International Women’s Day: Six Nations women in elected politics didn’t take root until the 1960’s
By Lynda Powless Editor As we mark International Women’s Day Turtle Island News is taking a look at the history of women elected to the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) since its imposition in 1924. Six Nations has been a community hit by political turmoil since 1924 when the federal government imposed the elected system in Indigenous communities country-wide. The band councils would serve one year terms until 1951 when two year terms came. But it would be another 38 years, not til 1962, before women would become involved in the male dominated system. While they were elected, they also still reflected the times running under the title of Mrs, reflecting their marital status, as opposed to just their given first name. The first women elected in 1962 were in District...
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Nia:weh to our women on International Women’s Day
But it’s also a time to acknowledge those that work in the trenches here at Six Nations Turtle Island News’ home base where we can see first-hand their dedication. We have so many women that have over the years worked in the background to make local governance work as efficiency as possible and for the betterment of the community. At the band level Six Nations community members, despite anyone’s politics, have and are working to make sense of federal and provincial bureaucracy, no easy task by the way, to make lives easier and for that we say Nia:weh to them all. They head departments at the band administration that oversee the daily needs of the community and have for decades been our go to people when we are in need...
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Annual Little NHL tournament begins Sunday
By Sam Laskaris Writer As far as Ted Williams is concerned the best part of each year is starting this coming Sunday. That’s because we’re just a few days away from the puck dropping at the annual Little Native Hockey League tournament. For the second straight year, the event, which is often simply called the Little NHL, will primarily be staged at arenas in Markham. Rinks in neighbouring communities will also be utilized for the event, which will feature a record number of 276 participating clubs this year. Six Nations will be represented by about 20 teams in various age group categories, in both girls’ and boys’ divisions. The tournament, which is celebrating its 51st year, has become the largest Indigenous youth hockey tournament in Ontario. The tourney is open...
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Inaugural Little NHL tournament was held in Little Current
By Sam Laskaris Writer Back in the early 1970s racism was rampant on youth hockey teams. Regardless of their abilities, many Indigenous players were often excluded from participating on teams. And even those who did manage to get a roster spot, they would have their action limited as coaches would frequently prefer giving most of the ice time to non-Indigenous players. A group of First Nations men from Manitoulin Island decided to do something about that. They organized their own tournament and restricted it to just Indigenous players from Ontario. And that’s how the Little Native Hockey League tournament – frequently just called the Little NHL – was born. The inaugural tournament was held in 1971 in Little Current, the largest town on Manitoulin Island, which is the home to...
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Water First and Anishinaabeg of Kabapikotawangag Resource Council Launch Water Operator Internship Program
KENORA, Ontario, March 05, 2025 — Water First Education & Training Inc., in partnership with Anishinaabeg of Kabapikotawangag Resource Council (AKRC) participating communities and Big Island First Nation, is proud to announce a new water treatment plant operator training program for local community members. This internship supports Water First’s commitment to help develop these critical projects with communities across the country. Interns from Anishinaabeg of Kabapikotawangag Resource Council communities and Big Island First Nation will participate in the 15-month Drinking Water Internship Program to pursue valuable provincial certifications, which help trainees begin their careers in the water field. The internship launched February 10, 2025, with an Introduction Week, and will see 10 participants study safety, watersheds, water treatment and distribution, water chemistry and sampling, as well as tour the city...
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Peace River council creates $10,000 emergency fund
By Emily Plihal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, South Peace News A newly-proposed Not-for-Profit Emergency Support Fund was approved by Peace River town council at its regular meeting on Feb. 25. According to Mayor Elaine Manzer, the Town recognizes the contributions made by community organizations and volunteer groups in the community to improve the well-being of the community and quality of life for residents. Council has received many requests for assistance from not-for-profit organizations, many of which are one time or emergency circumstances where the group has encountered an issue they cannot financially address in the short term. Peace River director of community services Tanya Bell explained at the meeting that the policy had been presented to council at a Governance and Policy meeting earlier in the month, with both a...
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One moment, calm waters. The next, a 900-pound dolphin landed on their boat
By Charlotte Graham-mclay WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A placid fishing trip turned “berserk” for three New Zealand men when a dolphin weighing more than 400 kilograms (900 pounds) appeared to fall out of the sky before crash-landing in their small boat. No one was badly hurt when the 3.4 meter (11-foot) bottlenose dolphin jumped aboard the open-top boat Friday, said Dean Harrison, the owner of the nearly 16-foot vessel. Harrison and two companions were fishing near the Hole in the Rock, a picturesque spot off the far north coast of New Zealand’s North Island, while dolphins frolicked ahead. The men saw a shadow across the bright summer sun and heard an almighty boom — before chaos unfolded. “This one decided to jump on board and say hello,” Harrison said....
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Businesses scramble to contain fallout from Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico
By Paul Wiseman A Minnesota farmer worries about the price of fertilizer. A San Diego entrepreneur deals with an unexpected cost increase of remodeling a restaurant. A Midwestern sheet metal fabricator bemoans the prospect of higher aluminum prices. Businesses knew that Trump’s import taxes — tariffs — on America’s biggest trading partners were scheduled to take effect Tuesday. But many of them assumed they’d get a reprieve. After all, the unpredictable president had delayed the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days right before they were originally supposed to kick in on Feb. 4. No such luck this time. At midnight Tuesday, the United States imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, starting a trade war with its closest neighbors and allies. Trump also doubled his 10%...
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Class is in session for community students at Doig River FirstNation
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The bell rings and it’s back to school for some members of a northeastern B.C. Indigenous community. Doig River First Nation (DRFN) has enrolled its first class of students in the community’s College and Career Prep program, launched in partnership with Northern Lights College (NLC). According to DRFN education manager Sharon MacDonald, the initiative launched in January and will initially run for three years. She adds the program has a capacity for 17 students. Currently, 10 students are at DRFN’s new Cultural Experience Centre four days a week. The building on DRFN grounds features two classrooms and a computer lab. “The idea came from chief and council, which led to collaboration with NLC,” said MacDonald. “[Their vision]...
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Language revitalization event to return to Fort St. John in April
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — After a successful inaugural year, a local First Nation will host another language revitalization event. ‘Reawakening of our Language’ will take place on April 24th and 25th at the Pomeroy Sports Centre, hosted by Doig River First Nation (DRFN) in partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia and Northern Lights College (NLC). Like last year, workshops, keynote speakers, and other sessions will be dedicated to preserving languages like the Beaver language of the Dane-zaa people. Christopher Parkin of the Salish School of Spokane, located in Washington State, will again be in attendance. The school, founded in 2010, features an Indigenous-centric education for students from Kindergarten through grade eight, ensuring a generation of Indigenous language speakers. DRFN...
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Quesnel mayor successfully challenges censure, sanction over book
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A BC Supreme Court judge has quashed three resolutions to censure and sanction the City of Quesnel’s mayor made last spring. Mayor Ron Paull successfully claimed that Quesnel city council’s April 30 decisions against him were made without procedural fairness. Councillors voted to withdraw Paull’s travel budget and remove him from city committees and the Cariboo Regional District board after his wife shared a book disputing residential school history. The book offended members of the Lhtako Dene First Nation, which signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate with the city in 2017. “I do not mean to suggest that there was any attempt in this case to misuse powers for cheap political gain,” Justice William Veenstra wrote in his March...
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Immigrant labor fuels US economy but Trump’s crackdown mostly ignores it
By Tim Sullivan And Rebecca Boone -CP-The Trump administration is touting an immigration crackdown that includes putting shackled immigrants on U.S. military planes, expanding agents’ arrests of people here illegally and abandoning programs that gave some permission to stay. One tool that’s conspicuously absent from President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce illegal immigration: Going after the businesses that hire workers who are in the U.S. illegally. A nearly 30-year-old government system called E-Verify makes it easy to check if potential employees can legally work in the U.S. The program has had high-profile backers. Project 2025, the far-right blueprint for Trump’s second term, called for it to be mandatory. Yet it remains largely voluntary and rarely enforced. Trump’s own hotels and golf courses were slow to adopt E-Verify. The debate over...
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Here’s the latest as the U.S. imposes tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico
-CP-U.S. President Donald Trump today imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. The president’s executive order hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET. At a news conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined Canada’s response. He said Canada is immediately introducing 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products, and will expand them to cover another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days. Here’s the latest news (all times Eastern): — 4:20 p.m. Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai says the U.S. tariffs are “unjustified and short-sighted” and he hopes Alaskans will continue to visit the territory. The territory has announced that the Yukon Liquor Corporation...
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Operation Nanook-Nunalivut a ‘very positive’ experience for Inuvik Ranger
By Tom Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News/North Operation Nanook-Nunalivut is now well underway in the Inuvik area, and for Master Cpl. Kadin Cockney of the Canadian Rangers, it has been a fruitful experience so far. “It’s been very positive,” he said. “Pretty much every op is a new lesson and a new learning experience.” Operation Nanook-Nunalivut is one of four annual activities that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) undertakes to secure the country’s Northern regions — collectively known as Operation Nanook. This year, the exercise is running from Feb. 23 to March 9, and will, as always, see the CAF conducting defence and sovereignty-related activities with a variety of partners and allies, including personnel from the United States. The Canadian Rangers, a reserve division of the army that...
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Day One of “Truth With Reconciliation: Respect, Restore, Relearn” With Grandmother’s Voice
By Sydney Alexandra, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Grandmother’s Voice recently hosted a powerful two-day conference, “Truth with Reconciliation: Respect, Restore, Relearn,” bringing together Indigenous speakers, storytellers, and knowledge keepers. Discussions explored celestial teachings, prophecy, untold histories, and the wisdom of the Two-Row Wampum Belt. Day one, on Feb. 25, saw presentations by Samantha Doxtater on Indigenous astronomy and her sister’s legacy, speakers Allen Sutherland and Mike Doxtator, whose sessions shared a theme of wider and deeper education on Indigenous history, and Grandmother Renee’s reflections on the importance of wampum belts. Samantha Doxtater honours Sasha Doxtater and celestial teachings Samantha Doxtater opened the conference with a touching tribute to her late sister Sasha, explaining how she continues Sasha’s work on Indigenous astronomy. Sasha’s research explored connections between Western and Indigenous knowledge....
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Adversaries see opportunities to exploit ‘strategically valuable’ Arctic, CSIS says
By Jim Bronskill Canada’s spy agency warns that colliding global developments make the Arctic an “attractive, strategic and vulnerable destination” for foreign adversaries seeking to establish a presence in Canada. A newly released Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment flags the environment, critical infrastructure, economic activity and geopolitics as converging factors making the region susceptible to threats from abroad. It sees resource extraction projects, increasing ship traffic, the building of ports and possible militarization of the Arctic as some of the avenues nefarious actors could use to gain a foothold in the region. Once established in the North, rivals could use these opportunities to “generate substantial influence and interference opportunities,” CSIS warns. The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the CSIS brief, “Issues & Vulnerabilities in Canada’s...
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Five years after COVID upended tourism, the industry’s revival is still up in the air
By Christopher Reynolds Michael Hale still recalls the moment COVID-19 upended his world. “I can feel this pit in my stomach even as I recount that day,” said the CEO of Northern Vision Development, which owns seven hotels and eight restaurants and bars in the Yukon. Hale and a half-dozen colleagues were gathered around a conference table at the company’s Whitehorse headquarters on March 7, 2020. They were discussing the Arctic Winter Games, set to draw thousands of visitors a week later. “We were trying to figure out what to do with oversold rooms,” Hale said. In the middle of the meeting, a press release was sent out. The games had been cancelled. “It was shock in the room.” Two days later, hotel bookings had plunged from 100 per cent...
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Ontario First Nations leaders urge mining industry not to consult with Métis organization
By Abdul Matin Sarfraz Local Journalism Initiative As the mining industry convenes in Toronto, some Ontario First Nation leaders are calling on the sector to engage only with legitimate First Nations rights-holders when developing projects on Indigenous lands. Speaking Monday at a Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conventionpress conference, the leaders affirmed their willingness to collaborate with the industry but cautioned against consulting or signing any impact benefit agreements with the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO). They claimed that the MNO is not a legitimate rights-holder and even accused it of “falsely” identifying as a First Nation, describing it as a “Crown Corporation” rather than a nation with historical or ancestral ties to the land. Jason Batise, executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council, said the council has already...
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Buffy Sainte-Marie lost two jubilee medals as part of Order of Canada cancellation: Rideau Hall
By David Friend -CP-The recent termination of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Order of Canada came with the cancellation of two additional Canadian honours. A representative for Rideau Hall says jubilee medals awarded to the singer-songwriter in 2002 and 2012 were also stripped from her since both were based on her membership to the Order of Canada. Sainte-Marie’s appointment was cancelled in an ordinance signed by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on Jan. 3. Details about the medals were not previously shared. Rideau Hall says Sainte-Marie also lost the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the queen’s ascension to the throne, as well as the Diamond Jubilee medal presented for the 60th anniversary. This comes more than a year after a CBC investigative report questioned the musician’s Indigenous...
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