Six Nations youth lacrosse teams enjoy success at provincial championships
By Sam Laskaris Writer Members of the Six Nations Girls Field Lacrosse Association are certainly beaming with pride these days. That’s because four of the teams from the local association managed to capture some hardware the past couple of weekends during their season-ending provincial tournaments. This included the Six Nations’ Under-9 squad. The team had managed to win just two out of its six regular season matches this year. The squad then participated in the B Division of its provincial championships, two weekends ago in Brampton. Six Nations was one of three entrants in the division. After losing its opening match 11-9 against Kitchener, it managed to register a lopsided 18-7 triumph against Owen Sound. Then, based on a formula factoring in goals scored versus those allowed, the Six Nations...
Register
Sam Laskaris – BEHIND THE ACTION – Six Nations Chiefs
By Sam Laskaris Writer It’s playoff time in the Major Series Lacrosse (MSL). For local fans that means it is time to figure out whether the Six Nations Chiefs will be able to end a seven-year drought and go all the way and capture a national Mann Cup championship. The Chiefs last hoisted the Canadian championship, the sixth one in the organization’s history, back in 2016. Six Nations has had its share of decent teams since then. But each time the Chiefs ended up short of their ultimate goal of hoisting the Mann Cup. There is a sense, however, that this year could be different. This could very well be the season that the Six Nations squad is the one that is celebrating at the conclusion of the national Senior...
Register
Top-seeded Tomahawks to host provincial championships at ILA
By Sam Laskaris Writer Jay Smith has done it again. The Six Nations resident seems to have a knack for taking the reins of a lacrosse club and making it a success. “Every time I’m asked to coach, my job is to get players to the next level,” said Smith, the bench boss of the Six Nations Tomahawks, the local Senior C squad. “Oftentimes we are starting from scratch or rebuilding. This team fell into the rebuilding category. I wasn’t handed a team that was already set and just rode their coattails. We built this pretty much from scratch. And here we are with the best record in senior lacrosse in Ontario period.” Smith first became the Tomahawks’ coach back in 2019. He led the team to a provincial title,...
Register
Rebels inch towards national tournament; Attack prepares for provincials
By Sam Laskaris Writer A squad from an Indigenous community in Ontario will be participating in this year’s Founders Cup, the national Junior B lacrosse tournament. That’s because the two squads that will square off in the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s best-of-five championship final series are the Six Nations Rebels and the Akwesasne Thunder. The series winner will advance to the Founders Cup, which will be staged Aug. 14-20 in Port Coquitlam, B.C. The Rebels earned a spot into the Ontario finals in rather dramatic fashion. They edged the visiting St. Catharines Athletics 11-10 in double overtime this past Friday in the fifth and deciding game of their Western Conference final series. The match was held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Akwesasne moved on to the provincial finals by beating the...
Register
UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: Time Is The Great Healer
By Xavier Kataquapit Tragedy seems to be a normal part of life for my people. I’ve known so many sad stories during my life time that with every passing event, I feel numb to the pain that a normal person should realize. It doesn’t mean I am immune to the pain. Instead, I feel a deep sense of sadness when I experience the passing of loved ones in my life as it reminds me of so many others that have gone before. This past month when most of us should be enjoying summer joy several people passed on unexpectedly. My cousin Jeff Kataquapit passed on recently at the age of 57. He had suffered from a chronic pulmonary disease for some time and we had all worried about...
Register
New justice minister arrives amid bail debate, vows fresh look at judicial vacancies
By Stephanie Taylor THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Canada’s new justice minister plans to tell his staff and department to move “expeditiously” to address judicial vacancies, an issue that had dogged his predecessors and resulted in a reprimand from the country’s top judge. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau picked Toronto MP and former human rights and constitutional lawyer Arif Viranito replace David Lametti when he unveiled his new cabinet this week, in a shuffle meant to renew the Liberal benches after nearly eight years in government. Virani, an Ismaili Muslim who came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda in 1972, is one of seven rookies entering cabinet. But jumping straight into the dual role of justice minister and attorney general makes him the biggest mover of the bunch. “The prime minister...
Register
Haudenosaunee mark 100th anniversary of Deskaheh’s fight
DESKAHEH: 100 years of defending soverignty Haudenosaunee Confederacy delegation in Geneva By Lynda Powless Writer GENEVA SWITZERLAND – A delegation of Haudenosaunee marked 100 years of defending Haudenosaunee sovereignty and the man who led it, Deskaheh, in Geneva last week. A century ago, Cayuga Royanni Deskaheh/ Levi General travelled to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1923 to protest Canada’s subjugation of the Haudenosaunee people. Today, in 2023, Cayuga Royanni Deskaheh /Steve Jacobs and a Confederacy delegation travelled to Geneva not only to continue to draw attention to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s fight for sovereignty recognition but to participate in the 100th anniversary of Royanni Levi General’s trip. Fueled with support from Haudenosaunee Deskaheh/ Levi General made the long trip in 1923 only to find the United Nations wouldn’t grant...
Register
Six Nations partners to build new housing five-plex
Six Nations is taking another shot at its long list for housing by building a new multi family unit on Harold Road. The unit is aimed at bringing down Six Nations growing housing wait list. There are 251 families and individuals on Six Nations housing waitlist. Six Nations CEO Darren Jamieson says the community will grow by 40 per cent in the next decade. He also expects most members would prefer to live on the reserve, so making spaces for homes and people is a priority. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) approved $1.7 million to build a second five-unit building on Harold Road at its General Finance Committee meeting on July 17. The new building is adjacent to and exactly the same as the building currently in development. Habitat for...
Register
Six Nations Public Works to start work on flooding
Six Nations is tackling flooding on the territory for residents at its own cost. The 2019 Community Plan identified flood remediation as one of the community’s top priorities, a priority reinforced in a 2022 survey. As a result Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) staff developed the Mackenzie Creek Drainage and Flood Remediation Plan. SNEC approved putting part of that plan in motion at its General Finance Committee meeting on July 17 at a cost of just over $646,000. Ontario and Canada will fund up to two thirds of the cost through the Small Communities Fund, which will amount to about $430,000, but Six Nations is on the hook for the other approximately $215,000. The Environment Task Force established a Drainage Working Group, which identified the highest priority area for flood...
Register
Six Nations Elected Council to hold celebration for returning North American Indigenous Games participants
Six Nations athletes will have to wait until they return triumphant from the North American Indigenous Games to have support from Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC). Elected Chief Mark Hill supported organizing some kind of return celebration at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on July 10. Councillor Sherri Lyn Hill introduced new business to finalize SNEC’s support after weeks of discussion surrounding the athletes and how to support all athletes in the community. Hill said about 52 Six Nations Athletes are among more than 500 attending the games to compete in 16 sports at 21 venues in Halifax, Nova Scotia from July 15 to 23. Councillor Hill said a community member wanted to see the issue finalized, but previously SNEC had considered paying transportation to the airport, the registration fee...
Register
Six Nations Cannabis Commission still no bank account
The Six Nations Cannabis Commission has made money for the first time since it was founded in 2019, but it still doesn’t have a bank account. Kathy Mair, the Six Nations Cannabis Commission’s (SNCC) chief commissioner told Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) at the Political Liaison meeting Monday ( July 24) she’s been speaking with banks, but hasn’t had any luck securing an account. “I’ve met with every bank across Canada, including credit unions,” she said. “Everybody takes me along and everybody says they can help and then something comes up and they can’t,” she said. “Nobody is willing to go against the banking charter.” Within the last few months the SNCC has also signed its first cannabis retailer, she said and two others have followed. Mair said others have...
Register
Come rain or sunshine Six Nations annual Pow Wow drawing crowds!
By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – The 44th Champion of Champions Pow Wow is back and took Six Nations by storm this weekend. While hundreds of people packed the bleachers, a long parade of dancers made their way into the arena as drums beat and singers’ voices filled the air. Organizer Charlene Bomberry had a huge smile for the success of the second powwow since COVID-19 shut the world down. The powwow moved from its longtime home base at Chiefswood Park last year to Ohsweken Speedway . A move Bomberry said served the needs of the growing event. The park site, she said had become just too small to host the event. The move last year came with growing pains but she says she is happy...
Register
100 years of fighting
It wasn’t an easy task. Today, it is still unknown to many. But the international fight for Haudenosaunee rights began at Six Nations of the Grand River over a century ago. And it began quietly. They held bake sales and dances and came up with ways to raise money to help. Unbeknown to audiences, and even some residents of Six Nations, the Pageant, a play based on Haudenosaunee history that continued to the late 1990s, itself began as a subversive activity with money raised going to the fight for autonomy. Fear that Canada was encroaching on the authority of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was quietly sparking action from all corners to solicit support even before the HCCC was removed from office by armed RCMP in 1924 and a Canada controlled band...
Register
Weekly Cartoon
...
Register
Hamilton pleads guilty to sewage leak
HAMILTON – As the long-awaited clean up of Chedoke Creek restarts, the court flips the city a $2.9M bill in fines and damages. Ontario’s Ministry of the nvironment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is holding the city accountable for letting 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater leak into Chedoke Creek. More than two years of talks and negotiating has followed, but has the sewage-gate saga ended? Time will tell if this latest turn of events leads to a resolution that clears the waters. To date, Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise remains contaminated with bio-hazardous wastes from billions in litres of sewage and stormwater. On Thursday (July 20), the city issued a press release confirming they pleaded guilty to the charges, and will pay fines and damages totalling about $3 million....
Register
Powless continues successful run adding NAIG gold medal to collection
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations’ Darcy Powless managed to do it again. During the past couple of years Powless has been involved with numerous championship squads or clubs that have managed to earn some hardware at prestigious competitions. Powless’ most recent addition to his medal collection occurred this past Saturday. He was an assistant coach with the Ontario boys’ under-19 lacrosse squad that captured the gold medal at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), which were primarily held in Halifax. Ontario downed British Columbia 11-9 in the championship final. “It was a really good game,” Powless said. “It was back and forth for the whole game.” Powless had originally agreed to serve as the head coach for Ontario’s team at NAIG. But these latest multi-sport Games in Nova Scotia...
Register
Ohsweken squad to compete at national fastball championships
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Ohsweken Redmen have a rather hectic August coming up. For starters, the local men’s squad will be participating at this year’s Canadian Native Fastball Championships, which will be staged Aug. 4-6 in Calgary. The Ohsweken squad had placed second in the senior men’s category at the 2022 national tournament held in Prince George, B.C. The local team also participated and placed second at the 2019 Canadian championships, when it was called the Ontario Smoke. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 national tournaments were cancelled. Darrell Anderson, who will manage the local team in Calgary, is obviously hoping this is the year his charges can go a step further and win the national tourney. But he realizes that will be no easy...
Register
Rivermen split first two playoff contests versus Merchants
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Rivermen opened their 2023 playoff schedule with back-to-back games this past Friday and Saturday. And the Rivermen, the local Senior B men’s lacrosse squad, had drastically different results in those two outings. For starters, the Six Nations squad hit the road Friday and squared off against the host Brooklin Merchants. The Rivermen muscled their way to a convincing 14-7 victory in that match, which was held at the Luther Vipond Memorial Arena. Members of the Six Nations club, however, certainly did not like the way things transpired the following night. The Merchants downed the Rivermen in Game 2 of their best-of-five Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) semi-final series 8-3. Despite only scoring a season-low of three goals in Saturday’s outing, held at the Iroquois...
Register
Six Nations Police had their hands full when a transport truck overturned
Six Nations Police had their hands full when a transport truck overturned at Fifth Line turning onto Chiefswood Road Monday (July 17) holding up traffic for most of the day. (Photo by Jim C. Powless)...
Register
‘Heartless’: Miller criticizes Manitoba government’s decision not to search landfill
By Kelly Geraldine Malone THE CANADIAN PRESS The federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations is criticizing Manitoba’s government for standing in the way of a search for the remains of two slain Indigenous women believed to be in a landfill, as others say the jurisdictional battle is leaving the victims’ families and the City of Winnipeg in limbo. “We are willing to play a role, a very important role in this,’ Marc Miller said Wednesday at the Assembly of First Nations general meeting in Halifax. “But the reality of where we’re working is that the government of Canada can’t nationalize the garbage dump or the waste disposal system of the City of Winnipeg.’’ Dozens of protesters have blocked the main road of the Brady Road landfill demanding a search of a...
Register
