Six Nations Chiefs win Mann Cup
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Six Nations Chiefs’ perfect record in the Mann Cup national lacrosse championship remains intact. Since it was founded in 1993, the Chiefs, a Senior A men’s squad from the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, has made seven appearances at the Canadian final and won the cup each and every time. The Mann Cup is contested between the Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) champs from Ontario and the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) champs from British Columbia. The Chiefs captured their seventh title on Sept. 13. Six Nations defeated the host New Westminster Salmonbellies from British Columbia 11-9 in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series. The Salmonbellies, who hosted all of the matches in the Mann Cup final at the Queen’s Park...
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Six Police investigate vehicle roll over in school yard
OHSWEKEN,SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- Six Nations Police are investigating a vehicle rollover on Third Line Road that occurred Sunday, Sept., 10th, and saw a vehicle leave the roadway and tearing out a portion of a fenceline in front of Oliver M. Smith Elementary School. Police, along with Six Nations Fire and Emergency Medical Services, attended the scene Sunday, September 10,, at approximately 8:20 p.m., where they found one individual at the scene with serious injuries. The person was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Witnesses at the scene told police other occupants of the vehicle fled the area before police arrived. The Ontario Provincial Police K9 unit was brought in to track potential injured parties but no individuals were located. The investigation remains ongoing, and charges are...
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Six Nations Fall Fair is back and building
Six Nations Fall Fair working to make a comeback when small crowds attend By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – The Six Nations Fall Fair hit its 154th year this year with some serious community fun. The fair returned this past weekend, starting Friday (September 8) to Sunday taking over the sports and recreation grounds at 1738 Fourth Line Road and inside the Dajoh and the arena. It’s the longest running Indigenous Fair in Ontario, Six Nations. Agricultural Society president Leslie McDougall told Turtle Island News. Outside the fairgrounds were full of smiling faces hopping on the ferris wheel, or showing off their muscles with some rock climbing, or just kicking back on a giant spinning strawberry. Just as dazzling, were the trade show booths along with...
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Six Nations Elected Council attempt to honour athletes disorganized, lacks communication, Elected Chief fails to attend
Six Nations’ attempt to recognize and celebrate the community’s athletes was well received, but some councillors believe it was poorly planned, executed and attended. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) opted to plan a celebration for local athletes to recognize their contributions to different sports after North American Indigenous Games athletes and others came looking for financial contributions in June and reconfirmed a celebration with a parade in late July. SNEC settled on coordinating the event with the fair on September 9, but Councillors Helen Miller and Sherri-Lyn Hill were the only ones who attended. Councillor Miller voiced her concerns about the event’s planning, coordination and execution at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on September 11. Elected Chief Mark Hill, who originally suggested the event was not in attendance. SNEC councillors...
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Six Nations Elected Council working to build relationship with politicians and academics SNEC told
Six Nations is working toward building relationships with local and federal politicians as well as academic leaders to have community issues front and centre for those making decisions inside and outside of the Haldimand Tract. Elected Chief Mark Hill and political advisor Christopher Mahon gave an update on meetings with politicians at the Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) Political Liaison Committee meeting on September 11 and said they are expecting visitors. Mahon said the federal Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu planned to visit Six Nations on Tuesday, September 12, but they haven’t worked out all of the details. Mahon said an itinerary would reach SNEC councillors late Monday in preparation for the Tuesday visit. It will include stops at various locations on Six Nations as well as lunch with...
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Six Nations getting into aggregate industry
Six Nations is digging into the aggregate industry and coming up with cash. The Six Nations Consultation and Accommodation Process Team (CAP TEAM) held an online public consultation through Facebook Live on September 6 to start the public consultation process. Peter Graham, consultation supervisor for the CAP Team explained that an old quarry in Haggersville will once again see crushed rock (aggregates) removed from the land. “The property in question is just southwest of Haggersville. There was a previously existing quarry at this site that hasn’t been in operation for a decade or two, now the successor company which is to open the quarry, because it is considered a new quarry by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry there is a duty to consult on it,” he said. Graham...
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Six Nations Election coming
Six Nations is gearing up for an election, at least as close as we get to one here. The band elections will be held in early November and candidates now have two weeks to declare. It’s been a long four years since we have had an election. Since then the current council has itself undergone change and likely some faces won’t be returning. Firstly the council lost a member when former councillor Wendy Johnson quit to take a job with Kimberly Murray. Murray is the special interlocutor charged with co-ordinating the government’s response to the unmarked graves identified at a number of former residential school sites. The two women met when Murray worked for Six Nations’ Survivors Secretariate and Johnson was a Six Nations council member. The current council has...
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Weekly cartoon
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Letters: Helen Miller On Tackling Six Nations Housing Crisis
Tackling Six Nations Housing Crisis – Aug. 30, 2023 In introducing the tiny homes initiative Matt Jamieson, CEO, Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation said: “Community members here face multiple obstacles in owning their own home on the territory.” This is so true. Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council (SNGREC) should be doing whatever we can to help people get a house. Unfortunately, over the years housing has turned from a social need into a business with stringent criteria and restrictive policies that prohibit people from getting a house rather than helping them. So far this year 37 people have been turned down at housing, for various reasons. Luckily, if people can jump through SNH’s hoops, they have a chance to redeem themselves and qualify for...
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Six Nations band election coming in November
Six Nations may be heading to the election polls in two weeks to bring in a new band council. Turtle Island News has learned the Chief Electorial Polling Officer (CEPO) met in a closed door session with Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) Monday to announce election dates. In addition the Six Nations Election Code committee presented the results of a vote taken at the SNEC annual general assembly two weeks ago confirming there will be 12 councillors elected for a four year term. Election Code committee chair Audrey Hill said the they had talked to over 400 people during the committee’s deliberations before putting the questions they developed to the community. The CEPO will hold nominations September 23, just two weeks away and Oct 6 will be the first poll....
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Six Nations building more housing units
Six Nations is building more dedicated housing for community members to slash the housing waitlist with sustainable, suitable and affordable homes. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) approved the creation of another 16 units for Social Services (with an option to expand by eight units in the future) for an Alternative Care Program at its General Finance meeting on August 23. The units will be part of a partnership with Six Nations Housing who were approved to build a 28-unit elders complex with care. The new Social Services building will be a two-storey building with units of different sizes catering to older adults who are faced with caring for family members, both adults and youth. Arlyss Skye, director of Social Services said older adults living in the elder complex would not...
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Late Six Nations softball player to be inducted posthumously into national hall of fame
By Sam Laskaris Writer A former Six Nations softball star has landed in Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. It was announced last week that the late Phyllis Bomberry is one of 11 individuals that comprise the 2023 induction class for the national hall. An induction ceremony will be held Oct. 19 in Gatineau, Que. The event will also be livestreamed. Bomberry, who died in 2019, will be inducted posthumously via the Athlete category. “From the courts to the fields, from the ice to the octagon, the Class of 2023 is a testament to the relentless pursuit of greatness,” said Cheryl Bernard, who is the president and CEO of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. About 225 individuals had been nominated by the public to be inductees this year. Those selected were...
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Stallions register pair of victories despite being short-staffed
By Sam Laskaris Writer Not many showed up. But that didn’t seem to matter for the Six Nations Stallions, who managed to win their first two contests of the Ontario Senior Men’s Field Lacrosse League (OSMFLL) this past Saturday. Just 11 Stallions players were available for duty for the contests, which were held at Norton Park in Burlington. The Six Nations squad registered a convincing victory, 14-3, over the United Lacrosse Club from Kitchener-Waterloo, in its opening match. The Stallions then eked out a 13-12 win over the Orangeville Generals just a few hours later. “I thought we did well, considering we only had one substitute,” said Wes Whitlow, the Stallions’ player who sits atop the OSMFLL scoring race after racking up 13 points in the two outings. Whitlow compiled...
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Chiefs on verge of capturing Mann Cup in British Columbia
By Sam Laskaris Writer They started the way they intended to finish. The Six Nations Chiefs took a commanding lead in their Mann Cup championship series. It began with the Chiefs eked out an 8-7 victory over the host New Westminster Salmonbellies on Monday night. With that triumph Six Nations is now enjoying a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series, which will determine national Senior A lacrosse bragging rights for the year. The Chiefs were hoping to sweep the series as Game 4 Tuesday. The Salmonbellies are hosting all of the matches in the national series at the Queen’s Park Arena. For the Chiefs its would be their seventh Mann Cup title this year. The franchise last captured the prestigious national trophy in 2016. “We’re in a good spot,” said...
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What’s at stake for the Assembly of First Nations in the upcoming election?
OTTAWA- The next leader of the Assembly of First Nations will be tasked with unifying hundreds of chiefs at a time when reconciliation appears to be less of a priority in Canada, says an Indigenous policy expert. Hayden King, executive director of Indigenous-led think tank Yellowhead Institute, says the assembly’s influence has been vaulted under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, but its internal politics have been an issue in recent years. Chiefs are expected to choose a new national chief in December, after RoseAnne Archibald was removed from the job amid allegations that she created a toxic work environment. Archibald continues to deny those allegations. The next permanent leader will need to restore some of the organization’s credibility and engage with the federal government in a way that reprioritizes First...
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Ohsweken man facing Dangerous Driving charges
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- A 39-year-old Ohsweken man is facing charges including Dangerous Driving after a vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle collision after Six Nations Police received a number of complaints over erratic driving. The charges came after Six Nations Police and Six Nations Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded to a single vehicle collision on Second Line Road Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at about 8:45 AM. Police had received multiple complaints that the vehicle had been involved in a fail to remain accident just moments before, was driving in the wrong lane and had passed a school bus with the lights activated. Police said callers were able to provide a description of the vehicle and the driver. Six Nations Police said once on scene they were...
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Many can breathe “sigh of relief” as B.C.’s wildfire risk lowers, minister says
The end is near for British Columbia’s fire season, but the provincial emergency management minister says the “sleeping giant” in the season of natural disasters is drought. Bowinn Ma’s comments came as she announced disaster financial assistance is available for local governments and First Nations areas that have been burned by the province’s largest fire season on record. Ma says mid-September traditionally marks the end of the peak wildfire season and the province is “in the home stretch” but must remain prepared. Adding to the record season where an estimated 2.2 million hectares of land has been burned, the minister says drought conditions this year are unlike any other the province has ever seen. After a peak last month when an estimated 30,000 people were ordered out of their homes...
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Six Nations asks why can’t they have an immersion school
Infrastructure Canada says no to funding for Six Nations language school but won’t say why By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – They said no…again. The Kawenni:io/Gaweni:y (KG) immersion school has been trying to build a school for over 37 years and recently had applied to a federal program for funding. Now after being turned down a second time by Infrastructure Canada for funds they want to know why. The school had applied to Canada’s Green and inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program for just under $30 million to build their school. It was part of their push to build what could become Six Nations only fully environmentally friendly immersion school. And they had every reason to expect approval of their application. It was their second application and one...
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Six Nations biggest “Walk the Tract” sponsor a union while SNEC fighting local firefighters right to unionize
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) biggest “Walk the Tract” event sponsor is one of the country’s biggest unions. The event, supported by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) comes as SNEC is in the middle of a Canada Industrial Relations Board hearing challenging Six Nations firefighters right to form a union. The Six Nations Firefighters and captains and SNEC concluded the hearing two weeks ago. SNEC argued it was “sovereign” and had the right to deny the firefighters and captains the right to join or form a union. OPSEU is the trade union representing 180,000 Ontario public sector employees. OPSEU is also a $50,000 platinum level sponsor of SNEC’s Walk the Tract event. OPSEU did not respond to Turtle Island News requests for comment on the...
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Six Nations investigating why septic systems are failing
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) says it will investigate complaints from communtiy members over faiing septic systems. Several community members are having serious issues with their septic systems, councillor Michelle Bomberry told SNEC at its Aug., 22 meeting. She said it has been a problem as long as she has been a councillor and now eight individuals have come forward complaining of serious issues with their septic systems including sewage flooding their properties. “I had a community member come forward about septic issues in regards to [Six Nations Housing Department] recommended 10-12 years ago a specific system to be done in the community. Then members installed them and they’ve got sewage on their front lawn, back lawn and it was suggested to them to put in big raised beds. Those...
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