Local artist works influenced by time at “Mush-Hole”
By Lisa Iesse Writer “We will become stronger and we will be reborn with a new strength of spirit,” says Gary Miller-Lahiaaks, artist and Mohawk Institute Survivor. Miller was born in Six Nations in 1950 to a Mohawk mother and Cayuga father. He had just turned 3 years old when he first entered the doors of the Mohawk Institute. There, he experienced physical, emotional, and spiritual violence and oppression until he left at the age of 14 years old. The Mohawk Institute was the first of many ‘schools’ in Canada’s residential school system, operating for over 140 years. The system was designed to stop Indigenous parents, grandparents and Elders from passing on their culture, language, practices and beliefs to their children. Children were stolen from families, punished for speaking their...
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Holiday season has Six Nations giving to local food bank
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Cargojet renews shipping partnership with Canadian North airline
Cargojet Inc. says it has renewed a partnership with Arctic-focused airline Canadian North to deliver cargo to the region. Mississauga, Ont. based Cargojet says that under the deal, it will be the exclusive provider for air cargo from Winnipeg and Ottawa to Iqaluit, while Canadian North will continue to distribute shipments across Canada’s Arctic. It says the deal aims to increase shipping capacity to the region, and builds upon Canadian North’s recently-announced plans to double the size of its cargo facility in Ottawa by 2026. The five-year deal marks a continuation of a partnership between the two companies that has being going for more than 22 years. Canadian North is a fully Inuit-owned airline that in early December named Shelly De Caria as its first Inuk president and chief executive....
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Premier Moe says it’s ‘unfortunate’ for Saskatchewan to break federal emissions law
By Jeremy Simes THE CANADIAN PRESS REGINA- Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe once said a fundamental pillar of Canadian democracy is the rule of law. His province is now prepared to break it. In a recent year-end interview with The Canadian Press, the premier said it’s unfortunate the province won’t follow federal law by not remitting the carbon levy to Ottawa starting Jan. 1, but it’s a decision he believes is fair. “It’s unfortunate that there will be a violation of federal law, led by our provincial minister here in Saskatchewan,” Moe said. “But that violation is coming about by the province making the very same decision on behalf of its residents, as the federal government did on behalf of residents in Atlantic Canada.” In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced...
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UPDATE: Site for Canada’s underground nuclear waste repository to be selected next year
By Allison Jones THE CANADIAN PRESS A critical milestone is on the horizon for Canada’s 175-year-long plan to bury its nuclear waste underground, with two pairs of Ontario communities set to decide if they would be willing hosts. Late next year, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to select the site for Canada’s deep geological repository, where millions of bundles of used nuclear fuel will be placed in a network of rooms connected by cavernous tunnels, as deep below the Earth’s surface as the CN Tower is tall, if the process goes according to plan. The sites are down to the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario. The municipalities and First Nations are planning votes for next year,...
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NO:IA…Change it is a coming
It’s time to reflect on the kind of year that we saw in 2023 and look to 2024 with hope. On the eve of a new year there is no question everyone is making resolutions, enjoying time with family and friends and hoping the world will frankly come to its senses. We have entered a tenuous time, all affected in differing degrees by an international war, and the tragedy of Ukraine, Israel and the Gaza not to mention the long term conflicts in other areas of the world. And there is no resolution in sight. Add to it the uncertainty of the U.S. politics and now a think tank, the Yellowhead Institute has decided it will no longer publish its annual report that tracked Canada’s progress on recommendations from the...
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Weekly Cartoon
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: New Year Resolution For Peace
By Xavier Kataquapit www.underthenorthernsky.com I recall being at home as a boy in our small three bedroom house in Attawapiskat in the 1980s. We were a huge family of nine children and two parents and at one point we lived with our Mooshoom (our grandfather) James Kataquapit. We lived a relatively quiet life in the north and every night dad would turn on the television to watch the nightly news. We seldom understood what was happening in the world because we felt we were far removed from everyone and everything in our small remote community in the wilderness. Mom and dad were always so amazed and confused as to how and why parts of the world still fought and killed one another in major wars and conflicts. It confused us...
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Canada to select site to buy nuclear waste underground both are on First Nations territories
Key milestone upcoming for Canada’s nuclear waste A critical milestone is on the horizon for Canada’s 175-year-long plan to bury its nuclear waste underground, with two pairs of Ontario communities set to decide if they would be willing hosts. Late next year, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to select the site for Canada’s deep geological repository, where millions of bundles of used nuclear fuel will be placed in a network of rooms connected by cavernous tunnels, as deep below the Earth’s surface as the CN Tower is tall, if the process goes according to plan. The sites are down to the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario. The municipalities and First Nations are planning votes for next...
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Six Nations’ athletic headline makers in 2023 part 2
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations sports fans had more than their share of reasons to celebrate during 2023. Numerous local athletes and teams achieved success during the past 12 months. The Turtle Island News profiled five of those headline makers in last week’s issue. Part two of a look back at those with local connections that had commendable exploits follows below. SIX NATIONS TOMAHAWKS The Tomahawks, a men’s Senior C lacrosse team, were a force to be reckoned with this year. For starters the Tomahawks enjoyed success at their four regular season tournaments, compiling an impressive 15-1 mark. The Six Nations club continued its solid play at the season-ending Senior Series Lacrosse championships, held in Brampton in August. The Tomahawks ended up winning the gold medal at the eight-team...
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Women’s Arena Lacrosse League set for 2024 campaign at the ILA
By Sam Laskaris Writer Players have been divvied up. And it won’t be long now before the 2024 regular season of the Women’s Arena Lacrosse League (WALL) kicks off. The five-team circuit will stage all of its matches at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) in Six Nations. WALL featured four teams during its 2023 campaign. A fifth club has been added for this coming season. And all of the squads have been renamed. The teams in the league will be called Blazers, Cobras, Firebirds, Sirens and Sky Hawks. A draft of the players who had expressed interest in participating in the league this season was held via Zoom on Dec. 18. “The draft went very well,” said WALL commissioner Karie Wells. “We’ve got five excited coaches with some experienced bench...
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NAPS on lookout for new recruits
By Mike Stimpson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY- Thursday’s badge ceremony for 11 new Nishnawbe Aski Police Service members brings the First Nations force up to about 200 members, NAPS Chief of Police Roland Morrison said. That’s dozens shy of the 262 that the service considers a “normal complement,” he said, but “we are slowly getting up there.” Dogged recruitment efforts inside and outside Ontario will continue to close the gap, he said. “Certainly our recruitment department has been very, very busy going out into the field, attending those 1/8police 3/8 colleges, going to career fairs,” he said. NAPS serves 34 First Nations in a vast expanse stretching as far north as Hudson Bay, east to a First Nation near Ontario’s border with Quebec, and west to Deer Lake...
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Akwesasne’s Carey Terrance going to Team USA
Akwesasne’s Carey Terrance is now part of Team USA and will be participating in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships in Sweden....
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First Nations Chiefs Say They’ve Been Shut Out From Consultation On Clean Water Bill
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Chiefs representing forty-seven Treaty 6, 7 and 8 First Nations say the federal government’s First Nations Clean Water Act was drafted without their input and that the federal Indigenous Services minister has ignored their requests for a meeting. The legislation, which was introduced in the House of Commons on Dec. 11 as Bill C-61, was a condition of an $8-billion class action settlement the feds reached in 2021 with First Nations across Canada whose members suffered from lack of access to clean drinking water for at least a year since November 1995. The Chiefs Steering Committee on Technical Services, which provides technical support on water, wastewater and related infrastructure for First Nations in Alberta, says the legislation as it stands does little more...
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Collaboration between three post secondary institutions bring Bachelor of Administration program to Northlands College
By Michael Oleksyn Local Journalism Initiative Reporter First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), Northlands College and the University of Regina recently announced that they have entered into an agreement to offer a Bachelor of Administration Program (BAdmin) through the college. The collaboration will provide learners in northern Saskatchewan with an accessible and high-quality post-secondary education, allowing them to pursue diverse career paths in the field of administration. “At the First Nations University of Canada, we strive to make our programming more inclusive to learners across Saskatchewan. This MOU helps us realize part of that commitment and expands our reach to communities seeking further training and education,” Jason Bird, program administrator, Indigenous Business and Public Administration at FNUniv said in a release. “This partnership is another step in making our educational...
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New Mexico delegation wants more time for the public and tribes to comment on proposed power line
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)-New Mexico’s congressional delegation wants the public to have more time to weigh in on a proposed transmission line that would bring more electricity to one of the nation’s top nuclear weapons laboratories, saying the comment period should be extended by 60 days. The project comes as Los Alamos National Laboratory looks to power ongoing operations and future missions that include manufacturing key components for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Native American tribes and environmentalists already have voiced opposition to the multimillion-dollar power line project, which would cross national forest land in an area known as the Caja del Rio and span the Rio Grande at White Rock Canyon. Several pueblos have cultural and spiritual ties to the area. The congressional delegation said in a letter to the...
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Quebec judge authorizes class action lawsuit alleging abuse at Indigenous day schools
By Jacob Serebrin THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL- A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Indigenous people who allege they received lower-quality education than other Quebecers at day schools where abuse was rampant. Thousands of First Nations and Inuit children were required by the provincial or federal government to attend the schools. “The plaintiffs assert that the day school system had a stated goal of cultural assimilation and that the children who attended them were victims of acculturation as well as, for many, psychological, physical and sexual abuse by teachers, administrators, other employees and other children at these schools,” Justice Sylvain Lussier wrote in his Dec. 8 decision. The lawsuit includes all First Nations people who were required between 1951 and 2014 to attend day...
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Stoney Nakoda Nation sues Canmore, province over adopted TSMV plans
By Jessica Lee Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek area structure plans in Canmore threaten to potentially destroy or block access to historical sites, artifacts and grave sites, according to Iyarhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation. A court application filed Dec. 19 by Stoney Nakoda Nation (SNN) against the Town of Canmore and provincial ministries of municipal affairs and Indigenous relations seeks to void bylaws passed by the Town to accept the ASPs in October. The application argues the bylaws violate Indigenous and treaty rights under Canada’s Constitution Act and were passed without consulting the Nation, whose traditional territory includes Canmore, known as Chuwapchichiyan Kudebi in Stoney. “The Stoney Nakoda believe that the severity of the potential Treaty rights impacts resulting from the adoption of the...
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Nevada tribe says coalitions, not lawsuits, will protect sacred sites as US advances energy agenda
By Scott Sonner THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RENO, Nev. (AP)- The room was packed with Native American leaders from across the United States, all invited to Washington to hear from federal officials about President Joe Biden’s accomplishments and new policy directives aimed at improving relationships and protecting sacred sites. Arlan Melendez was not among them. The longtime chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony convened his own meeting 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers) away. He wanted to show his community would find another way to fight the U.S. government’s approval of a massive lithium mine at the site where more than two dozen of their Paiute and Shoshone ancestors were massacred in 1865. Opposed by government lawyers at every legal turn, Melendez said another arduous appeal would not save sacred sites from being...
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Action to stop violence against Indigenous women, girls must include men and boys: First Nations activist
Joey Michael Audy (left), Evelyn Marie McKay and Romeo Chris Miles are wanted by Winnipeg Police on charges of attempted murder, robbery and forcible confinement in connection with an incident where a woman was assaulted on Dec. 10, 2023. (Winnipeg Police handout) By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative Reporter WINNIPEG, MANITOBA- While First Nations leaders demand levels of government take action to stop violence against Indigenous women and girls in the aftermath of a brutal assault in Winnipeg, one national activist says she believes the solution should involve increased supports for women, but also for men and boys to bring them back to their culture, and away from violence. A gruesome attack in Winnipeg earlier this month saw a 27-year-old Indigenous woman lured to a home where she was held...
