We discovered a new fossil species of prehistoric fish
The Conversation What do the ginkgo (a tree), the nautilus (a mollusc) and the coelacanth (a fish) all have in common? They don’t look alike, and they aren’t biologically related, but part of their evolutionary history bears a striking resemblance: these organisms are referred to as “living fossils”. In other words, they appear to have escaped the transformations that normally come about over time, through evolution. For the past 85 years, the coelacanth has been dubbed a “living fossil” because it evokes a bygone era, the age of dinosaurs. These fish belong to the sarcopterygians, a group that also includes lungfish (fish with lungs) and tetrapods, a group to which humans also belong. Tetrapods are vertebrates (animals with a backbone) that share specific anatomical features, including the presence of a...
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Coast Guard begins removal of oil from historic war shipwreck
By Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A new expedition has begun to extract the oil stored in the USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski Second World War shipwreck, aiming to reduce its ongoing threat to the surrounding environment. On Oct. 10, Diane Lebouthillier, minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard awarded Resolve Marine a $4.9 million contract to carry out the task. “A 2023 technical assessment suggests there is approximately 27,000 litres of oil remaining within the wreck,” said Kiri Westnedge, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard. The U.S. had employed the 77-metre ship M.G. Zalinski to transport army supplies and heavy fuel oil from Seattle to Whittier, Alaska, as part of the war effort in 1946. It struck a rocky outcrop and sank to the southeast of...
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Film from Mohawk actor/writer/director set for national release
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Kaniehtiio Horn was keen to display her acting abilities. And thus Horn, a member of Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec, decided to take matters into her own hands. Horn wrote, directed and is also the star of a comedic thriller titled Seeds, which will start screenings at theatres across Canada on Oct. 25. Seeds had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. “I think my inspiration was basically creating something for myself to showcase my abilities as an actress,” Horn said. “I was tired of waiting around for basically for someone to write a lead in a film for me to showcase my range.” Seeds is Horn’s directorial debut. The 83-minute film features Horn playing a character named Ziggy,...
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2021 Census data highlights Indigenous identity gaps in Squamish
By Bhagyashree Chatterjee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Did you know that 5.4% of Squamish’s population identifies as Indigenous? That’s 1,285 people—mostly people from First Nations and Métis —who call this scenic town home. The 2021 Census paints a picture of how Indigenous identity is growing and evolving in Squamish, revealing trends that go beyond just numbers. Let’s dive in. Indigenous identity and ancestry – what’s the difference? The census data shows that while 1,285 residents in Squamish identify as Indigenous, 430 more report having Indigenous ancestry but don’t actively identify as such. What’s going on here? Simply put, it’s a matter of how people feel connected to their heritage. Some people know they have Indigenous roots but may not engage in cultural practices or identify within the community’s legal or...
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McIntosh Indian Residential School research needs more funding
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter GRASSY NARROWS – The project to search for unmarked graves on the grounds of the closed McIntosh Indian Residential School has surveyed four hectares (10 acres) of land so far. But the school property comprised more than 840 hectares, Wiikwogaming Tiinahtiisiiwin Project consultant Janalee Jodouin said Wednesday. “It is the start of bringing the children home,” she said. “And that’s what this is about: bringing the children home. This is the beginning.” Additional ground searches are planned but require continued support from the federal government, the project said in a recent news release. The area that needs to be investigated on the ground could be narrowed down considerably by high-tech aerial surveying – but that, too, is dependent on funding, she said. The...
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Search of Manitoba landfill for remains of slain First Nations women on track: Kinew
WINNIPEG, MAN-(CP)The effort to find the remains of two slain First Nations women believed to be in a landfill is on track and excavation in the target area is set to start in early December, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday. “I hope that everybody in the province and across the country sees that Manitoba values and honours Indigenous women,” Kinew told reporters as he stood at the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg. Kinew also addressed the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who joined him at the site. “I hope that as you see the progress that’s been brought here today that it brings you some measure of healing,” the premier said. Preliminary excavation of a four-metre-deep top layer of material — above the area that searchers...
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5 million adults without primary care, surgeries returning to normal: CIHI report
The Canadian Press-A new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says 83 per cent of adults in this country have a regular primary-care provider, but that still leaves 5.4 million adults without one. It says seniors 65 years and older are more likely to have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner than younger adults between 18 and 34. Access to primary care is highest in Ontario and lowest in Nunavut. The CIHI report released Thursday morning measures the baseline of health priorities agreed upon by the federal government and the provinces and territories. Federal health minister Mark Holland says there will be a report every year to measure progress across the country. In addition to improving access to primary care, the priorities include reducing wait times...
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Sentencing to begin for man who pleaded guilty to killing partner, two children
Canadian Press-A sentencing hearing for a Manitoba man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killings of his common-law partner and their two young children is set to begin Thursday. Trevis McLeod, 52, admitted in September to the slayings after a forensic assessment found he had not suffered from a mental disorder. Shantelle Murphy, 32; Isabella Murphy, 6; and three-year-old Mason Murphy were found dead in the family’s duplex in Portage la Prairie, west of Winnipeg, on April 10, 2022. Fire crews were initially called to the home after neighbours reported the unit was ablaze. Firefighters would later find the three victims dead in two upstairs bedrooms. Court heard the woman and two children “suffered substantial blunt force trauma to the head and body.” McLeod had a history with...
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Federal ministers summoned over Fort Chipewyan contamination scandal
A federal committee will grill cabinet ministers over Transport Canada’s failure to inform Indigenous communities about water and soil contamination at a dock in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. The federal Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development passed a motion by NDP MP Laurel Collins summoning cabinet ministers, Indigenous leaders and experts to testify about the contamination and communication breach. “It is particularly egregious that the government knew about the contaminated dock at least since 2017 and that there haven’t been steps to address it,” Collins told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview. The health of First Nations must be given priority, she added. Sediment and groundwater samples from a 2017 Transport Canada study showed nickel, arsenic and harmful hydrocarbons exceeded guidelines in many samples near the dock where community...
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Iqaluit museum improves locks after break-in, theft
By Jeff Pelletier Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A break-in and theft, followed by another break-in attempt prompted Iqaluit’s Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum to improve its locks to prevent similar incidents in the future. “We haven’t had that type of break-in,” said Jessica Kotierk, the manager and curator of the museum, which houses Inuit artifacts, sells artwork and hosts community events. “Sometimes we have people during our open hours take things, but not this kind where they’re breaking in when we’re closed.” The first break-in, according to Kotierk, took place in the early hours of Sept. 27. In that incident, a person was caught on the museum’s security cameras forcibly entering the museum through a side door that is not usually open for visitors and taking items from the gift shop. The...
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Quebec First Nation wins court case to quash “Gold Rush” mining policy
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative A First Nation in Quebec has won a case in the Superior Court over online mining claims in their territory. The decision issued late last week requires all prospective mining claim holders to consult with the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation — which sits 265 kilometres north of Ottawa and is otherwise known as the Algonquin of Barriere Lake — before a claim is granted. Before the decision, so-called free entry mining claims in Québec were made online for a small fee. The decision enforces the need for consultation when claims are made in the First Nation’s territory and will have knock-on effects for the operation of the province’s mining industry. It was a “huge win” for the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, said Chief Casey...
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Discussions during Kivalliq mayors meeting overwhelmingly positive, says host SAO
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Kivalliq News There’s a lot of work that goes into organizing an event such as the annual Kivalliq Regional Mayors Meeting that was held in Rankin Inlet from Oct. 8-10. The 2024 edition of the mayors meeting was organized by Chesterfield Inlet, which put the lion’s share of coordinating squarely on the shoulders of that community’s senior administrative officer (SAO) Paul Bosetti, who said it took about five months of work, off and on, to organize the gathering. Once meetings are held to create and, ultimately, finalize the agenda, including the final list of presenters at the event, the wheels start turning behind the scenes until everyone is comfortably seated around the table. Bosetti said he talked to about 30 organizations and individuals...
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Manitoban artist has fond memories of Baker Lake
They are portraits of beautiful images frozen in time. Manitoban photographer and pencil artist Gerald Kuehl spent a lot of time in Baker Lake at the turn of the century meeting Elders for the purpose of interviewing them and creating their portraits. Kuehl said while in Baker Lake, the Elders would come in off the land with amazing faces and incredible stories. He said thanks in part to Calm Air sponsoring him and being able to return a number of times to the community, he has 39 portraits hanging in Baker’s community hall. “Unfortunately, Baker Lake is so commercialized now,” said Kuehl, “with the mining and everything else going on up there. It’s not at all like it was when I showed up in 2002. “It was still very isolated...
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Group calls for for better pay, equipment for wildfire fighters
Last May, when Jenny Saulnier was home alone with her dog in Nova Scotia while her son and husband were at hockey, she scrolled through social media and saw there was a house fire some nine kilometres from her home, and was assured she would be fine. “I was safe where I was. I had no reason to worry that this would ever turn into a wildfire, let alone the mega-force wildfire that it turned into,” she told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday morning. Suddenly, she found herself racing for her life — until she was stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic with a 911 operator saying she may need to leave by foot should the flames come closer to her. “The Nova Scotia government let me down that day. Their lack of...
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Six Nations Veterans hold annual Remembrance Day Ceremonies under sunny skies
Six Nations Veterans took to the streets in their annual early Remembrance Day Parade and Service Sunday marking Six Nations war time participation. A parade wound its way down Fourth Line to Veteran’s Park for the annual ceremonies and included a number of area politicians, Six Nations Elected Council members along with a number of organizations from the Six Nations Police to Six Nations Fire. A family wreath laying was held prior to the service. The annual event included a parade, short service a gun salute by the 56 Field Regiment and a flyover the Harvard Aircraft....
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AFN votes on way forward after $47.8 billion child welfare reform deal is defeated
-CP-The executive team from the Assembly of First Nations will meet in the coming days to discuss how to proceed with new negotiations for a child welfare reform deal after chiefs voted against the government’s proposed $47.8 billion agreement at a meeting in Calgary. AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who had helped negotiate the deal and pushed for it to be approved, was blunt in her assessment of the outcome in her closing remarks to the special chiefs assembly last Friday. “We also recognize the success of the campaign that defeated this resolution. You spoke with passion, and you convinced the majority to vote against this $47.8-billion national agreement,” she said. “There is no getting around the fact that this agreement was too much of a threat to the...
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Chauffer charged with impaired driving
By Austin Evans Writer Six Nations Police arrested a chauffeur for drinking and driving on the job. Six Nations Police officers responded to an impaired driving complaint at a public community area at 4:05 pm on October 5. Witnesses told police they hired a driver of a commercial vehicle to transport them from an event at the location, and they refused to board the vehicle after suspecting that the driver was impaired. Police said the driver admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages before operating the vehicle when police spoke with her, and officers observed her showing signs of impairment. As a result of the investigation, police have arrested and charged 65-year-old Hamilton resident Leslie Karpatfi with impaired operation and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration over 0.08%. The accused is scheduled to...
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Annual fall festive marks the change of season
By Austin Evans Writer The Six Nations of the Grand River Development corporation’s (SNGRDC) annual Fall Festival gave the Six Nations community a chance to spend one last weekend of warm weather going on rides and raising money for the food bank. While the kids played in bouncy castles and painted pumpkins on October 19, the adults took the chance to throw pies at several Six Nations community leaders. The development corporation hosts the Fall Festival annually to raise money for Six Nations programs. SNGRDC Public Relations Officer Katie Montour said each year staff vote to pick the program they donate to, with this year’s votes overwhelmingly going to the food bank. “The raffle and the pie in the face, 100% of the proceeds are being donated to the Six...
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Where will Six Nations be in 100 years…
October 25th is just two days away. A day that celebrates the new homelands of the Haudenosaunee sealed by Haldimand Treaty of 1784. Lands that continue to be protected by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council and its peoples. It took years for the Haudenosaunee to move onto the land while the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council(HCC) continued the ongoing fight with both countries that would become Canada and the U.S. over lost lands in the U.S. and Canada’s attempt to impose restrictions on what has become the longest standing democratic government in the world. A designation not unnoticed by countries around the globe. Canada spend decades whittling away at the strength and substance of the HCC and its people before it moved, with RCMP, to arbitrarily remove them from office and installed a...
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