An American is arrested in India after trying to make contact with an isolated tribe
By Rajesh Roy NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American Youtuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian ocean to try to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island — part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, police said. A local court last week sent Polyakov to a 14-day judicial custody and he is set to appear again in the court on April 17. The charges carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine. Indian authorities said they had...
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Grand River Conservation Authority warns of flooding as high river flows head downstream
The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) has issued a flood warning for Six Nations of the Grand River, Brantford and Haldimand County as high river flows are expected over the weekend. Flood warnings issued for Grand Valley, Waldemar, Drayton, West Montrose, the Village of Conestogo, City of Kitchener, City of Cambridge, New Hamburg, and Ayr remain in effect. The mixed precipitation in recent days resulted in greater than 100 mm of total precipitation in many areas and increased runoff causing flooding in some parts of the Grand River watershed. The GRCA said while the weather system has passed, river flows will continue to increase in the Grand River south of Brantford over the weekend as water makes its way downstream. Flood Warning Message for the City of Brantford The Grand...
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$2M deal reached in lawsuit over young woman’s death at North Dakota jail in 2020
By Jack Dura BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A $2 million agreement has been reached in a lawsuit over the death of a young woman while she was in custody at a North Dakota county jail in 2020. Lacey Higdem, 19, died of a drug overdose on June 4, 2020, hours after she arrived at the Rolette County Jail in Rolla, according to the lawsuit her mother, Jessica Allen, filed in 2022 against the county, two former correctional officers and medical providers. Attorneys for Allen said Thursday they had accepted the county’s offer. A Bureau of Indian Affairs officer found Higdem while responding to a call about a woman yelling for help in the woods near Belcourt, according to the complaint. Higdem, who appeared to be in a delusional state, was...
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Animated film explores the strength found in the shadow of demons
By Odette Auger, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Qaqsoss Naka Wahantuhsis (Fox & the Tiny Demon) is a new animated film directed by award winning animator, director and artist Tara Audibert, who has ties to Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) through her mother. The film addresses issues of mental health while preserving Indigenous culture and language. It is the first animated feature film in Wolastoqey, an Algonquian language spoken by the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet/Malecite) people. The film is narrated by Audibert’s great aunt Carole Polchies of Woodstock First Nation, who is one of the few remaining fluent Wolastoquey speakers. Audibert has used her aunt’s voice in other films to tell “Indigenous stories that I’ve heard all my life, and then I animated them.” Audibert has “grown up to appreciate the stories even more....
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In tree rings, Concordia researchers peer into Quebec’s 19th century climate
By Jordan Omstead -CP-Quebec tree rings dating back nearly 200 years indicate snowpack in the Gaspésie mountains has declined considerably in recent decades, Concordia University researchers suggest in a study that could give further insight into dwindling caribou herds and hydro energy forecasts. The tree ring study goes back to 1822, extending by more than 100 years the records otherwise kept by local weather stations and river gauges. It underlines how climate change has already reshaped the region, the study said. “This reconstruction may prove useful for wildlife, fisheries and hydroelectric reservoir management,” said the study, published in Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. By studying the tree rings in the Sainte-Anne River basin, the researchers say they observed a climate-change linked decline in extreme spring river flows and snowpack levels...
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Gits’iis Tribe seeks permanent sacred fire site in Prince Rupert
By Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The hereditary leadership of the Gits’iis Tribe of the Ts’msyen Nation, whose Lax Yuup [tribal lands] the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre occupies, envisions the lot in front of the building becoming a dedicated, permanent site for hosting sacred fire ceremonies. “Before I end my time here on Earth, I want to see a spot where we can bring people together, where you can sit and reflect and connect with other people who have been impacted by residential school and intergenerational trauma,” the Gits’iis Na’aa Sigidyem Hana’ak [matriarch], N’ts’is Xysnath [Isabelle Stewart] told Guu Gaa Jung (Symbia Barnaby). Barnaby, founder of Healing Nation Coaching and Consulting, and a traditional helper, was asked by Stewart and the Sacred Fire Family to help facilitate conversations with...
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New Nova Scotia regulations allow retail cannabis stores owned by Mi’kmaq community
-CP-Mi’kmaq communities in Nova Scotia will be able to open legal cannabis retail stores on reserve under new provincial regulations. The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation had been the only authorized cannabis seller in the province, with 50 stores including one on the Eskasoni reserve in Cape Breton. But under new regulations announced today, a band or band-owned corporation can become an authorized seller within a Mi’kmaq community through an agreement with the liquor corporation. Any new stores in Mi’kmaq communities will have to sell cannabis purchased through the corporation. The government says the move is the result of concerns raised by Mi’kmaq leaders about the sale of illegal cannabis in their communities. According to the provincial Finance Department, cannabis sales at liquor corporation outlets totalled $121 million in the 2023-24...
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Indigenous Group of Seven work brought together for exhibit in Banff
By Crystal St.Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Joseph Sánchez is co-curating the upcoming exhibit The Ancestors Are Talking: Paintings by the Indigenous Seven at The Whyte museum located in Banff, Alta. from May 3 to Oct. 19. The exhibit features 77 works. Sánchez is the last living member of the Indigenous Group of Seven. The group consisted also of Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odig and Carl Ray. Co-curators are The Whyte’s curator of Indigenous initiatives Dawn Saunders Dahl and Christina Cuthbertson, the director of curatorial initiatives. Sánchez and the Indigenous Group of Seven established Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) in the early 1970s. They set out to change the way Indigenous art was viewed by Canadians and the world. Their intention was to move...
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Officer who shot and killed Indigenous man in N.B. did not commit crime: watchdog
-CP-New Brunswick’s police watchdog says an RCMP officer did not commit a criminal offence when they shot and killed an Indigenous man in Elsipogtog First Nation last year. The Serious Incident Response Team said in its report dated April 1 that the officer had used “reasonable force” against a man who was holding three axes in his hands and was a threat. The report, written by director Erin E. Nauss, says two RCMP officers responded to a 911 call on Sept. 8, 2024, about a man with weapons who wanted to take his own life. It says when officers arrived to the eastern New Brunswick community, the man was showing signs of intoxication and threw one of the axes toward the officers. One of the Mounties shot the man after...
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Brantford Police seeking man wanted for Second Degree Murder
BRANTFORD, ONT-The Brantford Police Service (BPS) are searching for a 27-year-old man wanted for Second Degree Murder after a man died of stab wounds from a disturbance April 3, 2025, after an altercation at a city address. BPS responded to a Charlotte Street residence at about 4 :15 p.m., Thursday, April 3, where they found a man who had been stabbed. The victim succumbed to his injuries a short time later. BPS said the parties involved were known to each other and this is not believed to be a random incident. Police have recovered the weapon and currently have one man in custody for Accessory after the Fact to Murder, Weapons Dangerous, and Assault with a Weapon. BPS said they have reasonable grounds and are actively seeking to arrest...
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Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will match U.S. auto tariffs
By Kyle Duggan Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada will hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent auto tariffs with matching levies on vehicles imported from the United States. At a press conference on Parliament Hill, Carney said Canada’s counter-tariffs will hit all vehicles that do not comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, along with any non-Canadian content in compliant vehicles. That means any vehicles made with less than 75 per cent North American content will face 25 per cent tariffs — a measure which could capture tens of thousands of vehicle imports, according to a background document provided by the Prime Minister’s Office. That could amount to roughly 10 per cent of all cars coming in from the U.S. The counter-tariffs will not apply to...
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‘Investigation launched’ over alleged loss of funds at Dawson Creek Native Housing Society
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — An Indigenous housing society is “starting fresh” in the wake of an alleged theft of funds. According to Neil Sneddon of the Dawson Creek Native Housing Society, it was partly the findings of an independent audit conducted in 2023 which prompted the Dawson Creek RCMP detachment to launch an investigation into the matter. Sneddon is the vice-president of the society, which provides rental units to around 40 low-income Indigenous tenants in the Dawson Creek area. “It means we have to rebuild,” said Sneddon. “We are starting fresh. We’re redoing our by-laws to ensure this never happens again. “It is very devastating. We’re working as hard as we can to hopefully amend everything.” Sneddon also alleged the resignation of the...
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Fort Nelson woman is finalist for Miss Indigenous Canada
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. — The next woman to wear the crown of Miss Indigenous Canada could hail from northeast B.C. Taylor Behn-Tsakoza is among 19 finalists in the competition, which is geared “toward young Indigenous leaders of tomorrow” with an aim to “foster an environment where young Indigenous women can grow,” according to its website. The competition is open to First Nations, Métis and Inuit women with a verifiable community affiliation and display “good characteristics” of a First Nations ambassador. Contestants must also be at least 18 years old and no older than 30 years of age by pageant weekend, which will include workshops, tours, guest speakers and activities. A member of Fort Nelson First Nation, the 29-year-old promoted her candidacy with...
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Atlantic premiers hold the line on retaliatory measures, citing tariff uncertainty
By Keith Doucette Premiers in the Atlantic region say that despite Canada being left out of the latest round of global U.S. tariffs, they need to hold the line in the face of growing economic uncertainty. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10 per cent baseline tariff on imports from most countries, but a White House fact sheet said goods covered by the free-trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico were exempted. Trump also said he is going ahead with previously announced 25 per cent tariffs on automobile imports starting Thursday, which will add to existing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. In a statement released late Wednesday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said Canada may have been spared the worst-case scenario, but thousands...
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US is negotiating a minerals deals with conflict-hit Congo, Trump official says
By Jean-yves Kamale And Mark Banchereau KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A Trump administration official said Thursday the United States is in talks with conflict-plagued Congo on developing its mineral resources under a deal that the Congolese president has said could help make his country safer. U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, did not provide details of the potential deal following talks with Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, but he said it could involve “multi-billion-dollar investments.” “You have heard about a minerals agreement. We have reviewed” the Congo’s proposal, Boulos said. “I am pleased to announce that the president and I have agreed on a path forward for its development.” American companies would be “operating transparently” and would “stimulate local economies,” Boulos said. Congo is the...
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Whalers’ shrine returns home after 120 years in museum storage
By Eric Plummer, Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, Ha-Shilth-Sa New York, New York – Moments after the official documents were signed, Mowachaht/Muchalaht members broke into song, marking the return of a whale hunting shrine that has sat in a New York museum’s storage for 120 years. Decades in the making, the transfer of ownership was made official on March 25 at the American Museum of Natural History, which has kept the Yuquot Whalers Washing House since 1904. A Mowachaht/Muchalaht delegation of about two dozen travelled across the continent for the occasion. As the ownership was transferred back to the First Nation, boxes and cases containing the shrine’s contents awaited their long journey back to Yuquot on the southern edge of Nootka Island, where they were taken under suspect circumstances over a century ago....
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Toxic chemical found in shellfish three months after fish farm diesel spill
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Nearly three and a half months after roughly 7,500 litres of diesel oil seeped into the marine environment near Tahsis on the west coast of Vancouver Island, closures for shellfish harvesting are still in place. The Nuchatlaht First Nation’s council has advised people not to eat any shellfish from local waters after a recent testing of Pacific oysters indicated the presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Cancer-causing PAHs are formed during the incomplete burning of materials like coal, oil, gas, wood and charbroiled meat. “I want to protect First Nations health around here,” said Roger Dunlop, a biologist and Nuchatlaht’s Lands and Natural Resources manager. “The oysters had the highest levels of PAHs. They were well beyond what people should consume. Other...
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Dow drops 1,300 as US stocks lead worldwide sell-off after Trump’s tariffs ignite a COVID-like shock
By Stan Choe NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets around the world are reeling Thursday following President Donald Trump’s latest and most severe set of tariffs, and the U.S. stock market is taking the worst of it so far. The S&P 500 was down 4.2% in afternoon trading, more than other major stock markets, and at its bottom in the morning was on track for its worst day since COVID struck in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,394 points, or 3.3%, as of 2:09 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 5.3% lower. Little was spared in financial markets as fear flared globally about the potentially toxic mix of higher inflation and weakening economic growth that tariffs can create. Everything from crude oil to Big Tech...
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Six Nations Police charge man with impaired operation of vehicle
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- A Millgrove man is facing charges after the Six Nations Police (SNP)received a complaint about a patron displaying signs of impairment at a local business on Six Nations. SNP said they were advised of a possible impaired patron at a local Highway 54 business Monday, March 31, 2025, at about 4:57 p.m.. Six Nations Police said they arrived at the area and located a vehicle matching the description the caller provided. Police said they spoke with the male driver and a passenger and saw signs of impairment on the man. As a result of the investigation, police have arrested and charged Joseph Stephens, 69, of Millgrove, Ontario with the following criminal offences: – Impaired Operation – Alcohol per se Offence “80 plus” The accused...
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Brantford Man arrested in child pornography investigation
BRANTFORD, ONT- A 55-year-old man is facing child pornography charges as a result of two Brantford Police Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) investigations. The charges came after the Brantford Police ICE unit executed two search warrants, on two seperate dates, March 31 and April 2, 2025 at two Brantford addresses after receiving tips through the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. Police seized multiple computers, cellphones, and electronic devices during search and in the process of performing a follow up investigation. Brantford Police said detectives, working in the ICE Unit, found evidence of child pornography on the various devices. As a result of the investigation a 55-year-old Brantford man was arrested April 2, 2025 and held for a bail hearing. The accused is facing a charge of Accessing Child Pornography,...
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