‘Sinners’ puts ‘truth on screen’ for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
By Sophie Bates CHOCTAW, Miss. (AP) — It’s a small part in a big movie, but for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, their scene in “Sinners” is a huge deal. The horror movie blockbuster, starring Michael B. Jordan as a gangster turned vampire slayer, paints a brief but impactful portrait of the tribe using Choctaw actors and cultural experts. For some, it’s the first time they’ve seen the Choctaw way of life accurately portrayed on the big screen. In the scene, a posse of Choctaw, riding on horseback and in an old truck, arrives at a small farmhouse to warn the couple that lives there of coming danger. When the couple refuses their help, a Choctaw man wishes them luck in his native language before riding off. “I’ve not...
Register
Wildfire ignites northeast of Fort St. John
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) has reported a wildfire in an area northeast of Fort St. John. According to the BCWS, the fire is located in the Goodlow area, an area northeast of Cecil Lake and southeast of Doig River First Nation. The fire has reached a size of 70 hectares since being reported on Wednesday, June 4th and is currently ‘out of control,’ meaning it will likely spread beyond its perimeter. The news of the fire comes as the BCWS warns the next three days could be “challenging,” with high winds expected to lead to “extreme wildfire behaviour” at the weekend. The wildfire authority has said via its website that resources, including a firefighting crew, helicopters...
Register
Tories slam NDP for opposing Bill 5
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source THUNDER BAY – The Ontario NDP’s opposition to Bill 5 shows how the party doesn’t support mining when it should, Progressive Conservative legislators say. “We are taking real action to support the North. The NDP can either get on board – or get out of the way,” Kevin Holland, the PC representing Thunder Bay-Atikokan, said Thursday in an email to Newswatch. One member of the NDP caucus, Thunder Bay–Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois, said that’s “nonsense.” “We do support responsible development and always have,” she said. “We’ve got members of our caucus who are multi-generational miners. “We understand the importance of that industry, and we’re in support of reducing the time it takes to get through the permitting process, but...
Register
‘A long, hot summer’: B.C.’s approval of PRGT pipeline sets stage for conflict, First Nations leader says
By Matt Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Shannon Waters, The Narwhal UPDATE-The British Columbia government gave a green light to an 800-kilometre natural gas pipeline on Thursday, paving the way for construction to start this summer — and setting the stage for what one First Nations leader warns could be a “long, hot summer” of conflict. The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline will carry gas from northeast B.C. to the proposed Ksi Lisims gas liquefaction and export facility on the northwest coast near the Alaska border, crossing more than 1,000 waterways, including major salmon-bearing rivers and tributaries. In a press release, the BC Environmental Assessment Office gave the project a “substantially started” designation, locking in its original environmental approval indefinitely. That original approval — for the pipeline to end...
Register
B.C. gives green light to LNG pipeline, with no need for new environmental assessment
By Brenna Owen The British Columbia government says a decade-old environmental assessment certificate remains valid for the construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C., in a decision opposed by the province’s Green Party and environmental groups. The Environmental Assessment Office says it has determined the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline has “substantially started,” fulfilling a requirement of the 2014 certificate and allowing the project to proceed without a new assessment. The original approval was for a roughly 900-kilometre pipeline between Hudson’s Hope in northeastern B.C. and Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, the site of a liquefied natural gas processing facility that has since been cancelled. The pipeline was purchased by the Nisga’a Nation and Texas-based Western LNG last year to supply natural gas to the proposed Ksi Lisims...
Register
Five things to know about Canada’s counter-tariffs on the U.S.
By Sarah Ritchie After U.S. President Donald Trump boosted steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent, some industry groups and the Official Opposition have called on the federal government to retaliate in kind. Here’s a look at the counter-tariffs Canada has imposed so far. What do the counter-tariffs cover? The Canadian government has imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods three times since Trump’s trade war began, aimed at what it says are imports worth $95.4 billion worth. On March 4 — after the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods, along with 10 per cent on energy products — then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the first raft of counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods. Those 25 per cent tariffs target things like orange juice,...
Register
AFN Yukon and CYFN chief positions set to be consolidated this year
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News According to a statement from the Council of Yukon First Nations, effective Oct. 1, 2025 the positions of Grand Chief and AFN Yukon Regional Chief will be merged into one. The consolidation comes out of resolutions made by Yukon First Nation chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations Yukon Chiefs Summit on May 21 and 22, as well as a May 30 Council of Yukon First Nations Leadership meeting. “The new model is intended to streamline governance, reduce duplication, and strengthen national and political advocacy grounded in the shared priority of all 14 Yukon First Nations,” reads the statement. The consolidation was being discussed since spring 2024, reads the statement. Chiefs arrived at the consensus to consolidate the two positions into...
Register
Grassy Narrows activist takes a stand by camping
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source TORONTO – Canada’s biggest city isn’t your typical camping destination, but Chrissy Isaacs was on no ordinary camping trip. The community activist from Grassy Narrows (Asubpeeschoseewagong) First Nation chose to camp on the south lawn of Queen’s Park as an act of protest. Isaacs is demanding that Premier Doug Ford rescind Bill 5 — legislation opposed by First Nations across Ontario, as well as environmentalist groups and many labour unions. The legislation titled the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act passed in a 71-44 vote Wednesday afternoon in the provincial legislature, against the opposition of New Democrats and Liberals. Isaacs said in a news release it will “hurt my family by allowing even more pollution of our life-giving river.”...
Register
New Zealand Parliament suspends 3 Māori Party lawmakers for haka protest
By Charlotte Graham-Mclay WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand’s Parliament before. The lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, performed the haka, a chanting dance of challenge, in November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights. The protest drew global headlines and provoked months of fraught debate among lawmakers about what the consequences for the lawmakers’ actions should be and the place...
Register
BDC, First Nations Bank launch $100M initiative to support business acquisitions
Indigenous communities are set to get access to more capital to buy businesses as the First Nations Bank of Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada launch a new initiative. The two say the $100 million program will make it easier for Indigenous communities and economic development agencies to support Indigenous businesses, and buy more of them. Bill Lomax, chief executive of the FNBC, says the demographic shift that is expected to lead to a wave of business owners retiring in the years ahead provides an opportunity for wealth creation in Indigenous communities. Isabelle Hudon, chief executive of BDC, says the collaboration will help lead to economic reconciliation and accelerate the rise of the next generation of Indigenous business leaders. The two say the initiative is expected to see...
Register
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe faces call to bring in military as wildfires rage
By Jeremy Simes As wildfires devour buildings and force thousands from their homes in Saskatchewan, the Opposition NDP is calling on Premier Scott Moe to ask for help from the military. NDP Leader Carla Beck, in a letter to Moe Thursday, questioned what the premier was waiting for. “Every available resource in our country must be deployed to fight these fires. We cannot afford to leave help on the table,” Beck wrote. “I still remember the wildfires of 2015 and then-premier Brad Wall’s decision to bring in the military and call for a co-ordinated national response.” Moe has not ruled out asking for federal aid but has said Saskatchewan does not need Ottawa’s assistance. Saskatchewan is currently receiving firefighter assistance from other provinces and the United States as it battles...
Register
B.C. and First Nations launch massive land-use planning project in northwest B.C.
By Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Rupert Northern View Five First Nations in northwest B.C. have partnered with the Province to identify areas across 16 million hectares for both biodiversity conservation and natural resource development to boost Canada’s economy. “Partnerships like this will deliver the critical minerals the world needs while better protecting the air, land and waters that First Nations have stewarded since time immemorial,” said Jagrup Brar, minister of Mining and Critical Minerals, in a June 3 news release. In the release, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship announced that over the next year, it will collaborate with the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow, and Nisga’a Nations on fast-tracked, inclusive land-use planning. This process will also involve engaging with industry and other...
Register
Ontario to make Ring of Fire a special economic zone ‘as quickly as possible’: Ford
By Liam Casey and Allison Jones Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province intends to designate the mineral-rich Ring of Fire as a special economic zone as quickly as possible. He says he and several ministers will consult all summer with First Nations about the new law that allows the Ontario government to suspend provincial and municipal rules before making the designation. The law seeks to speed up the building of large projects, particularly mines. First Nations are livid about the new law and say it tramples their rights and ignores their concerns. The province passed Bill 5 on Wednesday despite several weeks of First Nations protests throughout the province and at Queen’s Park. Critics also say the bill guts protections for endangered and threatened species. This report by The...
Register
California’s Yurok Tribe gets back ancestral lands that were taken over 120 years ago
By Dorany Pineda, Terry Chea And Godofredo Vasquez ON THE KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — As a youngster, Barry McCovey Jr. would sneak through metal gates and hide from security guards just to catch a steelhead trout in Blue Creek amid northwestern California redwoods. Since time immemorial, his ancestors from the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. But for more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed by timber companies, severing the tribe’s access to its homelands. When McCovey started working as a fisheries technician, the company would let him go there to do his job. “Snorkeling Blue Creek … I felt the significance of that place to myself and to our people, and I knew then that we had...
Register
Life is Sacred: Ruby Littlechild’s understanding of being good to one another
By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Any tree that is firmly rooted into Mother Earth is nutrient dense because of the soil, which is the foundation that gives a tree its beauty and wonder. A tree is often looked at in awe of how this creation continues to gift life to all those that live upon Mother Earth. Some trees are deformed, or have different shades than others, or come from a faraway place and are not like the trees we are used to seeing. A tree is never shamed or blamed for its short comings or put in harm’s way based on its differences. And yet human behaviours, thoughts, and feelings towards the differences amongst our relatives’ rich in diverse understandings are usually rooted in...
Register
North Carolina governor forms council to recommend cannabis regulations
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein says a panel he’s tasked with recommending cannabis sale regulations — including potential legalization of adult use of marijuana — should aim to provide a structure in a state where products now from otherwise lawful hemp are unregulated and leave young people unprotected. The Democratic governor signed an executive order this week creating a State Advisory Council on Cannabis. North Carolina is among a small number of states whose laws prohibit marijuana for both medicinal use or adult recreational use. The General Assembly would have to enact any law legalizing marijuana. The council’s findings could add pressure upon lawmakers to place regulations on products, many of which can be obtained at vape and convenience stores. The order directs the 24-member council...
Register
B.C. First Nation builds small island, fisheries officials check for habitat damage
By Wolfgang Depner A British Columbia First Nation has built up a small artificial island in the tidal shallows of Coles Bay off Vancouver Island, triggering an investigation by fisheries officials into whether it involved habitat destruction and if authorization should have been required. Two yellow excavators could be seen at work last week in the bay, heaping up stones and gravel on top of an existing rock outcrop, in a project the Department of Fisheries and Ocean said was linked to a “clam garden.” Nearby resident Richard Smith said he watched dump trucks carry loads of rock to the shore, where the excavators hauled it into the bay, also building a temporary land bridge during the construction process. He said the rock outcrop was previously visible at low tide,...
Register
Blue Jean Jacket Day takes root in Cape Breton
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post An initiative to honour the lives and memory of missing, murdered and exploited Indigenous men and boys (MMEIMB) is being commemorated country-wide on June 6 after being created in Alberta in 2023. First Nation communities all across Cape Breton are finding ways to honour men and boys by wearing blue jean jackets on Friday. This is the first time Blue Jean Jacket Day is being recognized in this area. In only two years, the desire to acknowledge the murdered and missing and educate the public about the epidemic of violence against Indigenous men and boys has spread quickly from the west to the East Coast. Indigenous men are four times more likely to die by homicide than an Indigenous woman...
Register
The Latest: Tesla shares fall after Trump lashes out at Musk
President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. In an Oval Office meeting Thursday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine — which Russia invaded in early 2022 — to a fight between two young children who hated each other. Later, Trump threatened to cut Elon Musk’s government contracts as their fractured alliance rapidly escalated into a public feud. Hours after Trump said he was “disappointed” in his former backer and adviser, Musk responded on social media, and Trump escalated the feud by threatening to use the U.S. government to hurt Musk’s bottom line. Here’s the latest: Harvard files legal challenge over Trump’s ban on US entry for incoming foreign...
Register
New York won’t rescind Native American mascot ban despite Trump’s threat of cutting federal funds
By Philip Marcelo NEW YORK (AP) — New York education officials won’t rescind the state’s ban on Native American mascots and team names, despite threats from the Trump administration that it risks losing federal funding. Instead, New York officials suggested in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday that they could broaden the state ban to include names and mascots derived from other racial or ethnic groups that the department deems offensive. The federal agency last week determined New York violated Title VI of the federal civil rights law by issuing a statewide ban on the use of Native American mascots and logos. The department’s civil rights office found the state ban is discriminatory because names and mascots that are still permitted are also derived from other...
Register
