Man facing impaired charges after business owner calls Six Nations Police
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- A 20-year-old man is facing impaired driving charges after a local business contacted Six Nations Police with concerns a patron in their business was impaired. Police attended the Highway 54 business Thursday, September 26, 2024, at about 11:10 AM and located an unoccupied vehicle. Six Nations Police said two men approached them on scene and identified themselves. Police said they reviewed security footage at the location and identified one of the men as the operator of the motor vehicle. Police said based on their interaction with the driver and witnesses at the location, they had reason to believe that the man was impaired by a drug and issued a Standard Field Sobriety Test demand that resulted in a Fail. The second man was released...
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US forest managers finalize land exchange with Native American tribe in Arizona
CAMP VERDE, Ariz. (AP) — U.S. forest managers have finalized a land exchange with the Yavapai-Apache Nation that has been decades in the making and will significantly expand the size of the tribe’s reservation in Arizona’s Verde Valley, tribal leaders announced Tuesday. As part of the arrangement, six parcels of private land acquired over the years by the tribe will be traded to the U.S. Forest Service in exchange for the tribe gaining ownership of 5 square miles (12.95 square kilometers) of national forest land that is part of the tribe’s ancestral homelands. The tribe will host a signing ceremony next week to celebrate the exchange, which was first proposed in 1996. “This is a critical step in our history and vital to the nation’s cultural and economic recovery and...
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Eby says NDP ‘happy’ to work with other parties in tight B.C. legislature
(CP) British Columbia Premier David Eby has scheduled a meeting with the B.C. Greens as he prepares to form government, a day after the NDP won the barest of majorities in a legislature where every vote will count. His party has also reached out to members of the future opposition caucus, according to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who said his members were asked about becoming Speaker. Such a move would effectively widen the NDP majority to two, and Rustad rebuffed the idea. Eby’s NDP finally won the election on Monday, nine days after election day, when a count of absentee votes lifted the party to 47 seats, while the Conservatives held 44 ridings and the Greens had two. Eby told reporters Tuesday that he was open to working with...
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Two more northern First Nations celebrate connection to power grid
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter BIG TROUT LAKE – Having reliable electricity opens up many opportunities for a remote community, said Chief Donny Morris as his First Nation celebrated “energization” by the Wataynikaneyap Power transmission line. With electricity the transmission line “brings opportunities in the future,” the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Innuniwug (KI) chief said, adding that his First Nation will “work together to produce progress moving forward.” KI and neighbouring Wapekeka First Nation, fly-in communities northeast of Sioux Lookout, were connected to the provincial power grid by Wataynikaneyap Power last Dec. 14. A celebration took place Monday in KI. Morris said his Treaty 9 community was “negatively impacted by frequent power outages” prior to getting hooked up to the grid. “Access to reliable energy will lead to many improvements for...
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Special interlocutor calls for 20-year probe into missing Indigenous children
GATINEAU,QUE.,-(CP)-A final report into missing children and unmarked graves at residential schools is calling on the federal government to create an Indigenous-led national commission with a 20-year mandate to investigate missing and disappeared Indigenous children. It’s also calling on Canada to refer itself to the International Criminal Court for investigation. Kimberly Murray, Canada’s special interlocutor on unmarked graves, released her final report Tuesday in Gatineau, Que., during a gathering with Indigenous residential school survivors and experts from across the country. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996. An estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, though experts say the actual number could be much higher. Many of their families were never informed of their deaths or told where they...
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Nuclear waste has another ‘willing’ community
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter IGNACE – South Bruce, a rural municipality near Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario, has joined Ignace as an officially willing host for proposed deep-underground storage of nuclear waste. That suits Ignace just fine, township outreach lead Jake Pastore said Tuesday. “That’s great,” he told Newswatch. “We’re thrilled that there’s another community in the process and that there’s ample interest in the project.” South Bruce “had a very strong voter turnout and a positive result, and that’s great,” he said. “We appreciate what all the municipalities and First Nations are doing,” he said. “The mayor and council want to congratulate South Bruce for the years of leadership and community engagement.” South Bruce’s referendum on the issue closed Monday evening with approximately 51 per cent...
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Sault Ste. Marie is home to Ontario’s first Métis Heritage Centre
By Maggie Kirk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In 1993, two Métis men, Steve and Roddy Powley, hunted a moose near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., asserting their right to harvest on their traditional lands — an action that would alter the course of Métis rights in Canada. The father and son were charged with hunting a moose illegally and argued that, as Métis people, they had a constitutionally protected right to hunt on their traditional lands. After a ten-year legal battle ending in 2003, the Supreme Court ruling affirmed the rights of Métis people under section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act. All 14 judges who reviewed the case agreed with the two Sault locals, who fought not only for the rights to their own land but for all Métis people...
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Eagle feathers play a sacred role in powwows. Poachers are exploiting the high demand
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members. The government’s response has been two-pronged: A crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles coupled with a longstanding program that lawfully distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members. But that program has a yearslong backlog, and officials said illegal killings appear to be worsening, with young golden eagles in particular targeted because of high value placed on their white and black wing feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, already faced pressure — from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions. An investigation centered around a Montana...
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Aklavik opens emergency women’s shelter inside its wellness centre
Aklavik Indian Band board member Rita Arey says the community, in desperate need of an emergency women’s shelter, recently opened one inside its wellness centre. Arey, who is also the Beaufort Delta representative for the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, said almost 35 people took part in a community wellness open house in August last year. She said that’s where a women’s shelter was discussed as a “key priority.” “It was stressed by the RCMP, social services and the N.W.T. government’s wellness department that this was definitely a need for our community and, most importantly, it was for the women and children who are in need of this service,” Arey told Cabin Radio last week. “The community has worked hard since then to make this a reality....
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HAUDENOSAUNEE CONFEDERACY GREAT LAW OF PEACE RECOGNIZED AS FINALIST FOR THE WORLD POLICY FUTURE AWARD 2024
MILLENNIUM-OLD GREAT LAW OF PEACE, THE WORLD’S FIRST CONSTITUTION, PROVIDES MODEL FOR JUST, HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE ACROSS THE GLOBE GENEVA, SWITZERLAND-The Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s Great Law of Peace has been nominated as a model for the World Future Policy Award of 2024. In announcing the international nomination the Geneva-based World Future Council said the award recognizes “top policy solutions that can be shared to transform societies toward a more just healthy and sustainable future.” The theme for the 2024 international award is ‘Peace and Future Generations.’ The award “underscores the critical importance of lasting peace as a foundation for sustainable development,” the need for innovative and inclusive policies to resolve conflicts, prevent wars, and cultivate a culture of peace has never been more urgent,” the council said. The Great...
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Seminole Tribe settles legal challenges to online sports gambling exclusivity in Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Seminole Tribe of Florida and a group of businesses that operate racetracks and poker rooms have settled a yearslong legal dispute over whether the Seminole Tribe should have exclusive rights to online sports betting in Florida, the tribe announced Monday. The Seminole Tribe, along with West Flagler Associates and the Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., have entered into a comprehensive agreement where the companies have agreed to end litigation against the tribe’s gaming operations and instead will begin a new partnership to offer Jai Alai waging on the tribe’s Hard Rock Bet app. “Rather than engaging in years of additional litigation, this agreement will allow the parties to work together to promote Jai Alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming landscape for nearly...
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B.C. NDP wins razor-thin majority after marathon vote count; two recounts pending Slugline: Elxn-BC
(Canadian Press)-The New Democrats and Premier David Eby were on track to win a bare majority government nine days after voters went to the polls in British Columbia, but the final verdict will still require two judicial recounts to become official. The incumbent NDP ended the final vote count Monday with 47 seats, defeating John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives, who mounted a serious challenge after receiving less than two per cent of the popular vote in the 2020 election. That’s exactly the number of seats needed to secure a majority in the 93-seat legislature. The Conservatives won 44 and the Greens took two. But Elections BC, the province’s independent elections administrator, said two seats, Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford, were so close there would be automatic recounts before the standings of the...
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Poilievre promises to abolish federal sales tax on new homes under $1 million
( Canadian Press) Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if his party forms government, it will scrap the federal sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million and push provinces do to the same. Poilievre makes the case for the cut in a six-minute video published online today, arguing governments are partly to blame for high home prices because they’re charging too much in sales taxes. The Conservatives estimate the new measure will reduce the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 and spur construction of another 30,000 homes per year. Poilievre says he would pay for the tax cut by scrapping Liberal housing policy. That includes the housing accelerator fund which offers home building money to cities if they adjust bylaws and regulations that are considered barriers...
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Woodland Cultural Centre asks Brant County to pitch in $1 million for new museum
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard’/Local Journalism Initiative An ambitious $65-million project aims to make Woodland Cultural Centre a modern hub of arts, culture and reconciliation, with exhibits throughout the year and a state-of-the-art theatre. The centre is reaching the culmination of a 10-year Save the Evidence campaign, which raised $25 million for restoration work to preserve the former Mohawk Institute residential school on the territorial lands of Six Nations of the Grand River in Brantford. As likely the only refurbished former residential school in the country out of the 160, they expect an influx of national and international visitors when it reopens in the fall of 2025, former Six Nations chief Ava Hill told Brant County councillors on Tuesday. A retrofitted gymnasium and former classrooms isn’t ideal for displaying Woodland Cultural Centre’s...
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Monthly food bank use soars to record 2 million, driven by cost of groceries, housing
The Canadian Press:Canada’s reliance on food banks has soared to a grim new milestone, according to data from Food Banks Canada. The organization says it recorded more than two million visits in March 2024 – nearly double the monthly visits five years ago in March 2019, and six per cent above last year’s record-breaking figure. Its annual survey of food bank use in Canada says rapid inflation, housing costs and insufficient social supports are driving poverty and food insecurity. That includes outsized demand from renters, racialized groups, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada and residents across the North, and a “deeply concerning” need among seniors and families with children. Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley says food banks are being pushed to “the brink” and low-income Canadians need help immediately....
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On Navajo Nation, a push to electrify more homes on the vast reservation
HALCHITA, Utah (AP) — After a five-year wait, Lorraine Black and Ricky Gillis heard the rumblings of an electrical crew reach their home on the sprawling Navajo Nation. In five days’ time, their home would be connected to the power grid, replacing their reliance on a few solar panels and propane lanterns. No longer would the CPAP machine Gillis uses for sleep apnea or his home heart monitor transmitting information to doctors 400 miles away face interruptions due to intermittent power. It also means Black and Gillis can now use more than a few appliances — such as a fridge, a TV, and an evaporative cooling unit — at the same time. “We’re one of the luckiest people who get to get electric,” Gillis said. Many Navajo families still live...
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Minister apologizes for government’s handling of First Nations’ money in 1800s
The Canadian Press-Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree has apologized on behalf of the Canadian government to a group of Ontario First Nations for mismanagement of their money over a century ago. The minister issued the apology Saturday at Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island, about 350 kilometres northwest of Toronto, during a ceremony that also commemorated a $447.9 million compensation settlement that will be shared among the five First Nations. A news release from the federal government says the Crown made an agreement with the First Nations in 1862 for sales of Indigenous land, but used the profits from the sales to build roads and open up Manitoulin Island for settlement rather than giving the money to the First Nations as intended. The release says “the Crown failed...
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US Navy apologizes for the 1882 obliteration of a Tlingit village in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Shells fell on the Alaska Native village as winter approached, and then sailors landed and burned what was left of homes, food caches and canoes. Conditions grew so dire in the following months that elders sacrificed their own lives to spare food for surviving children. It was Oct. 26, 1882, in Angoon, a Tlingit village of about 420 people in the southeastern Alaska panhandle. Now, 142 years later, the perpetrator of the bombardment — the U.S. Navy —has apologized. Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, the commander of the Navy’s northwest region, issued the apology during an at-times emotional ceremony Saturday, the anniversary of the atrocity. “The Navy recognizes the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people, and we acknowledge these wrongful actions resulted in the loss...
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Brantford City Council endorses HART Hub application proposal
By Kimberly De Jong Local Jouranlism Initiative Program City of Brantford Council unanimously voted to endorse SOAR Community Services’ proposal to apply to be one of the Ontario government’s new HART Hubs, during a Special City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. SOAR Community Services, in partnership with De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, Brantford Native Housing, Grand River Community Health Centre, Brant Community Healthcare System and the City of Brantford, will be taking the lead to submit a proposal for the Brantford/Brant HART Hub project. “The homelessness and addictions recovery treatment proposal is part of a response from the Ministry of Health to address issues of complex homelessness and substance use within communities across the province,” said Kim Baker, executive director for SOAR Community Services. “It...
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Requirements for success identified for Indigenous businesses
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative reporter THUNDER BAY, ONT-A panel discussion on the impact of Indigenous business in Northern Ontario took place in Thunder Bay on Thursday, hosted by the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA). The panel discussion was moderated by Peter Collins and Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, and featured panelists Jason Thompson of Superior Strategies, Jonathon Mamakwa of the TGK Group and Sarah Levesque of Supercom Industries. The conference examined opportunities and the challenges facing Indigenous businesses in the region. Panelist Sarah Levesque described the success of Supercom Industries, which was derived by a partnership and collaboration of six First Nation communities. She said each community had a common goal involving revenue generation for their communities, capacity building, opportunities for local First Nation businesses and job creation. A series...
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