B.C. firm ‘over the moon’ about contract to chart Canada’s role in lunar explorati
By Nono Shen Shaun Riddell is “over the moon” — figuratively, if not quite yet literally — since his Langley, B.C., firm was named among three companies hired by the Canadian Space Agency to lay the groundwork for human and robotic missions to the lunar surface. Riddell, the CEO of SpaceDirt, says he was “blown away” by the awarding of the $500,000 contract, given the competition for the national grant. SpaceDirt makes technology for autonomous robotic resource development on Earth, aimed at predicting where to drill and making discovery faster, safer, and more cost-effective in extreme environments. Riddell says the long-term vision for the company’s robots is to be the “dump trucks” of the moon, while the current project will draw a road map on how “Canada will contribute to...
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New full-length rock album a reflection of growing up Indigenous in urban Alberta
By Crystal St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Midnight Sparrows, a Vancouver-based hard rock group, has released full-length studio album Arrows, Arrows, Arrows. The release follows debut album Rock & Roll City (2020) and six-song EP Born in the City (2022). Blair Bellerose (Métis, Cree, Dene), lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, is a member of the Fort McKay First Nation in northern Alberta. He grew up though in St. Albert near Edmonton. “I would say it leans towards hard rock, reminiscent of music from the 70s, 80s and 90s,” said Bellerose of Arrows, Arrows, Arrows. “Songs range from tunes that lean almost country sounding to more of a heavier rock sound. There are 10 songs on the album and it’s fairly diverse.” Bellerose wrote the 10-tracks on Arrows, Arrows,...
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Children’s series inspired by Cree lessons during pandemic
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A pandemic educational journey has blossomed into the latest project for Vancouver filmmaker April Johnson. A member of Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan, Johnson has produced a children’s series titled Kokum & Dot. The TELUS series will have its broadcast debut on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day. Kokum & Dot features acclaimed Peguis First Nation actor/musician Renae Morriseau, who plays Dorothy. Her granddaughter Dot is a puppet voiced by Kellie Haines. Season one of the series features eight episodes, 11 minutes each. It has already been greenlit for a second season even though the first episode has yet to air. Each episode begins with Dorothy asking her granddaughter how her day is going. New Cree words are introduced in every episode....
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Six Nations Elected Council joins men’s group in lawsuit against Six Nations Confederacy Council’s development institute
Six Nations Elected Council joins men’s group in photo after signing onto their class action lawsuit (SNEC Photo) By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) has joined forces with a local men’s group to launch a class action lawsuit against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council’s development arm, the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI). Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) and representatives of the Six Nations Men’s Fire have formalized an agreement to work together in a proposed class action seeking accountability and transparency regarding funds received by the HDI on behalf of the community. Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill announced that SNEC passed a motion to join litigation initiated by Men’s Fire with representatives Bill Montour and Wilfred Davey at the General Council meeting on June 9. ...
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Senator, MP, advocate call on Ottawa to pass Indian Act status law before break
By Alessia Passafiume First Nations MPs and senators are calling on the federal government to pass legislation changing the rules on status under the Indian Act before they leave Ottawa for the summer break. The legislation, S-2, was amended by senators to remove what is known as the second-generation cutoff and permits the transfer of First Nations status to a child if one of their parents is registered. It’s being studied by the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues and a Conservative MP moved a motion today for debate to end. Sen. Paul Prosper, who put forward those amendments, says there is overwhelming support for the changes from some 500 First Nations across the country. He says it appears the federal government does not want to change status requirements...
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HBC Royal Charter welcomed in Winnipeg ceremony at Manitoba Museum
By Ian Bickis A historic document that granted the Hudson’s Bay Company control over roughly one-third of Canada is now in public hands. The HBC Royal Charter has been unveiled at the Manitoba Museum in a ceremony with members of Indigenous groups that included a pipe ceremony and the lighting of a traditional Inuit oil lamp. King Charles II issued the charter in 1670 based on the misguided premise that the lands were vacant and free for the taking. Kevin Tacan, who performed the pipe ceremony, said the document will be an important part of teaching history to children, and to ask where the country goes from here. The artifact was sold to the Weston and Thomson families for $18 million last year after the fur-trading-company-turned-department-store’s collapse. The two families...
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A lost kelp forest, found in a box of old photos
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer The kelp forest in the northern Salish Sea was gone before anyone knew how much had been lost. Then Brian Timmer opened a box of 1972 photographs. The photos were part of roughly 14 boxes of field notes, reports and aerial images left behind by the late researcher Alan Austin in the University of Victoria archives. They had been taken to map red algae but also captured another story: a coastline dark with bull kelp near Comox, Denman Island and Cape Lazo. In some places, kelp stretched more than a kilometre offshore and ran for kilometres along the coast. Timmer said the photos matched stories from people who remember fishing above dense kelp beds as children, including one account of...
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NEWS ALERT-Six Nations Police shut down non-Six Nations owned tobacco plant operating on Seneca Road
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Police have shut down a section of Seneca Road as part of an multi-police force raid of an illegal tobacco plant being operated by non-Six Nations people. Six Nations Police Chief Darren Montour told Turtle Island News the business is being operated by an “outside criminal element” from the Hamilton area with no employees from Six Nations or any Six Nations involvement. Six Nations residents will see a heavy police presence in the area including both Six Nations Police and OPP who are assisting. Motorists should avoid Seneca Road that is closed between Townline Road and First Line as the investigation continues. MORE TO COME...
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‘This is what you call genocide’: Hundreds rally for First Nations heath care
By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com SIOUX LOOKOUT – “Health care for our people is not a health-care benefit, it is a treaty, an inherent right (…) It is a treaty obligation that must be fulfilled,” said the former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, Christopher Moonias. About 400 people gathered outside the Indigenous Services Canada office in Sioux Lookout on Monday afternoon to raise awareness about flaws within the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program intended to ensure access to health care for Indigenous people. In the first week of June, five members of Neskantaga have already missed appointments due to no travel accommodations being made. Last month, there were 21 appointments missed in the small community of just over 300 people, according to a spokesperson for the First...
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Nisga’a official says most hurdles for Ksi Lisims have been cleared
By Lauren Krugel The secretary-treasurer of the Nisga’a Nation in northern British Columbia says there remain few obstacles to a final go-ahead decision for the Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas plant and export terminal. “I think we’ve basically cleared almost all hurdles for this project,” Charles Morven told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Energy Show in Calgary on Tuesday. The $10-billion Ksi Lisims project would be on Nisga’a land in the northwest corner of B.C. near the Alaska border. The lead developer is Houston-based Western LNG; Rockies LNG, a consortium of Canadian natural gas producers, is also part of the plan. Morven said he sees his community’s participation in LNG as a way to achieve more autonomy. “That’s what we’re working toward, to build our own financial capital...
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Yukon Energy fish hatchery uses helicopter to complete 2026 salmon release
By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Staff from the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Hatchery together with partners at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), andKwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN), conducted their annual release of salmon fry into Yukon River tributaries Tuesday, slingingtens of thousands of fish by helicopter into remote spawning beds in Michie Creek. This work is funded by Yukon Energy which owns the hatchery facility and is operated at based on direction from the DFO. Travis Ritchie is the director of Risk and Compliance at Yukon Energy and says the project has been ongoing for over 40years with the goal of offsetting the number of fish killed when juvenile salmon transit through the dam on their way fromupstream spawning beds to the Pacific Ocean. “Roughly...
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Disappearance of Fort Nelson woman featured on true crime podcast
By Energeticcity.ca Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT NELSON, B.C. — The disappearance of a Fort Nelson Indigenous woman from two years ago is the focus of a true crime podcast this week. Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) resident Karen Tessier was 57 years old when she was last seen in the community in July 2024. Without a trace, she vanished. Her vehicle was found in the community days later, with no trace of her. The North District RCMP Major Crimes unit treated the disappearance as highly suspicious, and FNFN has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to what happened to Tessier. The disappearance was the subject of a recent episode of the True North True Crime podcast, a medium with 18,000 Facebook followers. A preview of the 43-minute episode...
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Tory MP says 4,000 letters sent urging Carney to amend Indian Act status rules
By Alessia Passafiume A Conservative MP says more than 4,000 letters have been sent to the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues demanding that the federal government immediately change the way First Nations status works under the Indian Act. MP Billy Morin, the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation who serves as the Conservative party’s critic of Indigenous Services, echoed those calls in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney this week. The committee, known as INAN, is studying legislation that would change the rules establishing who is entitled to First Nations status under the Indian Act. It was introduced in the Senate as S-2 and initially had support from the governing Liberals. The legislation was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and...
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Carney chairs virtual meeting with the premiers as CUSMA talks loom on horizon
By The Canadian Press Staff Prime Minister Mark Carney chaired a virtual meeting with the premiers Wednesday afternoon as his government prepared for major trade talks with the U.S. and Mexico. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney updated the premiers on the status of engagement with the Trump administration on the future of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is “not looking to renew” CUSMA, indicating the United States will blow past a July 1 deadline for renewal. Speaking in Queen’s Park after the virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon — and after his return from meetings in Washington D.C. with industry groups earlier this week — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the premiers were told Ottawa is...
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B.C. woman pleads guilty to attempting to euthanize cat with fentanyl: SPCA
British Columbia’s animal welfare society says a woman has been banned from owning or living with pets for five years and given 12 months’ probation after pleading guilty to attempting to euthanize a cat with fentanyl. A statement from the B.C. SPCA says Jayme-Jo Crystal Brooks’ conviction also sets a precedent against at-home euthanasia practices that inflict unnecessary harm. The society says investigators began looking into Brooks in December 2024 after a veterinarian called the animal helpline to report they had humanely euthanized a cat in critical distress and a necropsy later revealed fentanyl exposure. The SPCA says it seized two other cats in the woman’s care and both were found to have cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamine in their systems. The society says one of the cats was adopted but...
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A new unit aims to help B.C. First Nations navigate police accountability processes
The First Nations Justice Council in British Columbia has officially launched an effort meant to help Indigenous people navigate the police accountability process in the province. Judith Sayers, a director with the group, says the Police Accountability Unit aims to help Indigenous people by making sure that their complaints against police are heard. Sayers, who is also president of the Nuu-Chan-nulth Tribal Council on Vancouver Island, says many Indigenous people don’t feel comfortable approaching the institutions that handle complaints against police, like the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia. She says accountability organizations like the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner serve their purpose, but don’t serve Indigenous people in a way that is needed. Alexander Kirby, acting managing lawyer of the new unit, says it will help people file...
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‘We’ve become hyper-partisan,’ says Queen’s Park intern in Kiiwetinoong
By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com SIOUX LOOKOUT – Eve Parry says the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s motto, “to hear the other side,” is “a really important message in today’s world.” The 23-year-old is one of ten people from across Canada selected this year for the highly competitive Ontario Legislature Internship Program, which allows interns to work for 10 months split between two political parties. “We’ve become hyper-partisan. So, just learning to be a bridge-builder and trying to see the best in different parties or ideologies, or just expose yourself to them, I think it’s really important in today’s world,” said Parry. Parry is now working with Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa of the NDP Party, after spending her first five months with Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman of the...
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Brantford: Police asking public for help in finding missing Kyleigh
By Alex Murray Writer BRANTFORD, ONT- The Brantford Police Service (BPS) are asking for the public’s help in locating Kyleigh, a missing 12-year-old girl. BPS says Kyleigh was last seen on June 2, 2026 at a residence on Iroquois Street in east-central Brantford. BPS did not respond to a request for comment on why there was an eight-day gap between when Kyleigh was last seen and when the public media release went out. Kyleigh, a female with curly hair and a nose ring, was wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts the last time she was seen, according to BPS. The police are seeking assistance from anyone who might have information about Kyleigh’s whereabouts so they can verify her well-being. BPS encourages anyone with information to please contact them at...
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Ginoogaming First Nation: Minister “Celebrating” Ring of Fire Progress While Nearby Community in State of Emergency
By Alex Murray Writer While Ontario Minister Greg Rickford was “celebrating” his progress on the Ring of Fire project last week, Chief and Council at Ginoogaming First Nation were “going door-to-door,” to evict drug dealers. Ginoogaming Chief Sheri Taylor and her Council declared a state of emergency on May 13, 2026. Announced alongside neighbouring Long Lake #58 First Nation, the state of emergency is due to the growing presence of drugs and crime in their territories. Rickford, who is the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation and Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships, made an announcement about a Ring of Fire milestone on June 2. That prompted a fiery statement from Ginoogaming in response on June 4. “It was deeply insulting to see...
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Tory MP says 4,000 letters sent urging Carney to amend Indian Act status rules
By Alessia Passafiume A Conservative MP says more than 4,000 letters have been sent to the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues demanding that the federal government immediately change the way First Nations status works under the Indian Act. MP Billy Morin, the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation who serves as the Conservative party’s critic of Indigenous Services, echoed those calls in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney this week. The committee, known as INAN, is studying legislation that would change the rules establishing who is entitled to First Nations status under the Indian Act. It was introduced in the Senate as S-2 and initially had support from the governing Liberals. The legislation was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and...
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