday the rescue team only has about 30 minutes daily when the tide rises to the point where the two-year-old orca calf can safely navigate itself out of the lagoon, near the village of Zeballos, located more than 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria. The calf’s mother, a 15-year-old Bigg’s killer whale, died Saturday when she became beached at the lagoon and could not free herself despite rescue efforts of local First Nations residents and others. Towers said they’ve tried...
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Stranded orca was pregnant, while efforts to save her other calf turns on rising tide
ZEBALLOS, B.C.- A necropsy on the killer whale that died after being stranded off northern Vancouver Island shows she was pregnant with another calf. Marine scientist Jared Towers watched the necropsy on the animal and says the 15-year-old Bigg’s killer whale was expecting another calf when she became trapped in shallow waters near the community of Zeballos. Towers, who’s with the research group Bay Cetology, says scientists, area First Nations volunteers and others are now focusing their efforts on coaxing the killer whale’s two-year-old calf out of the lagoon, but the timing of the tidal waters only offers a daily opportunity of about 30 minutes for the animal to swim out of the lagoon. He says the young whale, which has been in the area since Saturday, has so far...
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`We are all creators,’ says Elisapie after Juno Award win
By Cedric Gallant Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Accepting a Juno Award Sunday night, singer Elisapie told the audience her 2023 release Inuktitut “is not just a cover album” and that it “tells a story of three decades in such a short time.” The Salluit-born singer’s album won in the Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year category. The awards ceremony was held in Halifax. “I am not just an artist,” she said. “Artist in Inuktitut does not even have a name because we are all creators, we are all meant to be free.” Elisapie Isaac is known professionally as Elisapie. Her album was also nominated in the Album Artwork of the Year category, which was won by Riopelle Symphonique by Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. Inuktitut features 10 Inuktitut-language covers...
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Canadian National Railway Co. releases new Indigenous relations policy
MONTREAL- Canadian National Railway Co. has released a new Indigenous relations policy for the railway. CN chief legal officer Olivier Chouc says by acknowledging its past and embracing its responsibilities, the railway is laying a stronger foundation to continue to develop respectful, sustainable, and mutually beneficial relationships. The policy includes principles on cultural awareness and employee engagement, people and employment, community engagement and relationships, economic reconciliation and environmental stewardship and safety. The railway’s advisory council of prominent Indigenous leaders resigned at the end of last year after co-chairs of the council said the company failed to acknowledge past wrongs and follow its recommendations for reconciliation. The new policy follows CN’s acknowledgment of the historical role railways have played as part of colonial policies which was published in December on the...
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Time of essence amid efforts to reunite orphaned B.C. orca calf with its pod
Intense efforts are underway to reunite an orca calf with its family pod after its mother was stranded and died in a tidal lagoon near the remote northern Vancouver Island village of Zeballos. A group of Bigg’s killer whales swims together as seen from a Pacific Whale Watch Association vessel on May 4, 2022, near Whidbey Island in Washington state. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ted S. Warren Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ZEBALLOS, B.C.- Intense efforts are underway to reunite an orca calf with its family pod after its mother was stranded and died in a tidal lagoon near the remote northern Vancouver Island village of Zeballos. The Fisheries Department said in a statement Monday a highly complex operation is underway to entice the juvenile whale in the lagoon...
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‘A part of our history that is often underrepresented’: First Light, St. John’s looking to construct monument for residential
By Sanuda Ranawake Local Journalism Initiative Reporter JOHN’S, N.L.- First Light, in partnership with the City of St. John’s is proposing, a number of methods to Indigenize the city’s downtown core.One of the major steps includes a monument to honour residential school survivors.Jordan Lawrence, First Light’s Action Circle coordinator, says the projects are important for the community and the city. “The reason that we landed on Indigenizing downtown, the City of St. John’s is a partner at First Voice, so they’re aware of our calls for change and how truth and reconciliation needs to be taken on by both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people,” says Lawrence. Engagement sessions with communities are currently ongoing in partnership with First Light, First Voice, and the city. Lawrence says the sessions, one of which includes...
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First Nations group condemns BC United statement on Haida land agreement
By Seth Forward Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) has condemned a “misleading and factually incorrect” March 22 statement from the BC United Caucus which criticized a recently drafted Haida Title Land Agreement. The FNLC said BC United’s statement, which called for an immediate pause in land title talks, politicized First Nations peoples’ human rights as outlined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). “Rather than seeking to deny First Nations our most basic human rights, in clear violation of domestic and international law, we encourage all British Columbians to stand with us in celebrating the current provincial government and the Haida Nation’s tremendous accomplishment,” read a March 25 news release from the FNLC, which is made up of members from...
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Two daughters, two parents, and echoes of a murder that rocked Indigenous activism
Indigenous activist Anna Mae Pictou was shot and killed 49 years ago amid controversy the American Indian Movement ordered the hit after suspecting her of being an informant The Canadian Press – Mar 24, 2024 / 6:19 am Photo: The Canadian Press In this composite image made from two photographs, Rebecca Julian, left, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash’s eldest sister, and Aquash’s eldest daughter, Denise Maloney, hold a portrait of Aquash in Shubenacadie, N.S., on June 20, 2003; At right, Naneek Graham holds a photograph of her father John Graham, who is incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary after being extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and convicted three years later in the 1975 murder of Pictou Aquash, while posing for a portrait at her home in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Feb....
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Six Nations Elected chief attends opening of Toronto community centre
TORONTO-Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill was among those attending the opening of a Toronto recreational centre and library renamed the ‘Ethennonnhawawstihnen’ Community Recreation Centre and Library. The centre name “Ethennonnhawahstihnen” comes from the Huron-Wendat Nation translating into “where they had a good, beautiful life.” The centre pays homage to the site’s historical significance. Located near Bayview and Sheppard Avenues in North York it is within close proximity to the Moatfield Ossuary, a Huron-Wendat archaeological site w that shows long habitation by Indigenous peoples. Mayor Olivia Chow thanked all parties involved for their dedication to honoring Indigenous culture and history, while creating meaningful public spaces. Councillor Shelley Carroll told the gathering it was an example of fostering dialogue and preserving Indigenous heritage within the community. Chief William Romain of the...
