SNEC navigating through audit and potential $4.1 million defict
By Lynda Powless Editor Some members of Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) are questioning where it’s dollars are coming from and how they are going to pay any potential deficit and what the administrative” modernization” cost after learning they will be running a $4.1 million deficit. SNEC told its finance director it wants to see a list of finance agreements and wants to know how departments will make up for short falls and new employee salaries. Six Nations administration has grown to 980 employees. Of that 980, 681 employees are Six Nations band members, 68 are from other First Nation communities and 231 are non-Indigenous staff. The increase came under then CEO Darrin Jamieson who overhauled the band administration with a massive “modernization” taking a leave of absence just as the...
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Six Nations Police shut down drug trafficking funnel with arrests
Six Nations Police concluded a 6-month drug trafficking investigation resulting in search warrant executions on a vehicle and Selkirk residence. On February 8, 2024, Six Nations Police executed two Section 11 Controlled Drugs & Substances Act search warrants for one vehicle and a residence onMelville Lane in Selkirk, ON. Three adults were arrested without incident. As aresult, police seized a large quantity of drugs which include Oxycodone, Hydromorphone, Fentanyl transdermal patches, Clonazepam, Dilaudid andPsilocybin with a street value of approximately $35,000. In addition, police seized bulk currency, prohibited weapons, cell phones and a motor vehicle. As a result of the investigation, Wayne Richard Ireland, 44, of Selkirk, ON, has been charged with the following criminal offences: Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking: Hydromorphone Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking: Fentanyl...
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Six Nations Elected Council against Metis governance bid
Six Nations is pushing back against the Metis Nation of Ontario’s bid for self-governance through Bill C-53, which could also grant the Metis land. On January 26 the federal government announced $12.8 million for New Indigenous-Led Natural Climate Solutions, within the announcement it granted the Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) $1.3 million from Environment and Climate Change Canada to “aquire land for conservation and restoration.” Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri Lyn Hill said the MNO acquiring land was “concerning” during her update at the Political Liaison meeting on February 12. “This is a direct example, Canada said Bill C-53 would have no impact on First Nations Treaty and constitutionally protected rights. In Ontario the MNO has clear intentions to claim land,” Hill said The bill is set to go back...
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Housing buys furnaces from outside contractors for elders unit
As the temperatures plummet Six Nations is working toward ensuring elders stay warm. Six Nations Elected Council approved funds to purchase two additional new furnaces for the elders complex during its General Finance meeting on January 15th. SNEC’s housing department had already budgeted for seven new furnaces for the elder complex at 28 Bicentennial Road, but discovered an additional two furnaces were required this year. Lily-Anne Mt. Pleasant, director of housing said the purchase of seven new furnaces at a cost of $29,000 already approved, but she requires two more at an additional cost of $7,536. The funds will come from housing’s repairs reserve fund, but Mt. Pleasant needs SNEC’s approval to use the reserves. The total cost of the nine furnaces will come to $35,536. Councillor Dayle Bomberry asked...
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BATTLE OF THE POT HOLES: Six Nations roads versus the potholes
By Lisa Iesse Writer Pothole season came early. With warming temperatures the annual dodge, the pothole season hit early at Six Nations. Since January, drivers have been dodging potholes that are keeping the Six Nations Public Works team in a “constant battle” to fill the gaps. The potholes come in all shapes and sizes. Sections of road filled with large potholes, resembling the cratered landscape of the moon, have also been spotted on community roads. Ken Hess, a truck driver with Six Nations Public Works, was on a mission repairing some of the potholes near 7th Line and Cayuga Road in the last days of January. Hess said he lost count of how many holes the Public Works department has filled so far but said it numbers in the thousands....
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Is Six Nations Elected Council really there…?
The newly elected Six Nations Elected Council is now into its third month and still spending the majority of its time in “training” and closed meetings not to mention remaining silent most of the time. And we get to watch them sitting in meetings, quiet, allowing issues to go through without uttering a word. It’s a silence that needs to stop. As a new council its a prime time to evaluate whether or not the “modernization” of the band’s administration instituted by CEO Darren Jamieson is in fact working. Jamieson spent almost his entire tenure at the band, through COVID and now, working on implementing the “modernization” and now before it becomes too deeply embedded into the operations its time to evaluate if in fact it works for an Indigenous...
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Six Nations Elected council hands out awards
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) handed out a number of awards Saturday honouring community members for their work and volunterism. SNEC held its Annual Awards Banquet at The Gathering Place Saturday (Feb., 10), honouring a retired police chief, teacher and others their outstanding contributions to the community. The Wilma General Memorial Award is presented annually to a Six Nations community member(s) who embodies the spirit of volunteerism and works tirelessly for the betterment of families in the community. This year’s recipients were Lana Henhawk and Dorothy Russell-Patterson. Russell-Patterson as well as a strong community volunteer also has worked as the Six Nations Election Officer. SNEC awarded this year’s Community Treasurers awards to Natasha Longboat and Glenn Lickers. The award goes to individuals have shown exceptional stewardship in and around the...
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SN Ontario Works trying to be more accessible
Six Nations Ontario Works department is working to make assistance and employment more accessible while also looking into better options for the future. Sandy Porter, director of Ontario Works at Six Nations gave his monthly report to Six Nations Elected Council at its Political Liaison meeting on February 12 and said 589 members received Ontario Works in December about 300 of those single people, which is slightly more than months past, but he’s not concerned about the small rise. He’s working toward the future as clients and assistance in general. “When I look back there’s not a lot of change from month to month,” he said. “I’m looking at different parts of, or what it means to deliver social assistance within the 65 agreement, so what we have to do,...
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Six Nations teens to compete at lacrosse tournament in California
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations will be well represented at a prestigious box lacrosse tournament that will begin this Saturday in California. The recently formed Haudenosaunee Jr. Selects Women’s Lacrosse program has entered two teams in the United States Box Lacrosse Winter Nationals, a tournament also known as USBOXLA. The event, which is being held in the city of Irvine, commences Saturday and continues until Monday. The Haudenosaunee program is entering a squad in the five-team girls’ high school division. This grouping is for players born between 2005-2007. Six Nations members that will compete on this club are Sofia Smith, Kallyn Martin, Teegan Jonathan, Kendyl Pollack and Rayleigh Kicksnoway. The Haudenosaunee Jr. Selects will also have a club in the girls’ junior varsity category, for those born between 2008-2010....
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Six Nations boxer captures Silver Gloves national championship
By Sam Laskaris Writer She didn’t have much competition. But Beth Smoke, a Six Nations member who lives in Sanborn, N.Y., is now a two-time American national boxing champion. Smoke, who is 13, took top honours in the girls’ intermediate heavyweight category, at the 2024 Silver Gloves National Championship, which concluded on Feb. 3 in the Missouri city of Independence. The intermediate division is for those aged 13 and 14. And those in the heavyweight grouping must weigh 176 pounds or over. Smoke had to beat just one other competitor, from Arkansas, to claim the national title. The majority of participants at the national meet had to qualify to take part. But there were no other intermediate heavyweight entrants at Smoke’s western New York local competition or her regional qualifier,...
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Snipers beat defending league champions for their first victory of the season
By Sam Laskaris Writer It took a lot longer than what they would have preferred. But the Six Nations Snipers finally managed to win an Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) game this season. The Snipers registered their first W of the current campaign this past Saturday when they downed the Toronto Monarchs, the defending league champs, 13-8 in a match held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The Six Nations squad had lost its first seven outings this season. Snipers’ head coach Darcy Powless had an inkling that something positive would happen for his charges early on Saturday. “Maybe it was because we were playing at home again,” said Powless, who also doubles as the Snipers’ general manager. “It just seemed like a happy group of guys in the dressing room...
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Unique vendors at 64th annual All Native Basketball Tournament
By Seth Forward, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter PRINCE RUPERT- For vendors at the All Native Basketball Tournament, the week-long tournament is about more than just selling products. Some have been coming for decades, while others are operating a stand for the first time in 2024. But all say the positive energy and strong camaraderie is what sets this tournament apart. Marlene Smith has made the annual trip to Prince Rupert from the Kitseguecla First Nation near Hazelton for 30 years now, selling Indigenous jewellery. Her favourite aspect of the tournament is reconnecting with old friends, though after the pandemic, many have not made it back. “I used to meet all my old friends here before, and most of them passed away due to COVID,’’ Smith said. “Most of them are...
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Metis speedskater hopes to represent Canada at 2026 Winter Olympics
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Alison Desmarais aspires to become an Olympian. The Metis Nation of Alberta member competes with the Canadian national NextGen (developmental) team in long track speedskating.She’s in her second season and trains in Calgary. Desmarais was a member of the Canadian national NextGen(developmental) short track squad from 2018 to 2020, but that group trains in Montreal. “I don’t speak French so the move to Montreal was really hard for me. And after a year I just decided I wanted to move back to Calgary,’’ she said. She was halfway through her studies at the University of Calgary, Desmarais explained, so it made sense to move back to western Canada. Desmarais, who is 26, believes she is making giant strides in long track speedskating, which...
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Indigenous leaders laud beautiful, happy Supreme Court ruling on child welfare jurisdiction
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the federal government was within its constitutional right to pass jurisdiction to Indigenous communities for the care of their children and families through a federal statute. “I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried about (the Feb. 9 judgement) all week. I made sure we did ceremony this week to make sure that it went in our favour,” said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. In a 92-page unanimous decision penned by the entire panel of eight Supreme Court justices, which included Odanak First Nation member Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin, Canada’s highest court said C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families, “as a whole is constitutionally...
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First Nations group criticizes federal fish policies, conflict of interest in B.C.
OTTAWA-An Indigenous-led group is criticizing what it says is the “gross mismanagement” of aquaculture in British Columbia by the Fisheries Department, as it calls for a separation of its regulatory and promotional responsibilities. The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance says the department is mired in conflict of interest stemming from its dual role, which the group’s chairman Bob Chamberlin described as like “marking your own homework.” Chamberlin says the group wants the department to stick to its primary obligation of looking after the environment and fisheries, and to implement “a truly independent” scientific body to help inform government decisions affecting marine life in B.C. A spokeswoman for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says in a statement that scientific integrity guides and shapes how it generates advice to inform decision...
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Fisheries minister leaning toward suspending this year’s Maritime baby eel fishery
HALIFAX- Canada’s fisheries minister says she wants to shut down this year’s lucrative baby eel fishery with only weeks to go before the season opens in the Maritimes. But Diane Lebouthillier says she won’t make a final decision until she consults with licence holders and First Nations. Lebouthillier sent a letter today to commercial fishers saying the fishery should be shut down because illegal fishing in the past four years has led to a growing pattern of harassment, threats and violence on rivers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. As well, the letter says the poaching is jeopardizing conservation measures aimed at saving the threatened species. The minster says these problems can be solved with new regulations covering Indigenous fishers, licensing, exporting and the tracking of legally caught baby eels,...
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY Valentine’s Day And The Power Of Love
By Xavier Kataquapit www.underthenorthernsky.com We celebrate Valentines Day with wishes for those we are romantically interested in or in general for good greetings to family and friends. However, the history of this day which is celebrated on February 14 is very different. Everyone grows up with the annual traditions that their parents followed without question. It is more strange to follow long standing European traditions when you come from an Indigenous background. We simply followed traditions like Valentine’s Day like the rest of the Canada because we were told so and no one ever wondered why. Early on it was viewed as a Christian holy day but over the past few generations it seems to have lost it’s Christian significance. My parents were born in the James Bay wilderness and...
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Tory MP says he’ll apologize to First Nation for ‘grossly disrespectful’ comments
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- A Conservative MP says he’ll apologize after facing demands that he retract comments he made last week about First Nations burning down water treatment plants because they’re frustrated with the Liberals. The office of Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh said Monday he has offered to meet with the chief of Piapot First Nation, along with elders, and tour the community. Chief Mark Fox issued a statement on the weekend saying they rejected Waugh’s comments as “grossly disrespectful,” calling for a formal apology and retraction of his “baseless claims.” Waugh made the comments during debate on a First Nations water bill last week, leading to swift pushback from First Nations and the minister of Indigenous services. “In my home province of Saskatchewan, I have seen...
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Less than one month left to submit claim for drinking water compensation
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter With less than one month left for claims to be submitted for compensation under the First Nations Drinking Water Class Action Settlement, class counsel Darian Baskatawang says that as of the end of January, close to 90 per cent of the anticipated 160,000 claims had been received. “It’s important to note that the class size is an estimation,” said Baskatawang, associate with Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP. “Our estimate of 160,000 individual class members was based on the best actuarial data at the time.” Baskatawang says proactive measures, including a communications campaign and inclusion of band council confirmation lists, has allowed them to reach 140,000 claimants as of Jan. 31. A joint order issued February 2023 by the Federal Court and the Manitoba Court of...
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