NLL’s New York team to move to Ottawa and be renamed Black Bears starting next season
Ottawa has a new professional sports team coming to town. The National Lacrosse League is returning to the nation’s capital, with the New York Riptide moving north of the border starting next season. The team will be named the Ottawa Black Bears and will play out of the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Senators. NLL Commissioner Brett Frood made the announcement Wednesday. New York is seventh among 15 NLL teams this season with a 5-5 record. The Black Bears will be the sixth Canadian team in the league, joining Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Saskatchewan and Calgary. The Ottawa Rebel played in the NLL from 2001 to 2003 before becoming inactive. The franchise moved to Edmonton in 2005 and currently plays in Saskatoon....
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Six Nations holds Memorial Walk for murdered and missing
By Lisa Iesse Writer Children and men lead a march for the third annual MMIWGMB2S+ Valentine’s Day Memorial Walk in downtown Ohsweken. Community members from across Six Nations, Mississaugas of the Credit (MSFN) and surrounding areas gather for the annual march in honour of the Missing and Murdered. After the Thanksgiving Address children and men from the community sounded the call for change with women and Two-Spirit persons, singing a Warrior song. The streets swim with marchers dressed from head to toe in red and rainbow colors, in ribbon skirts, shirts and jackets. They move quickly from Ganohkwasra down Chiefswood Road to 4th Line, to the centre of Ohsweken, and into Veterans Park. In Veteran’s Memorial Park, the hands of community members continue to hold up framed photographs and images...
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The Chapel Royal of the Mohawks has its own Coat of Arms
By Lynda Powless Editor It will no longer be the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks. The celebrated and noted chapel along the Grand River will soon become the Chapel Royal of the Mohawks and be adorned with its own Royal Coat of Arms. Thanks to the inquisitive nature of Barry Hill, chairman of the Six Nations Royal Chapel of the Mohawks board the chapel will be switching names and displaying its own Royal Coat of Arms. The coat of arms, the ony one of its kind, will depict a pine tree representing the Haudenosaunee Great Tree of Peace and its all going to happen in a big affair being planned for Sept., 29th. “Yes, we are working to make it a big thing,” Hill joked while explaining the Six Nations...
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CMHC attempting to download programs without consulting
Six Nations may find itself administering programs previously run by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) soon…but without the funds. In a report to Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) meeting Feb., 13th councillor Helen Miller, who sits on the Chief’s of Ontario Committee on Housing and Infrastructure meeting said she and the committee were “blindsided” by the transfer of six CMHC On-Reserve Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) programs to First Nations Housing Departments across Canada. “We were kind of blindsided, I guess you could say,” she said. “This is a big thing,everyone on the committee should have been told.” Miller said she later found out that Six Nations Housing knew about the transfer and that 100 per cent of the funding for those six programs is also being transferred,...
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SN Elected Council seeking public help in dumping incident
Illegal dumping continues on Six Nations and Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is asking the community to help find the culprit. Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri Lyn Hill says a large quantity of construction material and an animal carcass was dumped near the Oneida Business Park and she believes it came from off-reserve. “We don’t know how long ago this dumping occurred, but we’re confident the waste is coming from off-reserve as there are currently no large construction projects taking place that would produce this amount of waste,” she said. Hill announced the illegal dumping during the Chief’s update at the General Council meeting on February 13 and said the large amount of material was found on the Oneida Business Park’s property on February 9, but they don’t know exactly...
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Rare solar eclipse coming, students will be off school
All Six Nations and area schools will be closed for the coming rare total solar eclipse. Six Nations schools will be closed for the day along with other school boards, including the Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB) and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB). Students will be home when the partial solar eclipses and lunar eclipses happen April 8th. NASA’s website says partial solar eclipses and lunar eclipses are not unusual. They happen a few times a year, but a total solar eclipse is rare. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between the earth and sun. A BHNCDSB statement says their schools will be closed for safety. “We understand that this change might cause some inconvenience; however, this decision is in the best interest...
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Federal Additions to Reserve policy changing, time for Six Nations to have own system to add lands
The federal government is ramping up its timeline for changes to the Additions to Reserve Process. Councillor Helen Miller is once again urging Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) to consider creating its own system for adding land to the reserve to ensure lands purchased don’t go back into the federal government’s coffers. “We get it back to give it to the federal government,” she said. “Why would we go buy land and give it back to the federal government? We don’t even own it.” Miller attended a meeting with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) recently and gave a report to council at the general Council meeting on February 13 and said she believes Six Nations needs to begin the process of setting up it’s own land registry system to circumnavigate ISC’s...
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Six Nations Police violent crime stats show increase
By Lisa Iesse Writer Six Nations Police (SNP) 2023 crime stats show violent crimes are on the increase. Police stats show assaults alone increased from 142 in 2022 to 154 last year but more poignantly the amount of charges skyrocketted from 27 charges in 2022 to 138 assault assault charges in 2023 that’s an increase of 91 charges. Data collected in 2022 and 2023 by SNP show an increase in calls for service to police and an increase in charges for violent crimes. In 2022 SNP received 4722 calls for service but in 2023 the number of calls for service jumped to 5,215, confirmed Jamie Smith of SNP. So far this year (2024) SNP has received about 600 calls for service, added Smith. Early figures for 2023 released by SNP...
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MCFN remember the lives of those lost to violence
By Lisa Iesse Writer MISSISSAUGAS OF THE CREDIT FIRST NATION – Trailblazers of the MMIWG2SBM movement sound the call for justice as they celebrate the lives of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit persons, boys and men taken far too soon. By the podium inside the Mississaugas of the Credit (MCFN) community centre stand photos of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunties. There’s Patricia Carpenter, Elaine LaForme and a young woman named Diane holding her newborn baby. Patricia Carpenter’s family, who are from the Alderville First Nation, join Elaine LaForme’s family and the MCFN community. “My grandmother tirelessly dedicated her life to advocacy and bringing awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous girls and women and also thus went on to include boys and Two-Spirit persons,” Shauna Kechego-Nichols, who is Patricia Carpenter’s niece, tells...
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Six Nations Police on the frontline
Six Nation’s Police annual report has hit the streets and with it comes, not an unexpected result, but a frightening one. Crime is not just on the increase, but violent crime is. First Nation communities are no stranger to violent crime. Statistics have shown us that. We know Indigenous people, in particular women, are more likely to be victims of crime . And for the first time the horror of a mass murder entered a First Nations community with the greatest single loss of life on September 4, 2022, when Myles Sanderson killed 11 and injured 18 people in a mass stabbing at 13 locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada. A loss that has affected communities nation wide spurring leaders to revisit their own...
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Grand River Attack prepping for new season with some new opponents
By Sam Laskaris Writer The brass of the Grand River Attack is busily making plans for what it hopes will be a successful 2024 campaign. It remains to be seen how the Attack, traditionally a powerhouse in the Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL), will fare in its upcoming season. But members of the local squad know they will be facing some new opponents this year. WMSL officials announced on Monday that the league has expanded and will feature two new entrants this year, the Kingston Cannons and the Peterborough Lakers. Nine clubs had participated in the WMSL season in 2023. But it has yet to be determined whether the circuit will include 11 or 12 teams this year. The Toronto Stars, who dropped out of the loop prior to the...
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Tomahawks’ 2024 roster to begin taking shape
By Sam Laskaris Writer Head coach Jay Smith will start getting a sense what the Six Nations Tomahawks’ lineup for the coming season will look like as early as this Friday. The Tomahawks, a Senior C men’s lacrosse squad, are the defending provincial champions, having won the Senior Series Lacrosse (SSL) title this past August. The Six Nations club will stage its first tryout of the year this Friday, Feb. 23, from 6-8 p.m. at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). Two other tryout sessions have also been announced. They will be this Saturday, Feb. 24, from 10:30 am until noon, also at the ILA. And another session will be staged this coming Monday, Feb. 26, from 9:30 p.m. until 11 p.m., again at the ILA. “After that, I start making...
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Snipers denied opportunity to rack up third straight victory
By Sam Laskaris Writer If they were a bit more disciplined or if they had capitalized on their powerplay opportunities, the Six Nations Snipers could be on a three-game winning streak right now. Instead, the local Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) squad was unable to register its third consecutive W. The Snipers were downed 13-11 by the Brampton Express this past Saturday in a match held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) in Six Nations. The Snipers, who had managed back-to-back victories after losing their first seven matches this season, appeared they might pick up another win on Saturday. The Six Nations side held a slim 10-9 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the fourth and final quarter of their contest versus the Express. But the Brampton club...
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Six Nations Police charge four in fentanyl trafficking investigation
Four Ohsweken residents are facing trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine and drug possession charges after Six Nations Police (SNP) executed a search warrant Friday, Feb., 15 on a Fifth Line Road home and mobile trailer. SNP executed two Section 11 Controlled Drugs & Substances Act search warrants at the 5th Line Road residence and mobile trailer where four adults were arrested without incident, police said. Two women, ages 34 and 58, and two men, 38 and 35 are facing a series of trafficking and drug related charges. Three of the accused were remanded in custody pending formal bail hearings, the 35-year-old man was released via a Form 10 Undertaking with a future court date. The charges came as a Six Nations Police Fentanyl trafficking investigation came to a conclusion. On February...
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3 Nolans hype up players at tournament
By Amanda Rabski-McColl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Attending hockey tournaments brings a sense of nostalgia to the Nolan family. Ted Nolan and his sons, Brandon and Jordan, attended the Mushkegowuk Cup on Saturday, Feb. 17, hopping from arena to arena, meeting with players and fans, and signing autographs, but the atmosphere is one they’re all very familiar with. “This is where it all started for myself,” said Ted Nolan. “If they have half the fun I had at that age, they must be having a good time.” Hockey was a big part of Ted Nolan’s life growing up in Garden River First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. That love of the game saw him playing for the Greyhounds, then going to the NHL as a player, and later as...
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Event provides comfort and space for residential school survivors
By Amanda Rabski-McColl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Residential school survivors gathered together to support one another and share this week. Hosted by Moose Cree First Nation and Kashechewan First Nation, a survivors’ summit was held from Tuesday, Feb 13 to Thursday, Feb. 15 in Timmins, bringing together residential school survivors from northern Ontario and Quebec. “We have initiatives in both communities because both communities have survivors at Horden Hall,” said elder Stella Schimmens, who is from Moose Cree First Nation. “We have three generations of people who went to the school.” Many attendees at this week’s conference are survivors of Bishop Horden Hall, an Anglican residential school in Moose Factory. Indigenous children were sent there from 1906 to 1976. The events focused on giving survivors a chance to share their...
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Nearly $1 million federal funding boosts Indigenous entrepreneurs on Six Nations, Mississaugas of the Credit
By J.P. Antonacci Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A not-for-profit organization that gives seed money to budding Indigenous entrepreneurs got a $924,000 boost from the federal government on Tuesday. Ohsweken-based Two Rivers Community Development Centre will use the money from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) to offer skills training workshops and a youth entrepreneurship program, and host events promoting Indigenous businesses in Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit. The various projects will “build a generation of Indigenous business leaders” while creating up to 60 jobs, said Two Rivers CEO David Vince. The money is part of $5.4 million from FedDev Ontario earmarked for five Indigenous-led projects, including a new greenhouse producing fish and vegetables in Curve Lake First Nation and a...
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First Nations uneasy chronic wasting disease will weaken food security
By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Knowledge keeper and hunter Robin Louie is worried. Worried his people’s food security, traditional knowledge and culture will suffer yet another hit with the dreaded arrival of chronic wasting disease in their territory in the southern Kootenays. “It’s a serious issue,” said Louie, an executive with the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which includes four First Nations. “Our nations generally eat a lot of wild game.” On Tuesday, B.C. launched its first set of new rules to try to stem the spread of CWD, also dubbed the zombie deer disease, after recently confirming two deer south of Cranbrook tested positive. The fatal neurological disease has no cure and affects cervids like moose, deer, elk and caribou and is almost impossible to eliminate once it’s established...
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B.C. New Democrat government makes pledges to homebuyers, renters, in throne speech
By Dirk Meissner THE CANADIAN PRESS VICTORIA- British Columbia’s New Democrat government is pledging more homes for first-time buyers and eviction protection for renters in a throne speech that promises affordability measures in this week’s budget. The throne speech, read in the legislature by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin on Tuesday said the government is putting forward a vision where everyone can get ahead and no one is left behind. “If we work together, this will be a place where everyone can build a good life, whether you live in a city, town, rural or First Nations community,” said Austin. The speech marked the start of the spring legislative session and comes ahead of the provincial budget on Thursday which is less than nine months from the provincial election. Austin told the legislature...
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