Team Kivalliq out to nab Indigenous Junior Hockey Championship
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News The final selections have been made for the Team Kivalliq squad that will compete at the inaugural U20 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championships from June 9-13 at the CanLan Sports York University in Toronto. Three rinks will be used for the event, plus the facility’s two simulator rooms. The event will be an annual competition that brings together Indigenous junior hockey athletes from across the country to compete for the national title. The championships are open to male and female division players aged 16-20 and are an opportunity for players to showcase their skills, and for the Indigenous hockey community to come together and celebrate their achievements. All team members and staff must be of Indigenous ancestry (First Nation, Metis, and...
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Advance voter turnout much higher than in 2021
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source THUNDER BAY — Nationwide and locally, this federal election is on track to have the highest voter turnout in more than 35 years. Elections Canada disclosed Tuesday that an estimated 7.3 million people voted at advance polls April 18-21 across the country. That’s about 25 per cent more than the 5.8 million who voted in advance in the 2021 general election. In Thunder Bay-Superior North, 15,244 of the riding’s roughly 68,000 eligible voters cast advance ballots, returning officer Dale Mason said. Numbers from advance polls in neighbouring Thunder Bay-Rainy River and Kenora-Kiiwetinoong were not yet available. Mason said the local and national numbers suggest that, when the election-day polls close next Monday night, voter turnout will be at a greater...
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Energy efficient school in Coquitlam, B.C., gets clean energy designation
The Coast Salish Elementary school in Coquitlam, B.C., has been designated a Clean Energy Champion by BC Hydro for its energy efficiency. The school is equipped with solar panels, a hybrid heat pump, LED lighting and uses technology to track its energy production and consumption. It’s the first “green” school in the Coquitlam School District and is projected to save about 740 tonnes of carbon emissions over 15 years. Frank Pearse, the school’s principal, says energy education is embedded in the student learning experience. BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley says using energy efficiently is the cleanest way to meet growing demand and the utility has been a leader in helping customers reduce their energy bills. BC Hydro says in a statement the schools commitment to energy conservation and sustainability has...
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The pope was a friend, and they talked sports: TRC commissioner remembers Francis
By Fakiha Baig Wilton Littlechild remembers closing his eyes before Pope Francis lead his first mass at the Vatican more than a decade ago. He wanted to clearly hear every word. As the pope’s voice grew louder, Littlechild, a residential school survivor and former commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, says he became still and thought: “I was listening to one of our elders.” Littlechild says it was the first time he saw the head of the Catholic Church as an ally of Indigenous people. “(Francis) was telling some of us traumatized as adults to seek to love … that’s how our elders talk to us. We grew up not knowing love. That stuck with me all the way until today,” Littlechild, 81, said following the pope’s...
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Ohsweken woman charged with impaired driving in Brant County
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-A 35-year-old Ohsweken woman has been charged with impaired driving following a Brant County OPP RIDE program stop. The driver was stopped shortly after 1 a.m. on April 19, 2025, at the intersection of Newport Road and River Road, according to an OPP news release. Officers administered an Approved Screening Device (ASD) test, resulting in a failure. Police said Donna Henhawk was arrested and charged with operation while impaired – blood alcohol concentration 80 plus. She was taken to the Brant County OPP detachment for further tests and later released with conditions. Her vehicle was impounded for seven days. Henhawk is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice on May 1 to answer the charges. Police continue to remind motorists of the dangers of...
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Poilievre to address Assembly of First Nations on clean drinking water, policing
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at a press conference in Vaughan, Ont., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to address the Assembly of First Nations Tuesday to discuss his party’s plan for U.S.-Canada trade, closing the infrastructure gap and ensuring communities have access to clean drinking water and adequate policing. The meeting is part of a series of engagement sessions with First Nations chiefs and federal party leaders ahead of the April 28 election. Green party leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault addressed the AFN earlier in April, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is scheduled to address the organization Wednesday. It’s not clear whether Liberal Leader Mark Carney will participate in the exercise. Poilievre has long said a government led by...
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Candidate Carney draws a crowd in Brantford
By Kimberly De Jong, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brant Beacon Nearly one thousand people attended a meet and greet event with Liberal Leader Mark Carney as he made a stop on his campaign trail to visit Sassy Britches Brewing Co. in Brantford on Friday, April 18, 2025. The leader was there to not only speak to the residents from nearby communities, but to show support for local Liberal candidates like Joy O’Donnell, who is running to be the next MP for Brantford – Brant South – Six Nations; Chuck Phillips, for Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North; David Hilderley for Oxford, and Colin Walsh for Haldimand-Norfolk. Upon his arrival, O’Donnell welcomed Carney in multiple languages including English, French, Mohawk, Cayuga and Ojibwe. “We are standing here in a very historical spot; we all know...
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Federal report due on Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina’s path to recognition as a tribal nation
By Graham Lee Brewer And Allen Breed Members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina are awaiting the release of a Department of the Interior report that, as soon as this week, could light a path for federal recognition as a tribal nation. In January, President Donald Trump issued a memo directing the department to create a plan to “assist the Lumbee Tribe in obtaining full Federal recognition through legislation or other available mechanisms, including the right to receive full Federal benefits.” The memo required the plan to be created within 90 days, a deadline that comes Wednesday. The Lumbee are a state-recognized tribe that has been seeking federal acknowledgment, a distinction that comes with access to resources like health care through Indian Health Services and the ability to create...
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‘Pressure conference’ demands June election in Kanesatake
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) is steadfast in its summer election plans, even as calls grow louder for a June election date to be respected. A flurry of posts on social media accusing Council of ignoring the Custom Electoral Code have not been quelled by its confirmation of an August 2 election date, the first Saturday following four full years in office for the chiefs. Leading the charge has been Amanda Simon, who was MCK’s former certified lands manager until her resignation last year, blaming a dysfunctional culture for her departure. Simon, who confirmed Tuesday that she intends to run for a Council seat in the next election, has characterized the MCK’s failure to begin the process for a June 14 election...
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‘Man of compassion:’ Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors on Pope Francis
By Brittany Hobson It’s been nearly three years since Pope Francis travelled to Canada to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools. But for some Indigenous survivors, memories of the historic day remain fresh in their minds. “His statements of apology still have a lot of impact to a lot of us residential school survivors,” Piita Irniq said in an interview following news of the pope’s death Monday. The pontiff was 88. Irniq was in Iqaluit in July 2022 for the pope’s final stop in Canada as part of what was described as his “penitential pilgrimage.” The former politician was forced to attend a residential school in Chesterfield Inlet, in what is now Nunavut, where he was stripped of his Inuit culture and language and was abused by...
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‘We are Indigenous’: NCC vows to fight back against MUN’s Indigenous verification policy draft, saying it’s “designed to exclude NunatuKavut Inuit”
By Anasophie Vallee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Telegram Memorial University released a draft of the Indigenous verification policy earlier this month for public consultation with the university community, but it isn’t sitting well with the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC). The NCC is calling out the university for putting forth a policy draft that is a “huge failure in Indigenous reconciliation,” saying it is “designed to exclude NunatuKavut Inuit.” When the policy was still in development, NCC President Todd Russell received a call from Memorial’s vice president of Indigenous affairs two years ago informing him that the university would undertake a consultation process with Indigenous groups in the province regarding a verification policy. The problem? “I have never received a worse call than that call on April the 11th, 2023,...
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In Wyoming, the Eastern Shoshone tribe decided to classify buffalo as wildlife. Here is why
By Taylar Stagner, Grist Jason Baldes drove down a dusty, sagebrush highway earlier this month, pulling 11 young buffalo in a trailer from Colorado to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. His blue truck has painted on the side a drawing of buffalo and a calf. As the executive director of the Wind River Buffalo Initiative and Eastern Shoshone tribal member, Baldes has helped grow the number of buffalo on the reservation for the last decade. The latest count: the Northern Arapaho tribe have 97 and the Eastern Shoshone have 118. “Tribes have an important role in restoring buffalo for food sovereignty, culture and nutrition, but also for overall bison recovery,” he said. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and Grist. ___ The Eastern...
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‘I won’t be the last’: Tréchelle Bunn elected as first female chief of Dakota nation
By Brittany Hobson Tréchelle Bunn has had a whirlwind month. She wrapped up her two-year tenure as one of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization youth chiefs, finished her second year of law school at the University of Manitoba and received an Indspire award for her work in Indigenous communities at a ceremony in Vancouver. Then an election held the day Bunn returned to Manitoba from B.C. put the young woman in the history books. On April 10, Bunn was voted in as chief of Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation, marking the first time the community located near the Saskatchewan boundary has elected a female leader. At age 25, Bunn is also the youngest person elected as chief in her community and is believed to be one of the youngest sitting chiefs in...
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Pope Francis apologized for residential schools on historic Canadian visit
By Brittany Hobson On a warm July day in 2022, thousands of dignitaries, Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors travelled from across Canada to powwow grounds in central Alberta. For some, the journey took days. For others, decades. They had all come to hear Pope Francis apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools. Francis died Monday at the Vatican. He was 88. It was on the stage at Maskwacis, Alta., where Francis made history. He said he was sorry and ashamed for abuses committed by some members of the Catholic Church as well as for the cultural destruction and forced assimilation that culminated in the schools. “I’m sorry,” Francis said in Spanish. “I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples.”...
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Poilievre vows not to impose a home equity tax as Liberals, NDP talk health care
By Craig Lord Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is claiming the Liberals will impose a tax on Canadians’ home equity if they’re re-elected as the federal election campaign enters its final week. The last day of advance voting in the general election saw federal leaders scattered across the country, pitching plans on homebuilding and health care. Poilievre was in Toronto Monday afternoon speaking to an audience with CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. He was asked whether he would put any taxes on equity saved in Canadians’ homes. “We will never allow a tax on home equity. Period. Full stop. Not going to happen,” he said. Currently, Canadians are exempt from paying capital gains tax on the sales of their primary residences, allowing those who own their homes to keep...
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Hudson’s Bay artifacts won’t be an easy buy for cash-strapped institutions: experts
By Tara Deschamps Museums, galleries and other archival institutions will likely need some help, if they want to buy Hudson’s Bay art or artifacts. Historians say most public organizations don’t have the kind of cash they’d need to easily purchase items belonging to the faltering, 355-year-old company. “The reality is archival institutions in Canada do not have money,” said Cody Groat, an assistant processor of history and Indigenous studies at Western University in London, Ont. “There’s chronic underfunding for cultural heritage across the country. It’s existed for many years.” Groat’s remarks come on the heels of news last week that Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company, will ask a court on Thursday for permission to auction off its 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts. The fur-trading-business-turned-department-store chain has...
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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Extends Condolences on the Passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis
(April 21, 2025 – Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa) – National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak issued the following statement regarding the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis. “On behalf of the Assembly of First Nations, we extend our deepest condolences to the global community grieving this loss,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “While the Catholic Church has a legacy of harm against First Nations, we acknowledge the progress made in recent years, largely due to Pope Francis’ efforts. He listened to us and heard us. He invited us to the Vatican and apologized. It was monumental in our history with the Catholic church.” “First Nations people still struggle with the relationship with the Catholic Church for good reason. We endured so much in the Indian Residential School era. His Holiness Pope...
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Canadians remember Pope Francis for historic apology for residential schools
By Nicole Thompson Pope Francis will be remembered by Canadian Catholics as a progressive leader whose approach to the papacy helped usher in a new era of Indigenous relations and make the church more responsive to its rank and file. The Vatican says the pontiff died Monday at age 88. Francis was the global leader of Canada’s most popular organized religion. Nearly 11 million Canadians identified as Catholic in the 2021 census, second only to those without a religious affiliation. His most lasting impact in Canada is likely to be his response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action: that he apologize for the legacy of residential schools on Canadian soil. Prime Minister Mark Carney, a practising Catholic, called the 2022 apology an “important step of...
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Community residents welcomed to take survey
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Fort William First Nation residents are being encouraged to take part in a regional health survey developed and overseen by Indigenous officials. The survey, which is open to people who live in the community, is sponsored by the First Nation Information Governance Centre in southern Ontario, and implemented by the Chiefs of Ontario. “Data collected from relatively few surveys can provide an overall picture of what’s happening in the province (when) aggregated with other participating First Nation communities,” a Fort William First Nation project bulletin said. The survey takes about 40 minutes to complete. It’s being made available April 24-25. Those who complete the survey receive a $50 gift card, the bulletin said. Respondents should book an appoint with FWFN’s health...
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Where do whale sharks mate? The search to learn where the magic happens for the world’s biggest fish
By Maria Cheng JAMESTOWN, St. Helena (AP) — Whale sharks shouldn’t be hard for scientists to find. They are enormous — they are the biggest fish in the sea and perhaps the biggest fish to have ever lived. They are found in warm oceans all around the world. By shark standards, they are slow swimmers. But they somehow manage to also be very private: Scientists don’t know where they mate, and they’ve never observed it before. They do finally have some clues, though. Scientists suspect the magic may be happening in the waters around St. Helena, a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean where Napoleon Bonaparte was once exiled and died. It’s the only place in the world where adult male and female whale sharks are known to...
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