Circle of Turtle Lodge seek support for Indigenous centre
By Hazel Atkins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Renfrew Times Four members of the Circle of Turtle Lodge visited Petawawa town council to present their vision for an Indigenous knowledge hub and their petition for the land on which to build it. Chairperson Steve Fortin said, “We respectfully present our vision for an Indigenous knowledge hub, and a sustainable community centre.” “We are petitioning for the allocation of 2-3 acres of municipally owned land near Pembroke on the Kitchi Sibi river. If the land does not already contain an existing structure, we will seek funding to build one.” The Circle of Turtle Lodge provides services for cultural revitalization, community healing, and environmental healing. “For more than 25 years the circle has delivered impactful community programs,” Fortin went on. Renfrew County...
Register
Funding boost bodes well for regional transit application
By Joe O’Grady, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker TEMISKAMING SHORES – An increase in transit funding is potentially great news for Temiskaming Shores as it pursues regional expansion of the local transit system. The province has announced it will increase the Ontario Transit Investment Fund (OTIF) from $5 million to $10 million annually over the next three years. The $30 million investment, it says, will help rural and underserved communities build safe and reliable transit services, protecting Ontario’s economy and connecting more people to jobs and opportunity across the province. “We are certainly encouraged to see the province increase funding under the OTIF program,” said Mitch McCrank, Temiskaming Shores’ Director of Transportation Services. “From our perspective, it improves the overall landscape and strengthens the likelihood of meaningful investment flowing...
Register
Cree child takes first steps on Parliament Hill in historic ceremony
By Alessia Passafiume Six-month old Annora Crowe held her parents hands as she emerged from a teepee under the shadow of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on Wednesday and took her first steps. Annora and her parents walked around a small tree placed on top of pine and cedar boughs as elder Sarah Ottereyes performed a welcoming song. The tiny infant, wearing a ribbon skirt and carrying a replica axe, was at the centre of a historic event marking the first Cree walking out ceremony ever to be held on Parliament Hill. The ceremony is held to mark when a Cree child takes their first steps on the land after being held by their relatives for every moment of their life since birth. “Ceremonies like this are not from the...
Register
Inuit association, federal government agree on two conservation areas
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) and the federal government have agreed on two new conservation areas and signed an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement (IIBA) in conjunction with environmental protection plans. The two conservation areas are Qikiqtait and Sarvarjuaq. The former covers the waters around Sanikiluaq while the latter preserves waters between Grise Fiord and Greenland. “This agreement is a significant achievement for Inuit in the Qikiqtani region and for the future of our waters,” said QIA President Olayuk Akesuk. “Through this Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement, we are helping ensure that conservation is shaped by Inuit priorities, Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, and Inuit stewardship, while creating lasting benefits for our communities.” QIA will establish Inuit Protected and Conserved Areas in the two...
Register
Six Nations Archeologist calls for changes to Indigenous ancestral remains processes
By Alex Murray Writer The Niagara region is a hotbed for discoveries of Indigenous ancestral remains—but for now, that may not be good news for Indigenous communities or area homeowners. Indigenous ancestral remains were discovered under the home of a couple living in the Niagara region in 2023. A foreman made the find during preliminary work on the renovations for the home of Christine and Dan Reio in Wainfleet, Ontario overlooking Lake Erie. That discovery could now cost the Reios $319,000. After a preliminary investigation by police to determine possible cause of death provincial officials told the Reios they had unearthed ancestral Indigenous remains of a young man, likely around 20 years old. Tanya Hill-Montour, archeology supervisor with Six Nations of the Grand River, was enlisted to investigate the scene....
Register
Haldimand County wants conditions met before land returned to Six Nations
Haldimand County Council (HCC) is voicing concerns and laying down conditions before any Six Nations’ plan to add county lands to its community takes place. Concerns that could see the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) providing them with approval on future proposals for the land, ensuring road maintenance and will allow only approved forms of development to take place. SNEC is moving to add 40 acres of land, currently under Haldimand County jurisdiction to the community through the federal Additions to Reserve (ATR) program. The fee simple parcels are located near the community’s southeast border at 160 Concession 17 Road at Hagersville. The rectangular parcel is adjacent to Six Nations jutting out perpendicular to the community towards the southeast. A Haldimand County report outlining their concerns, was obtained by Turtle...
Register
Six Nations Economic Development Trust has almost $500k available in second round of grants
By Alex Murray Writer Six Nations businesses and non-profits have a chance at extra funding if they can get applications in to the Six Nations of the Grand River Economic Development Trust (EDT) in time. The EDT announced on Tuesday (April 7) that they had $459,599 available for a second round of funding in 2026. Eligible businesses and organizations can now apply online at www.sixnationsedt.ca. The deadline for general applicants is 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, while the deadline for grassroots applicants is a week later, on Friday, May 1, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Of the total funding available through EDT, $399,599 is allocated for general business applications, while an additional $60,000 will go towards grassroots applicants, which have a cap of $15,000 per application. The EDT defines grassroots...
Register
Heather Winterstein Inquest: Witness says “It Made Me Lose Hope In the ER Department”
By Alex Murray Writer Heather Winterstein looked “terrified” shortly before she collapsed on the day she died, a woman waiting in the emergency department that day told a coroner’s inquest on Friday (April 10). Winterstein died of sepsis at the hospital December 10, 2021, after attempting to get treatment at the hospital, now called Marotta Family Hospital, over the previous two days. Emmaleen Young was sitting in the waiting room near Winterstein. Young testified she saw Winterstein slumped over in her wheelchair, and she could see a “blotchy rash” on the 24-year-old Indigenous woman’s body. Young testified that she asked Winterstein if she needed any help, and Winterstein struggled to respond, “No, thank you.” Young later watched as Heather’s body folded over and she fell out of the wheelchair and...
Register
B.C. First Nation asks UN body to count cultural losses in spill compensation formula
By Wolfgang Depner -CP-Delegates from a First Nation along British Columbia’s coast will lobby an international maritime body headquartered in the United Kingdom to change the compensation formula for oil spills. Chief Marilyn Slett, elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation in northwestern B.C., will be in London on Tuesday to address the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. The IMO sets global standards for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping, and Slett says she will ask the organization’s legal committee to include Indigenous cultural losses. Slett points specifically to the events that happened almost exactly a decade ago, when the tug Nathan E. Stewart hauling a tank barge ran aground some 10 nautical miles west of Bella Bella, B.C. The hull of the...
Register
Editorial: Six Nations lands..are Six Nations lands.
Six Nations is finding itself once again in a quandary over its own lands. With a need to expand to meet urgent housing needs, a population of over 30,000 and line ups to get on the membership list the community needs land. Not just any land. It needs its own lands and the ability to expand onto them. The community, over the years, has, after long fights and arguments, had some of its lands returned. But its acreage that continues to sit idle while the band council waits through the federal governments return to reserve process. A four-stage process that is cumbersome and paper heavy. It couldn’t get much more bureaucratic. It requires reviews. It needs a proposal. Environmental assessments need to be undertaken and of course legal land searches...
Register
Today in History
April 19 In 1907, Tom Longboat, from Ontario’s Six Nations Onondaga Reserve, became the first Canadian to win the Boston Marathon. April 20 In 2022, Chief Byron Bitternose of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan said a months-long search with ground-penetrating radar near the George Gordon Indian Residential School site detected 14 possible graves. The George Gordon residential school was run by the Anglican Church between 1888 to 1996 and has been described as one of the worst residential schools in Canada. In 2023, the Shishalh Nation on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast said ground-penetrating radar identified what are believed to be 40 unmarked graves of children on or near the site of the former St. Augustine’s Residential School. April 21 In 2022, a national Inuit organization endorsed a plan...
Register
UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: Chikabesh and Tapiskapeesim
By Xavier Kataquapit When I was a boy growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, I was deathly afraid of looking at the full moon. I grew up in a very traditional Cree environment in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast in northern Ontario. In the 1980s, my family and I only spoke Inineemoon or ‘James Bay Cree’ because it was the language our parents and grandparents spoke. The language and the world my parents and grandparents raised us in were very different from those in the rest of Canada. Storytelling was very important to our parents and grandparents and many of these stories were told in humorous or frightening ways to make them memorable. One story that always stuck...
Register
Brantford Ice Cats Ontario Women’s NA Champs!
The Brantford Ice Cats U 11 A girls hockey team competed at the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincials April 9 to the 12th and brought home the win! The Ice Cats went undefeated during the round robin play defeating Barrie Sharks 11 to 2, North Durham Blades 6-2 and the Blue Water Hawks 3-1. They earned a bye to the semifinals by finishing first overall. They defeated Sault Sainte Marie 6-1 to punch their ticket to the all Ontario championship where they met a familiar foe from league playoffs, the Stratford Aces. After an exciting back and forth contest, a winner could not be determined as they entered extra periods tied 2-2. Goals coming from Kyleigh Williams 11 seconds into the game and Cadence Johnson after a beautiful tip in...
Register
Rivermen preparing for upcoming season
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Rivermen have officially kicked off preparations for their 2026 season. The local Senior B lacrosse squad held its first day of tryouts on Sunday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) About 30 prospective players attended the first day of camp. “There were some pleasant surprises,” said Rivermen general manager Jay Smith. “There weren’t any surprises that were negative. But there was a lot of new faces and the season is looking bright already. So, we should be good.” Smith anticipates the majority of those who were on the Rivermen roster last season to also try to crack the roster of the squad, which competes in the Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL). “I’m going to say probably most are coming back,” Smith said. “But there...
Register
Stars register two victories at season-ending provincial championships
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Stars managed to finish their inaugural season on an upbeat note. The Stars won two of their three matches at the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) tournament, which began this past Friday and concluded on Sunday at various Toronto and area rinks. The local side was one of 20 entrants participating in the Senior C category at the OWHA tourney. The Senior C grouping was divided into five pools. Clubs had to win their pool – in essence all three of their round-robin contests – to advance to the playoff portion of the tourney. The Stars knew their chances of advancing were slim after they were defeated 3-1 by the Orillia Hawks in their opening tilt. The Hawks ended up winning the OWHA...
Register
Ceremonies held at gas plant sites
By Sam McBain, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter – The Advocate Indigenous ceremonies were performed at the sites of the two future natural gas plants proposed for Marshdale and Salt Springs. The April 11 ceremonies began with smudging, an Indigenous rite where participants engulfed their heads, faces and bodies in smoke to invoke an unseen power to affect their thoughts and perception, as described by ritual leader Tonya Francis from Pictou Landing First Nation. Participants then held a seven-direction prayer to the north, south, east, west, sky, ground and within. They were led in prayer to the spirits of different directions, animals, geographical features — including water — and their ancestors. After this, Francis brought some of the children to the river to make a sacrificial food offering to the river...
Register
Assembly of First Nations National Chief says Carney win a “Key Opportunity” for First Nations
OTTAWA-Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says a Liberal party majority government hay be a “key opportunity” to take action on First Nations’ issues . “A majority government means Prime Minister Carney and his cabinet colleagues can now move with renewed momentum on First Nations priorities and the Crown’s legal obligations and commitments to our people,” Woodhouse Nepinak said in an AFN press release on Tuesday (April 14). She says a majority government will allow Carney and his cabinet to operate with limited interference from opposition parties and could lead to more concrete steps in implementing legislation that benefits First Nations. First Nations priorities, Woodhouse Nepinak said, include access to clean water, a major issue for many First Nations around the country. “This includes introducing strong...
Register
Alberta eyes accelerated review system for major projects over $250 million
By Jack Farrell Alberta is proposing rule changes that would see Premier Danielle Smith’s government become more involved in kick-starting potential big-ticket industrial projects. A bill introduced Tuesday by Energy Minister Brian Jean would set out a new project review process with a group of cabinet members being the first to set eyes on proposals. The goal is to assist private industry in bolstering their applications. “It’s sort of like going to the teacher halfway through a major project just to make sure … you’re on the right path,” Jean told reporters before the bill was introduced. “We’re going to make sure you do it right at that point or at least check your work.” Under the bill, a cabinet review would then lead to further checks by a committee...
Register
‘All hands on deck:’ Manitoba asks civil servants to help flood prep on First Nation Slugline: Mba-Flood
By Brittany Hobson The Manitoba government says it’s likely a First Nation at risk of severe flooding will be evacuated, and the province is calling on public servants to help. The request comes as dozens of volunteers from across Canada have been making their way to Peguis First Nation, located along the Fisher River north of Winnipeg. They are helping to set up sandbags and build clay dikes to protect homes. “It’s a bit of an all-hands-on-deck situation,” Lisa Naylor, minister of transportation and infrastructure, said Tuesday. Preparations began last week after the flood-prone First Nation was warned that it could see water levels similar to those in 2022, when more than 2,000 residents were forced out and hundreds of homes were damaged. The province’s spring outlook shows that the...
Register
B.C. tables treaty legislation after 30-year negotiation with K’omoks First Nation
By Ashley Joannou A First Nation in British Columbia is one step closer to a fully ratified treaty after the province tabled implementation legislation on Tuesday, about 30 years after negotiations began. The treaty would confirm K’omoks First Nation ownership of about 3,442 hectares of land scattered around Vancouver Island with an additional 1,592 hectares available for purchase from the province over time. The document would replace an Indian Act-imposed band administration with a government authority for all K’omoks members and give the First Nation of about 350 members the ability to make laws around issues including taxation, child protective services and the administration of justice. Chief Coun. Nicole Rempel told the legislature Tuesday that the move was a meaningful step toward a future where the nation can fully realize...
Register
