B.C. tables another First Nation treaty ratification, but overlap concerns persist
By Wolfgang Depner The Kitselas First Nation in northwestern B.C. has reached a major milestone in its treaty process as the province tabled legislation to ratify the agreement, in the second such achievement for a First Nation in as many days. But like the province’s treaty process with the K’omoks First Nation, the Kitselas process is also facing opposition from its neighbours. The legislation tabled Wednesday by Indigenous Relations Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert grants the Kitselas First Nation ownership over 38,250 hectares of land in its territory near Terrace, B.C., along with self-governance in several areas, including the administration of justice. Deputy Chief Coun. Cyril Bennett-Nabess said during a ceremony before the legislation was tabled that his First Nation had overcome a “struggle,” which began over 113 years ago with...
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‘Out of many, one,’ says a US national motto. What does that push for unity mean today?
By Deepti Hajela NEW YORK (AP) — The aspirations cut a wide swath through American history since 1776 — from the “All men are created equal” of the Declaration of Independence and the “We the people” of the Constitution, to the “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” of the Pledge of Allegiance. One can find it in the country’s name — the UNITED States of America — and in the sentiment of the motto written in Latin on its coins and one-dollar bills: E Pluribus Unum, or “out of many, one.” The effort has been optimistic and unrealistic, successful and a failure, enduring as an American ideal during moments when citizens struggled — and struggle today — to practice it. How has the notion of unity in American society...
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Sahtu Guardians program likely to move forward amid NGN fraud case
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio The Sahtú Renewable Resources Board says a program funded by the First Nations National Guardians Network is likely to move forward this spring, despite uncertainty over a final payment owed. Late last month, the First Nations National Guardians Network – or NGN – launched a civil lawsuit against one of its employees with the goal of recouping more than $6 million the organization said she had fraudulently diverted. NGN had been administering funds from the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change for Guardians programs across Canada. In a statement of claim filed by NGN, the organization said the alleged fraud left it without the money required to pay basic operating costs. The Sahtú Renewable Resources Board has received funding from...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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