Fort Nelson Literary Society assisting Prophet River First Nation with water settlement claims
By Edward Hitchins Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) members are receiving assistance filing claims as part of an $8 billion class-action lawsuit against the federal government over unclean water. The Fort Nelson Community Literacy Society (FNCLS) is heading to PRFN on March 7th to help out before the deadline for claims to be submitted later the same day. The nationwide settlement includes anyone affected by water advisories for at least one year in a **>First Nations<** community between late 1995 and mid-2021. PRFN is holding the workshop to assist individuals with paperwork to join the already 144,000 filed claims. The workshop will occur at the Prophet River School Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 7th. Wayne Kushamba, program coordinator for the FNCLS, says...
Register
Calls mount for crackdown on false fossil fuel ads
By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Gitanyow Nation is calling on both the provincial and federal governments to do something about deceptive ad campaigns that greenwash the climate impacts of liquified natural gas projects in B.C. Its concerns relate to a deluge of paid ads across the province touting claims by gas companies that LNG is somehow a green source of energy aligned with net-zero emissions targets. Ads like “BC LNG will reduce Global Emissions” are ubiquitous on social media, buses, airports and highway billboards, said Naxginkw, Tara Marsden, sustainability director for the Wilp, or house clans, of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (GHC). Methane, LNG’s primary ingredient, is a powerful greenhouse gas that creates more than 80 times as much heat in the short term as carbon dioxide...
Register
Infrastructure Bank, First Nations Bank join forces to support smaller scale Indigenous development
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Indigenous communities looking to advance infrastructure projects now have access to a new pool of money. The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has provided the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) with $100 million to offer as capital for smaller infrastructure projects. FNBC will be matching that amount. The money will be loaned to First Nations Bank’s clients at a low interest rate as it blends FNBC’s competitive market rate with CIB’s low-cost financing. The partnership, says CIB CEO Ehren Cory, allows CIB to be involved in projects that aren’t the bank’s usual billion-dollar infrastructure dealings. “FNBC has reached to communities big and small, First Nations communities, Metis and **>Inuit<** communities across the country in a way that we don’t,” said Cory. “They have...
Register
The Healthcare Crisis For Indigenous Peoples In Alberta
By Chevi Rabbit Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The healthcare system in Alberta fails Indigenous peoples, perpetuating a cycle of suffering and premature death. Structural racism pervades every aspect of care, from access to treatment to the attitudes of healthcare professionals. Countless examples across the country demonstrate Canadians turning a blind eye to the plight of dying Indigenous people within the healthcare and mental health systems. Indigenous individuals frequently encounter poor experiences, lack follow-up care, and fear the healthcare system due to poor outcomes, amplifying the urgency for Canada to address the injustices faced by Indigenous communities. Indigenous peoples in Alberta face significant barriers to accessing healthcare services, exacerbating health disparities. Geographical isolation, limited transportation options, and underfunded healthcare facilities on reserves present formidable obstacles to receiving timely and adequate...
Register
As disasters mount, First Nations’ safety has never been more pressing: Woodhouse
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS GATINEAU, Que.- First Nations leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss how they can better prepare for the wildfires, pandemics, floods and effects of climate change that disproportionately affect their communities. The Assembly of First Nations summit in Gatineau, Que., is the first such forum in seven years. It follows a record-breaking wildfire season that scorched 100,000 square kilometres of land and saw dozens of First Nations communities evacuated. It also comes four years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which found First Nations peoples and communities at a heightened risk of exposure. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said at no time has the safety of communities amid disasters been a more pressing concern. “The unpredictability has lead to recurrent emergency evacuations forcing our people to...
Register
Vancouver police, First Nation ties have ‘broken down’ since settlement: review
VANCOUVER- A review of a “landmark” agreement between Vancouver Police and a B.C. First Nation says the relationship has “broken down” and the way to move forward is to respect the nation’s laws. B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender says in her review that agreement between the police board, the family of Maxwell Johnson and the Heiltsuk Nation showed “significant shortcomings” in implementing the deal reached in 2022. The agreement came after police wrongly detained Johnson, a Heiltsuk Nation artist, and his then-12-year-old granddaughter, who were both handcuffed by police after they tried to open an account for the girl at a Vancouver bank. The nation cancelled an apology ceremony in October 2022 after the arresting officers failed to show up, which Johnson said limited the community’s ability to heal from...
Register
Sisterhood gathering: eclipse connected to founding of Confederacy
By Lisa Iesse Writer “Sisterhood is medicine” says Samantha Doxtator in anticipation of April’s total solar eclipse, projected to take an unprecedented path directly above the Haudenosaunee Nations. Doxtator is an astronomer from Oneida of the Thames and she tells the gathering her sister led her to study Haudenosaunee astronomy. Doxtator is continuing the work and research pf Sasha Doxtator, a Haudenosaunee astronomer who passed away in July 2021. Iehstoseranon:nha Dawn and Kelly Back joined Doxtator and a gathering of women who met in a “Celestial Sisterhood” of Haudenosaunee” women to honour the ancestors in the name of peace at the Woodland Cultural Centre Wednesday (February 28). Dawn is a Feather Keeper/Protector and artist practicing and sharing bird medicines. She is Akwesasronon, Wakhskaré:wake (Bear Clan), and the founder of the...
Register
Some SNEC members pushing for more council transparency
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Councillor Helen Miller is getting help keeping items from going into closed sessions in this term of council thanks to some of the new councillors. Some Six Nations Councillors have been moving items from in-cameras sessions into open citing the need to be more transparent to the community. Councillors opted to move several items from the in-camera agenda into the open at the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) Political Liaison committee meeting on February 26. Councillor Cynthia Jamieson said she didn’t see a reason to keep some of the items private, including an update from Trevor Bomberry on a potential visit to the Navajo First Nation, a funding agreement from the Assembly of First Nations to partake in a review of the 1965 Welfare Act...
Register
Six Nations Cannabis Commission at the “end” of its rope without bank account
The Six Nations Cannabis Commission (SNCC) is at the end of its rope with the banking system and wants Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) to advocate for it as a community safety measure. Kathy Mair, chief commissioner of the Six Nations Cannabis Commission (SNCC)’s presented its quarterly report at SNEC’s General Finance meeting, March 4th, after it was moved from the in-camera agenda. Mair said there’s not much left the SNCC can do to get itself, its producers or retailers on-reserve a bank account because the banks see them as criminals. “I need political advocacy for this,” she said. “Cannabis was legalized in 2018 and only cannabis businesses off territory can access banking. We can not. Whether we’re licensed or not. No First Nation in Canada is allowed to use...
Register
“Third World Conditions”: SN Public Works says SNEC needs to push for clean drinking water funding
The Public Works Department wants Six Nations to make clean drinking water a priority for funds and political advocacy. Mike Montour, director of public works told Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) at the Policial Liaison meeting on February 26, that if they have a surplus for the 2024-2025 budget he’d like them to consider making getting people connected to the water lines a priority. “I think we’ve done a great job to knock down barriers to give people the ability to connect to the water main,” Montour said. But he knows there are more barriers that exist and said some families on Six Nations are living in “third world conditions” without indoor plumbing or electricity and that makes hooking up to the watermain impossible until plumbing is installed in the...
Register
SN Elected Council to petition Enbridge to lower gas fees
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) agreed to look into trying to get the community exempted from delivery fees being charged for natural gas to be delivered here. But stopped short of petition the federal government to remove the carbon tax now hitting community gas bills. The carbon tax is also expected to rise to 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on April 1. A Six Nations community member told SNEC he was unhappy with the cost of natural gas. Andrew Mark Hill told SNEC, at its Feb., 27th he wanted an explanation for why his Six Nations Natural Gas (SNNG) bill is “exorbitantly” high, in comparison to more expensive forms of fuel. “To me that’s unacceptable and so I met a few other people, they are concerned about the...
Register
The opening of Shelley Niro’s exhibit The 500 Year Itch
By Lisa Iesse Writer HAMILTON / SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – Shelley Niro’s “500 Year Itch” exhibit comes in like a “velvet hammer” to open the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s (AGH) winter exhibition. Shelley Falconer, AGH director, remembers the first time she came across Niro’s work, “it was like a gut-wrench,” she tells the crowd. It’s opening day, Saturday February 24, at the AGH, hundreds of people overflow from the gallery’s halls for the special retrospective of Niro’s work, which also includes new works by the internationally acclaimed artist and filmmaker. “The way you could tap into female archetypes with this bemused radiant intelligence, it hit me and it stayed with me,” Falconer told Niro and the gathering. Falconer quotes a friend who once said aptly, “Shelley’s work is...
Register
Commentary: Your right to know
In what was clearly a breath of fresh air some of Six Nations new elected council members have begun taking a stand on transparency.Councillor Cynthia Jamieson surprised viewers when she told her fellow council members she didn’t see any reason for some of the council agenda items to be in a closed session. The items, included a potential trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona to discuss their governance structure pinpointing on land use. She also questioned why the Six Nations Cannabis Commission would be reporting to a closed session or how reviewing the 1995 Welfare Act constituted going behind closed doors. And she questioned why after SNEC had agreed to have the items in an open session they were put into closed sessions by staff. Councillors for the past...
Register
Weekly Cartoon
...
Register
Spring Forward
...
Register
Six Nations to review welfare agreement
Six Nations will receive funding to assist in the cost of contributing its review of the 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement. Arliss Skye, director of Social Services told Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) that the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) was offering funding to help review the legislation regarding social services, child and family services and Ontario Works. “There’s no process set up other than here’s some funding when it happens,” she said. Indigenous Services Canada offered $10.2 million as well as $1.8 million to the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. COO divided the funds among unaffiliated nations based on population. Six Nation will receive $335,771 to do the consultation when the time comes. In 1965 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Ontario government signed the 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement that deemed...
Register
OPP officers cleared in 2023 Six Nations standoff
By Lynda Powless Editor It tool nine hours and 17 bullets fired at close range to bring a standoff that began on Halloween night 2023 with an armed Six Nations man to the end. The front door of his Chiefswood Road trailer home had been crushed by an OPP armoured vehicle. Tear gas had been fired and a police drone shot down. Three Ontario Provincial Police officers involved in the standoff and gunfire exchange with Six Nations last November were cleared Friday of any wrongdoing in a gunfire exchange with a Six Nations man who had claimed to be “cop hunting”. Ontario’s Special Investigation unit (SIU) concluded there were “no reasonable grounds” to believe the officers who had responded to a Six Nations Police assist call had committed a crime, according...
Register
Blackhawks looking for success at Little NHL tournament
By Sam Laskaris Writer Murray Porter is no stranger to the Little Native Hockey League tournament. The Six Nations member recalls that as a youngster he participated in the event, often simply called the Little NHL, about 10 times. Porter, who is now 39, said he was on five championship teams at the tourney, which has become the largest Indigenous youth hockey event in Ontario. While he used up his playing eligibility long ago, Porter will be participating at this year’s tourney, the 50th annual Little NHL, scheduled for Mar. 11-14 in Markham. That’s because he’s the head coach of the Six Nations Blackhawks boys’ Under-11 squad. A record number of 246 clubs are taking part in the tournament, which will be staged primarily at various Markham arenas. Rinks in...
Register
Sports Briefs: Montour named NHL’s Second Star of Week
By Sam Laskaris Writer Montour named NHL’s Second Star of Week It was certainly a good week for Six Nations member Brandon Montour. Montour, a defenceman with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers, was recognized for his efforts on Monday. He was named as the NHL’s Second Star of the Week after he played a key role with the Panthers, who won all three of their matches this past week. Montour registered six points, two goals and four assists, in those matches. Both of Montour’s goals were game-winning ones. For starters, Montour had a pair of assist and then netted the game-winning goal as the Panthers edged the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 last Tuesday. Though he was held pointless, Montour saw more than 26 minutes of action on Thursday as his...
Register
Indigenous wrestler qualifies for Paris Olympics
By Sam Laskaris Writer It’s official. Justina Di Stasio, a member of Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, will fulfill a lifelong dream and represent Canada in the Olympics. Di Stasio, a wrestler who competes in the women’s 76-kilogram weight class, earned her spot onto the Canadian women’s Olympic squad this past week. In order to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, Di Stasio needed to place in the top two in her grouping at the Pan-American Olympic qualifiers, staged in Acapulco, Mexico. Di Stasio defeated a competitor from Honduras in her opening bout. And when she registered a victory over a rival from Argentina in a semi-final bout on Feb. 29, Di Stasio officially punched her Olympic ticket to Paris. “This feels amazing,” said Di Stasio, who...
Register
