Ontario could find itself intruding on Six Nations lands in its attempt to develop parts of the Greenbelt
By Lynda Powless Editor Ontario could find itself fighting off a new challenge when it comes to developing its Greenbelt. Ontario’s Green belt, put in place to protect environmentally sensitive areas from development also happens to sit on lands Six Nations of the Grand River has an interest in. Romeo Segota, audit supervisor at the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario came to Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) Political Liaison meeting on June 26. Segota was seeking feedback on Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s proposal to remove 15 sections of land from the Greenbelt, two of which are near Six Nations and on traditional Haudenosaunee Territory, one in Hamilton and the other in Grimsby. The Greenbelt was put in place to protect environmentally sensitive areas in Ontario...
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It was tough…but it had to be done
It was tough…but it had to be done. The infighting between former National Chief RoseAnne Archibald and the AFN executive committee had reached a point of no return. And something had to be done. While Archibald spent two years fighting with the executive and travelling the reason she was elected, the reason the position exists was ignored and as a result First Nations were ignored. The national assembly itself was becoming tainted with allegations that were never proven and after two years seemed to be more disgruntled accusations from a leader who didn’t seem to know how to lead or what her job really was. What we do know is that it wasn’t only the regional chief’s executive who felt her wrath. Embattled employees came forward with complaints. Complaints of...
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Plethora of community members on bronze-medal winning Haudenosaunee squad
By Sam Laskaris Writer Plenty of new shiny bling is in the Six Nations community now. That’s because the Haudenosaunee club that captured the bronze medal at the world men’s field lacrosse tournament included numerous individuals who are either Six Nations members or living here now. The Haudenosaunee team defeated Australia 11-6 at the world tourney, which concluded on Saturday in San Diego, Calif. The Haudenosaunee entry had its gold-medal aspirations come to an end last Thursday when it was downed 12-7 by Canada in its semi-final contest. The United States captured the gold medal by defeating Canada 10-7 in Saturday’s championship final. Six Nations’ Darcy Powless served as the general manager of the Haudenosaunee squad while another local member, Vince Longboat, was one of the assistant coaches for the...
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Sam Laskaris – BEHIND THE ACTION – Bo BowHunter
By Sam Laskaris Writer Bo BowHunter is wishing his current lacrosse squad would be enjoying a bit more success. But the 23-year-old Six Nations member is still loving his decision to head west to showcase his skills in the British Columbia-based Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) this year. BowHunter had bounced around in 2022, suiting up for the Six Nations Rivermen at the Senior B level and also being called up at times to play for the Six Nations Chiefs, a Senior A side in Major Series Lacrosse. BowHunter then played his first pro season with the Halifax Thunderbirds of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). His father Curt Styres is the Thunderbirds’ owner and general manager. To best prepare for his sophomore NLL campaign, BowHunter was looking to play at the...
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Six Indigenous players selected at NHL Entry Draft
By Sam Laskaris Writer When the Stanley Cup finalists were determined this past spring it was guaranteed that an Indigenous player would be among those celebrating at the conclusion of the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs. As it turned out it was Zach Whitecloud, a Sioux Valley Dakota Nation member and his Vegas Golden Knights’ teammates who were crowned Stanley Cup champions. The Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers, which featured Six Nations defenceman Brandon Montour 4-1 in their best-of-seven championship final. Meanwhile, according to Hockey Indigenous, an organization that promotes Indigenous players, there are now six more Indigenous players closer to fulfilling their pro dreams. It remains to be seen of course whether any of them will go on to become a member of a Stanley Cup-winning squad. Those...
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National Indigenous Day
NIPD celebrations – Six Nations, Toronto and Mississaugas of Credit First Nation Six Nations marks National Indigenous Peoples’ Day with family fun By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND -National Indigenous Peoples’ Day was a day to celebrate, but it was also a day to remember a long and shared history for land and social justice for Six Nations. On Wednesday (June 21), Six Nations marked NIPD also known as Indigenous Solidarity Day, with a day of fun, venders booths, artwork, rides and activities at the community hall at 1738 Fourth Line. Six Nations lands director Lonny Bomberry told Turtle Island News what Indigenous Solidarity Day means to him. “It means recognition for all Indigenous people across Canada,” Bomberry said. “We’re here, we were here before, we’re still...
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Six Nations language school pressures Liberals for funding
By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – “Build This School” quickly became the chant of a crowd of parents, teachers, students, politicians and others at the still empty site of a Haudenosaunee immersion language school. Six Nation’s Kawenni:io/Gaweni:y (KG) private School has been petitioning the federal government for over two decades to build the only Mohawk and Cayuga language immersion school in the country. Both Mohawk and Cayuga are on the endangered languages list. On Friday (June 23) Larry Brock Brantford-Brant PC MP demanded the Liberal government provide funding for the build. He told the crowd gathered “students are learning in a dimly-lit room with no windows and potable water issues.” He demanded the Liberal government “Build this school. enough delay.” He said it was “shameful” the Liberal...
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Six Nations joins COO call to pause Metis self-governance bill
Six Nations sent its support for Chiefs of Ontario who were protesting a federal bill giving Metis self-governance rights and calling on the government to pause efforts to pass the bill. Six Nations Elected Chief Mark Hill read a statement supporting Monday’s protest on Parliament Hill at the Political Liaison meeting on June 19 and said Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) learned of the protest too late to fly to Ottawa and had already rescheduled its meeting from the week prior. “Earlier this year the government of Canada and Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) carefully crafted an agreement and recognized large areas of territories as Metis homeland in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta parts of Ontario and northern US. This legislation affirm all Metis communities under MNO have the right to self...
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SN Election Code committee member resigns
By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – The Six Nations Election Code committee has lost one of its members. Committee member Alaina VanEvery resigned Thursday night (June 22, 2023) prior to the meeting beginning at the Six Nations’ Dajoh Centre at the sports complex. VanEvery told the committee, in a letter, she had concerns about how the committee was gathering information. conducting research and timelines. The committee, who was reviewing the current band election code and recommending amendments, cancelled plans to hold a community vote on their proposed changes June 21st after Six Nations Chief Electoral Polling Officer, (SNCEPO) Steve Williams resigned in March. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) has not appointed a new SNCEPO. Six Nations band elections are expected to be held in November 2023, ...
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Six Nations waiting to see if Indian Day school class action extended
Six Nations continues to wait for a resolution to its attempt to extend the claims period to the Indian Day School class action application deadline. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) launched legal action against the Canadian government in December, 2022 over the class action Settlement Agreement that seeks to provide compensation for the systemic abuse suffered by First Nations children attending the government-run Indian Day Schools. They argued the deadline should be extended to December 30, 2025, but Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond reserved his decision on June 13 after a two-day hearing in Ottawa concerning deadline extension. SNEC and Audrey Hill argued the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and deficiencies in the claims process warrant the extension. Six Nations Elected Chief Mark Hill made a statement to the community...
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Six Nations waste transfer station working
Six Nations Public Works Department believes their system for handling the reserves trash is working well and plans to keep the status quo. A 20-year waste management study for the reserve suggested transitioning its landfill site to a transfer station and Mike Montour, director of public works said that was done in 2020 and it’s worked out well. “The last few years have been fantastic, thank you to community for transitioning with the waste and putting it where it’s supposed to be,” he said. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) approved a motion to extend contracts with Norfolk Disposal Services, who move the waste from the transfer site on Fourth Line Road to Thorold in Niagara. The original contract was signed in 2020 and contained an option to extend for five...
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Special Chiefs Assembly or dump day?
The Assembly of First Nations is meeting today to decide on the future of the leadership of the first woman to take the helm of the national organization. A Special Chiefs Assembly (SCA) is being held virtually and there is only one thing on the agenda, the results of a Human Resource Investigation Report. A report into complaints lodged by five AFN employees against the National Chief alleging they suffered harassment and reprisals from the AFN leader. Just over a year later the independent human Resources report has found employees did face harassment and reprisals from National Chief RoseAnne Archibald. The investigations were launched just over a year ago June 14, 2022 when five employees made allegations of harassment and reprisals from the National Chief and had their confidentiality breached...
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Six Nations walks from AFN health meeting, elder shut down
Six Nations isn’t happy with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and its facilitators after an elder’s comments were silenced and walked out in solidarity. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) representatives including councillors Nathan Wright and Greg Frazer as well as acting director of Health Services, Alana Hill attended the AFN’s National Health Forum on May 31 and June 1. Wright told SNEC they don’t support the federal government’s proposed health legislation at its Political Liaison Committee meeting on June 19. Wright also hopes that the next sitting council can continue to be cautious of devolution of services to the First Nation and to make public statements on the issue. He’s cautious of involvement in the AFN and says at a breakout session a facilitator was “only interested in hearing...
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Haudenosaunee team finishes with round-robin record of 2-2 at world tourney
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Haudenosaunee squad competing at the world men’s field lacrosse championships in San Diego managed to conclude its round-robin schedule on a positive note. The club, which includes plenty of Six Nations connections, defeated Australia 10-6 in its fourth and final round-robin match held on Monday. That victory enabled the Haudenosaunee squad to finish with a 2-2 round-robin mark. The squad had also kicked off its appearance at the worlds with a lopsided 18-5 victory over England this past Friday. The Haudenosaunee then suffered a pair of heartbreaking losses. First it was downed 9-7 by the United States, the defending world champs, in a Saturday match. Canada then edged the Haudenosaunee side 8-7 in a game on Sunday. The 4-0 Americans and Canada, which posted a...
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SPORTS BRIEFS: Rebels capture first two playoff matches
By Sam Laskaris Writer Rebels capture first two playoff matches It’s a new season for the Six Nations Rebels. Now that they have commenced their playoffs the Rebels have continued to do what they did throughout the regular season. Win. The local Junior B lacrosse squad posted an unblemished 20-0 mark during regular season action. And now the Rebels are one W away from capturing their opening-round series in the playoffs. Six Nations began its post-season this past Friday by downing the visiting Owen Sound North Stars 15-9 in a match held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The Rebels then defeated the host North Stars 9-6 on Sunday afternoon in Owen Sound. With those two victories the Rebels hold a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Eastern Conference quarter-final...
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Tomahawks collect four more victories at Senior Series Lacrosse tournament in Lakefield
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Tomahawks have pretty much guaranteed themselves a first-place finish in their league standings. The Tomahawks, a Senior C men’s lacrosse squad, won all four of its contests this past weekend at a tournament in Lakefield. The Six Nations club is now sporting a record of 11-1-0, good for top spot in its eight-team Senior Series Lacrosse (SSL). The Tomahawks are seven points ahead of the second-place Toronto Lightning, who have compiled a 7-4-1 mark thus far. The SSL features a regular season schedule of four tournaments. There is just one event remaining, July 22-23 in Wilmot. League entrants will play four matches each at the Wilmot event. “At 11-1, I don’t think anybody is going to catch up,” said Tomahawks’ head coach Jay...
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Pro Vancouver basketball franchise unveils Indigenous jersey
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Vancouver Bandits unveiled a new Indigenous-themed jersey in their home contest held Sunday, June 25, dubbed Indigenous Celebration Night. But for members of the Bandits, who compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the plan is not to simply just wear the jersey once. Vancouver players will also wear the Indigenous jersey, designed by Jeff Dickson, an artist from Kwantlen First Nation in British Columbia, for several other matches during the remainder of the 2023 CEBL season. “I’m extremely, extremely proud,’’ said Dickson, who is also a teacher at Walnut Grove Secondary School in Langley, B.C. “I didn’t want it to be a one-time thing. I wanted a legacy thing.’’ Dickson is no stranger to officials with the Bandits, a franchise...
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Rivermen earn a single point in two latest outings
By Sam Laskaris Writer It was a less-than-ideal week for the Six Nations Rivermen. The Rivermen, the defending Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) champions, are currently jockeying for the best position they can achieve in their league standings. But the local Senior B men’s squad did not do itself any favours as it only managed to pick up a single point in its last two outings. For starters, the Rivermen were downed 11-8 by the host Brooklin Merchants this past Friday. That match was held at the Luther Vipond Memorial Arena in Brooklin. The Rivermen then had to settle for a 14-14 overtime tie against the visiting Clearview Crushers on Saturday. This contest was held at the Six Nations Sports and Cultural Memorial Centre. “We’re not hitting the panic button,” said...
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