Six Nations Firefighters beat the heat with Sunset Splash
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First Nations Chiefs of Police: “We are not a pilot program”
By Turtle Island News staff Crime, and especially organized crime, continues seeping into First Nation communities across Canada while the government sits on its hands. That’s why the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA) is calling on all levels of government to take steps to allow First Nations to take the lead in combatting the ongoing crisis. Many First Nations have declared states of emergency because of organized crime and other public safety threats over the past year. Sayisi Dene First Nation in northern Manitoba declared one in June 2026 and the Anishinabek Nation made a declaration in November 2025. Ginoogaming and Long Lake #58 First Nations in northwestern Ontario declared a joint state of emergency in May. The declaration was made following an increase in criminal activities from outside...
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No date set for Iroquois Lodge elders move to Brantford lodge
By Alex Murray Writer Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC ) still has no firm date for the relocation of Iroquois Lodge residents from Delhi to Brantford. Six Nations CEO Debra Jonathan could not provide SNEC with a firm relocation date at its July 28th council meeting. Jonathan said the Ministry of Long-Term Care is still waiting on the City of Brantford to sign off on a few outstanding reports before the move from Delhi to the Foxridge facility in Brantford can happen. “I know there’s a lot of questions about when our residents will be moving from the Delhi site to the Brantford Foxridge site,” Jonathan told council. “Once those [reports] are received and reviewed then the move can begin.” Jonathan said they had hoped the reports would have been...
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One year since Kanesatake election halted
By Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Not many Kanehsata’kehró:non predicted the community would go an entire year without an election after the community’s general election was suspended last year. On August 1, 2025, chief electoral officer Graeme Drew wrote in a public statement that flaws in the electoral code led to him putting a stop to the election scheduled for August 2. The decision, in the short-term, upended the community’s governance and threw into question how the community could move forward politically. Now, in the long-term, the community still grapples with ripple effects of the unknown. A Federal Court order allowed an interim caretaker council made up of five outgoing Council chiefs to govern under a limited mandate while a judicial review, which will answer how...
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Six Nations Elected Council Briefs
NDP want to set up info table SNEC also heard a brief presentation from Erin Green, a Six Nations member and summer intern with Ontario’s NDP party. She formally requested permission to set up an NDP outreach table at Veteran’s Park in August. Green, her regional organizer, and other NDP volunteers and interns would talk to residents, answer questions they have about the NDP, gather feedback on Indigenous issues, and gauge community interest in the NDP. However, Jonathan said this was a request that should first be reviewed by the Six Nations Ethics Committee to ensure community interests are protected prior to SNEC approval. She offered to connect Green with Rachel VanEvery, Six Nations Executive Director of Data, Analytics, and Insights, to get that process going. WATERMAIN BREAK Jonathan said...
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SNEC To Begin Financial Management Board Certification To Access Flexible, Long-Term
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) could soon access more flexible, long-term funding after they approved a recommendation to complete the Financial Management Board (FMB) certification process. The recommendation, which was made at SNEC’s general council meeting on July 28, also called for Six Nations to work with its Finance Committee and the First Nations FMB to develop a Financial Administration Law. The Finance Committee reccomendation said the moves would position SNEC to access “one of the most competitive sources of long-term financing available to First Nations in Canada.” This would strengthen SNGR’s, “ability to pursue transformative economic development opportunities that generate sustainable wealth for current and future generations,” read the recommendation. The funding source in question is Indigenous Service Canada’s (ISC) New Fiscal Relationship Grant (NFR), a flexible, predictable, 10-year...
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First Nations Policing a right!
While Canada and Ontario play with funding formulas First Nations people are dying. And it’s all because of a dollar figure. The time is long over-due for both Canada and Ontario to stop the violence and death mounting in First Nation communities across Canada created largely because First Nations Policing has not been declared an essential service. That’s right. In every city and town across the country policing is an emergency service with funding from various levels of government paying the bills. Not in First Nation communities. Not in communities where First Nations Police are combating increases in organized crime as criminals learn of the funding vacuum and ability to hide in plain sight. Instead, Ottawa treats it as a discretionary program. You know. You can almost hear the bureaucratic...
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Today in History
Aug 4 In 1998, the Nisga’a First Nation signed a historic treaty with the federal and B.C. governments. The treaty gave them exclusive rights to resources in the 2,000-square kilometre area along the Nass River in B.C., a cash settlement and a self-designed system of government. In 2010, 20 first-degree murder charges against serial killer Robert Pickton were formally stayed after the Crown announced it would not pursue the rest of its case against the former farmer because he already faced the stiffest sentence available in Canadian law. He was convicted in December 2007 of second-degree murder of six other women and sentenced to 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld those convictions. Aug 6 In 2009, Donald Marshall Jr., the man...
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: The Ring Of Forest Fire
By Xavier Kataquapit Forest fires have always been a deep worry for those of us who live in the far north of Ontario. We are surrounded by endless forests and we know full well what it means when these trees start to burn in the peak heat of summer. I remember a few hot summers in the 1980s, when I was growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, seeing large columns of smoke rising west of our community. It is a frightful thing to know that you are isolated from the world and that fire might reach your home. I also lived and worked as a writer for several years in Iroquois Falls, in northeastern Ontario and I learned from many of their community...
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Three-time national Mann Cup champs commence playoffs
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Chiefs have officially begun the next step in their quest to make franchise history. The ultimate goal for the local Senior A men’s lacrosse squad all season long has been to capture its fourth consecutive national Mann Cup championship. That’s a feat the Chiefs are hoping to accomplish next month on their home turf at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The eventual playoff champs of the Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) circuit, will host all of the matches in the best-of-seven Mann Cup series next month. The champs of the British Columbia-based Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) will provide the opposition in the Canadian championship. The Chiefs were scheduled to kick off their MSL playoffs on Tuesday night, in Game 1 of a best-of-five...
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Rivermen sweep Bengals to advance to league finals
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Rivermen managed to win their first playoff round in the minimum three games. And now members of the local Senior B men’s lacrosse squad are hoping they can win three more matches so they can book tickets to their national championship. The Rivermen kicked off their Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) playoffs by sweeping the Hamilton Bengals 3-0 in their best-of-five, semi-final series. Six Nations wrapped up the series with a 17-8 triumph in Game 3 this past Friday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The Rivermen had also registered convincing victories in Game 1 (14-5) and in Game 2 (14-9). The Six Nations club had finished atop the regular season standings of the seven-team OSL by winning 10 of its 12 matches. Rivermen...
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SPORTS BRIEFS: Ohsweken squad defends national title
By Sam Laskaris Writer Ohsweken squad defends national title The Ohsweken Redmen have done it again. For the second consecutive year the local squad captured top honours in the senior men’s division at the Canadian Native Fastball Championships. This year’s national tournament was held in Prince George, B.C. Meanwhile, a Six Nations club also captured the women’s masters category at the annual tourney. The Ohsweken club defeated the host Prince George River Kings 5-1 in the championship final. Because of the time difference out west, the match did not start until 2 a.m. Eastern time on Monday morning. Three members of the Ohsweken team ended up with some individual accolades as well. Steven Normand was selected not only as the top pitcher in the tourney but as the most valuable...
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Terrace Bay and Thunder Bay sign EMS base agreement
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com TERRACE BAY — A new ambulance base in Terrace Bay has come closer to reality with the recent finalizing of an agreement between the township and the City of Thunder Bay. The township and the city entered into an agreement to support the construction of a modern ambulance base serving North Shore communities. Under the arrangement, Terrace Bay will construct and own a new building at 1006 Highway 17 in the lakeside community. The new station will be leased to the City of Thunder Bay on behalf of Superior North EMS, the region’s paramedic services provider. The base will function as a district hub serving Schreiber, Rossport, Pays Plat First Nation and other communities besides Terrace Bay. It will feature three drive-through...
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Novel puts accountability and forgiveness on the table when a family clashes over faked Indigeneity
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Right from the title of her latest fiction novel real ones, katherena vermette ensures true Indigenous voices are front and centre. “I didn’t want (the title) to be The Pretendian or something about the pretendians because the focus is (Michif sisters) lyn and June and on their story and them taking up the space that is trying to be taken from them,” said vermette. “It’s about them. It’s about the real ones.” real ones hit the bookshelves in fall of 2024 at a time when pretendians in art and academia were being identified. Today, the topic, with the likes of lawyer Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (2024) and writer Thomas King (2025) being outed, is just as relevant. vermette, who is Red River Métis...
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First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Terry Lerat is not only thrilled his First Nation has garnered a lucrative national award but pleased with what it will mean for the future of his community. Lerat is a councillor for Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Cowessess First Nation and its economic arm, Cowessess Ventures LP, along with Saskatoon-based company B.Nature Biotech, were recently awarded $450,000 through the national HARVEST wasteCANcreate program. This funding came on the heels of a provincial investment of $125,000 from Innovation Saskatchewan this past January. Along with some other contributions, almost $800,000 in total, this will allow Cowessess First Nation to utilize its local organic waste and convert it into enriched soil, which will in turn be used to grow food. Dr. Babak Roshani, the...
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Brantford Native Housing helping urban natives register for band membership
By Lynda Powless Editor BRANTFORD, ONT-Brantford Native Housing will soon begin helping First Nations people in the city apply for, or replace, lost band membership cards but it isn’t coming without some controversy. Lacey Stevens, Community and communications officer said the urban centre has just been designated as a ‘Trusted Source’ by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to aid Indigenous people in the city register for band membership. “We had this flashback last week,” she told Turtle Island News. “We are not issuing status cards. We have applied to be a “Trusted Source,” she said. Stevens said the staff have just finished ISC training and wanted to be clear are “we aren’t issuing status cards.” ISC’s “Trusted Source” program trains individuals to verify, identify and certify supporting documents for Indian Registration...
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CP NewsAlert: As many as 230 homes destroyed by B.C. wildfire, chief says
The chief of the Okanagan Indian Band says about 230 homes have been destroyed by a raging wildfire near Vernon, B.C. Dan Wilson says 30 band homes and 200 non-band homes have been destroyed by the Bradley Creek fire. He says the area “looked like a war zone” when he took a helicopter tour of the devastation and it was difficult to recognize the community. Wilson says the wildfire has been one of the most devastating events in the band’s history. The chief says the situation is “surreal” and the destruction is just sinking in. The fire started late Friday and was fanned by winds gusting up to 115 kilometres per hour, giving some residents as little as five minutes to get out of their homes. This report by The...
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Non-profit calls on feds to launch commission on legacy of slavery, racism in Canada
By Catherine Morrison A non-profit organization is calling on the federal government to launch a national commission to study the legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism in Canada. The Black Class Action Secretariat says the commission could probe the enduring impacts of slavery, segregation and systemic racism and recommend a national framework for addressing them. Aug. 1 is Emancipation Day in Canada, marking the abolition of slavery across the British Empire in 1834. The Black Class Action Secretariat says that while Canada marks Emancipation Day every year, it has never undertaken a comprehensive national examination of how the legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism continues to shape the lives of Canadians of African descent. It says a commission would establish a permanent historical record, hear directly from affected communities and...
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Nunavut Inuit organization will get its own icebreaker next year
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News A joint-venture between the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s economic development arm and St. John’s Newfoundland-based Horizon Naval Engineering will deliver one polar class icebreaker next year, a press release on Aug. 4 said. Qikiqtaaluk Horizon Arctic Services, the name of the joint venture, is procuring the icebreaker, called ‘Nordica’ from a manufacturer in Finland. “The Nordica brings world-class experience and additional capacity to the Arctic at an important time, as communities and industries across the North continue to grow,” said Harry Flaherty, president and CEO of Qikiqtaaluk Corporation. Icebreakers are used to clear a path so sealift cargo ships, mining supply boats and military vessels can operate in the Arctic. Expanding icebreaker capability in the Arctic will increase shipping capacity, allowing...
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Ottawa moves to list Alberta-backed West Coast pipeline as national interest project
By David Baxter The federal government is advancing the process to designate a proposed oil pipeline to the West Coast as a “national interest” project. Naming a project in the national interest under the Building Canada Act allows the government to fast-track approvals and skirt some environmental laws. A notice published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 1 sets a Sept. 18 deadline to submit comments on the national interest designation. The proposed pipeline has been referred already to the government’s major projects office, with the Alberta government listed as the proponent. The pipeline would be owned by Trans Mountain, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and Pembina Pipeline Corporation. Pembina has a 10 per cent ownership stake in the construction, with the option to purchase an additional 10 per cent...
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