2019 Year in Review
January 2nd, 2019 Newly elected mayors of Branford, Kevin Davis, and Brant County, David Bailey, both tell Turtle Island News that re-establishing the relationship with the Six Nations is a priority of theirs. January 9th, 2019 Logan Robert Larouche is the first Six Nations baby of 2019 after being born on January 4th to parents Bryce Larouche and Kalena Rayne Burning. January 16th, 2019 The Day of Action sees the Six Nations Mens’ Fire lead a one-day shutdown of Cockshutt Road in support of B.C.’s Wet’suwet’en while other Haudenosaunee across Ontario hold slowdowns on major highways. January 23rd, 2019 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is met by Wet’suwet’en supporters who blocked his entry to Brock University for a town hall meeting. January 30th, 2019 The proposed Six Nations Cannabis Control Law...
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Facing 2020 with resilency
You know the old saying when times get tough, the tough…well they look to the new year with hope. 2019 has been both a time to celebrate and a tumultuous time for Indigenous people. Indigenous people worldwide celebrated when the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages. Then paused as Canada stalled on bringing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) into law. In November B.C. showed Ottawa how it’s done by becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to formally enshrine the … UNDRIP into law. In July Prime Minister Trudeau bought a pipeline, in December the British media outlet The Guardian reported the RCMP’s strategy to remove First Nations protesters from Trans- Canada’s $40 billion liquefied natural gas project in January was to...
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Community Members Affected by LifeLabs Hack
Six Nations community members are part of the 15 million customers whose data may have been breached from LifeLabs, a Canadian laboratory testing company. The Elected Council reports that some of the health service departments on the Six Nations partner with LifeLabs for diagnostic testing of patients and so community members information may be affected by the breach. According to the LifeLabs investigation into the incident the information that was breached includes patient names, addresses, birth dates, logins, passwords, health card numbers and lab results. As Canada’s largest community lab, LifeLabs does a variety of testing from diagnostic tests, naturopathic tests and genetics tests. LifeLabs report that the majority of the customers affected were located in B.C. and Ontario with 85,000 customers from 2016 and earlier located in Ontario. In...
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Modern annuity a game-changer for First Nation families
By Sheilla Jones and Sheila North The origin of a potentially groundbreaking step toward meaningful reconciliation between Canada’s first people and settlers can be laid at the feet of Métis leader Louis Riel. Literally. In 1994, Métis activist Jean Allard had lots of time to think after chaining himself to the controversial “tortured” statue of Riel to protest its removal from the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature. As a former Indian Affairs (IA) project manager, who was a member of the legislature in Premier Ed Schreyer’s NDP government, he knew first-hand how ordinary First Nations (FN) people were being crushed under the weight of an enormous Indian Affairs bureaucracy. As Allard sat in chains at the feet of Riel, he fretted about the damage done to communities by the battle...
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Failing ice cellars signal change in Alaska
By Rachel D’Oro THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANCHORAGE, Alaska – For generations, people in Alaska’s far-north villages have relied on hand-built ice cellars dug deep into the permafrost to age their whale and walrus meat to perfection and keep it cold throughout the year. Scores of the naturally refrigerated food caches lie beneath these largely Inupiat communities, where many rely on hunting and fishing to feed their families. The ice cellars range from small arctic root cellars to spacious, wood-lined chambers, some topped with sheds. Now, a growing number of these underground cellars are being rendered unreliable as global warming and other modern factors force changes to an ancient way of life. Some whaling villages are working to adapt as more cellars, some stocked with tons of subsistence food, turn up...
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Sports 2019 Year in Review
January 9: Wadatawi Bomberry started the scoring in her debut appearance for the Six Nations Lady Snipers. January 16: Six Nations Midget Rep team wins International Silver Stick Championship, becoming the first ever First Nations team to ever win the trophy. January 23: Georgia Swarm lacrosse team shows support for Lyle Thompson by donning a ponytail on the back of their warm up shirts and helmets after racist remarks were made from former Philadelphia Wings broadcaster. January 30: The Six Nations Rebels lacrosse team held their first tryouts of the season under first year coach Dean Hill. February 6: Theo Fleury was inspired by the “Me Too” movement and told his story to a crowd at the Gathering Place on the Grand. February 13: The Credit First Nation Hockey...
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Manitoba Mounties investigating death of man reported missing as homicide
NEEPAWA, Man.- Mounties say they are investigating the homicide of a man who had been reported missing. A body was found Tuesday in the rural municipality of Rosedale, about 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. RCMP say the man has been identified as 32-year-old Cody Mousseau from Sandy Bay First Nation. Mousseau was reported missing on Dec. 8, 2019. Police say it’s believed that he was last seen in Sandy Bay between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1. RCMP say they are investigating the death as a homicide and are working with the Manitoba First Nations Police Service. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2019....
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Kelly Fraser, who sang popular Rihanna cover in Inuktitut, dies at 26
Kelly Fraser arrives on the red carpet at the Juno Awards in Vancouver, Sunday, March, 25, 2018. Inuk singer Fraser, whose popular YouTube cover of Rihanna helped inspire a Juno-nominated career of songwriting and activism, has died at 26. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck By David Friend THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO- Inuk singer-songwriter Kelly Fraser rose to popularity on YouTube with her cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” but those who knew her say the Juno-nominated musician’s dreams of global fame were equalled by her determination to inspire other Indigenous youth. The independent pop musician, who lived in Winnipeg, died earlier this week at 26, according to friends. The cause of her death has not been released. Fraser was an ardent supporter of the Indigenous music community, and took every opportunity to amplify...
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Secrecy of police board hearing in Thunder Bay, Ont., must be reconsidered
By Colin Perkel THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO- A retired judge will have to decide anew whether to keep secret a hearing that will decide if police officers should face disciplinary proceedings for their investigation into the death of an Indigenous man, Ontario’s top court ruled on Friday. The appeal raises important questions about the openness of police board hearings as guaranteed by the charter, the Court of Appeal said in its decision. The case arose in October 2015, when the body of Stacy DeBungee, 41, was found in the McIntyre River in Thunder Bay, Ont. Within hours, the Thunder Bay Police Service said his death was not suspicious and closed its investigation. DeBungee’s brother and the chief of the Rainy River **>First Nations<** complained to the province’s police oversight agency,...
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‘If we don’t, who is?’ Adventurers protect winter playground as climate changes
Professional adventurer Greg Hill skis at Rogers Pass in an undated handout image. Hill was skiing in Pakistan five years ago, when he got caught in an avalanche and broke his leg.As he healed, he reflected on what legacy he would have left behind had he died.Anthony Bonello / THE CANADIAN PRESS THE CANADIAN PRESS BANFF, Alta.- Professional adventurer Greg Hill was skiing in Pakistan five years ago, when he got caught in an avalanche and broke his leg. As he healed, he reflected on what legacy he would have left behind had he died. Hill had climbed hundreds of mountains, skied millions of vertical feet and documented many of his adventures in Canada, South America, Norway and Pakistan. “It was awesome, I was encouraging people to push deeper,” Hill said in...
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Six Nations Community Members Election Concerns Unanswered
By Justin Lethbridge Writer A presentation on the concerns surrounding the 58th General Election was shut down by Six Nations Elected Chief Mark Hill last Tuesday after discussions between community members and the Elected Council grew heated. Concerns with the Election, the Election Code and Chief Electoral Polling Officer were back on the General Council agenda for a third time in the past month. The issue has been moved back twice as council wanted more time for due diligence in order to make a thorough report but Tuesday night that report amounted to moving discussions to a community meeting. “What we have decided on,” Elected Chief Hill said, “is that, again, going back to the community and a committee that we want to strike for the new year to look...
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Jody Wilson Raybould chosen Canada’s newsmaker of the year
By Joan Bryden THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- The SNC-Lavalin affair cost Justin Trudeau two cabinet ministers, his most trusted aide, the top federal public servant and possibly a second majority mandate; and now the woman at the centre of it all, Jody Wilson-Raybould, is the 2019 Newsmaker of the Year. The former justice minister was the runaway choice of news editors across the country surveyed by The Canadian Press. Prime Minister Trudeau, whose Liberal government was reduced to a minority in the Oct. 21 election, polled a distant second. “Jody Wilson-Raybould made us think about governance and fairness and loyalty and how all of those things play out every day behind the scenes on Parliament Hill,’’ said Toronto Star senior editor Janet Hurley. “She lifted the curtain and let us...
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‘Accountability achieved’ in SNC Lavalin affair, Wilson Raybould says
OTTAWA-Jody Wilson-Raybould says the justice system did its work, the rule of law is being upheld and it is time for SNC-Lavalin to look to its future. In a series of tweets today, the former Liberal cabinet minister at the centre of the SNC-Lavalin affair says accountability was ultimately achieved. The Montreal-based engineering firm has been caught up in a political storm since February, when the Globe and Mail newspaper reported that prime ministerial aides leaned on Wilson-Raybould, attorney general at the time, to ensure there was a deal that would avoid prosecution. Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet days later and was subsequently ousted from the Liberal caucus. SNC-Lavalin had unsuccessfully pressed the director of prosecutions to negotiate a special settlement ,known as a remediation agreement, out of concern the company...
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Brand New Six Nations Food Bank Opens
By Donna Duric Writer The brand-new Six Nations Food Bank has opened, just in time for Christmas. Located on Cao Lane, across from the Jay Silverheels Compex, the brand-new food bank has enough space to serve the needs of the community after outgrowing its old location. “We were outgrowing the site and needed more room,” said Mary Monture, Chair of the Six Nations Food Bank. The food bank was previously located across from the community hall on Fourth Line Road, but it was old and they needed a new building. Now, thanks to a grant from the Six Nations of the Grand River Economic Development Corporation, and some fundraising, the $500,000 building is up and running. Economic development donated $327,000 to the new building. The rest was raised through fundraising....
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Ontario Transfer Payment Agreement
The Six Nations Elected Council accepted funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for the 2019/20 fiscal year. The funding is in the amount of $404,229.00 and will be split among multiple Social Services programs. Family Well Being will receive a total $272,729.00 with $162,749.00 of that earmarked for Ganohkwa Sra and Child and Family Services. While Systems Planning, formerly Indigenous Child and Youth Strategy, will received $131,500.00. The funding is just a continuation of on-going funded provided by the Ministry and while it has to be spent by March 31st, 2020, Health Services reported that it fits into their plan and will be spent by fiscal year end. Once approved the funding will be signed by Director of Social Services Arliss Skye and any two approved...
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Post Approval on Phase One Watermain Extension
The Elected Council has post-approved a contract extension for Aecon-Six Nations Joint Venture on the Phase One Watermain Extension Project. The contract extension of 182 days moved the project’s completion date from May 31st, 2019 to November 29th, 2019. The project was officially completed on November 29th....
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Infrastructure projects underway from bridges to water lines
By Justin Lethbridge Writer Bridge replacements, road resurfacing, watermain extensions and a new children’s ball diamond are just a few of the projects on the slate for Public Works. Director of Public Works Michael Montour told Turtle Island News that they are always working on improving the infrastructure on the Six Nations but large projects require funding. “All of our projects are proposal based so we don’t get to really plan because we don’t have the capitol to address all of our needs. A lot is proposal based so we have to apply to some kind of program or founder, there are local ones and governmental ones….A lot of these programs we’re going up against municipalities and other First Nations and there’s only so much capitol available.” An example Montour...
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Court adjourns Six Nations Elected Council Injunction Until 2020
BRANTFORD, ONT-An interim injunction placed against Six Nations community members regarding the two month occupation of band administration office has been adjourned until April 24th, 2020. The Elected Council will not be pursuing the costs until the case is heard in April. The case was heard briefly in Brantford Superior Court on December 20th, 2019. The interim injunction was originally granted in Brantford Superior Court on July 17th, 2019 against a group of Six Nations community members as well as ‘Jane Doe, John Doe and persons unknown. It came after the band administration office was occupied by community members on May 27th, 2019. Community members set up tents, tables, wooden barricades, an RV, a portable toilet and a sacred fire on the band administration lawn in an attempt, they said,...
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