Six Nations not impressed with Indigenous Services Canada
Six Nations councillors and staff say a Joint Gathering with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) felt “pointless,” repetitive and concerns seemed to “fall on deaf ears.” Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) sent a delegation to the Joint Gathering with ISC on November 15 and 16 and gave verbal reports at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on November 27. Clair Pietron, Strategic Advisor and Systems Analyst said the updates presented were similar to last year’s and this year there were few ministers who spoke, or were present at the gathering leaving ISC employees to field questions they couldn’t answer. “They aren’t equipped [to answer] hard questions on the floor and say things like ‘I’ll take this back to my bosses.’ A lot of that is what kind of happened in presentations from...
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Six Nations Elected Council reviewing tender policy
Six Nations will review its tender policy in an attempt to give community members a leg up in the process. Councillor Helen Miller brought a complaint regarding the tender acceptance process from a community member at the Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) l meeting on November 28. Miller said the member’s tender wasn’t selected for the snow removal contract put out earlier this month, and that person discovered an outside company’s bid was awarded the contract. “I thought this new council was going to work to get our people back in positions. Here you are hiring a non-native company,” she said. “If it’s true I am very concerned. We have several people in our community who do plowing.” Nathan Wright, CEO, confirmed it was true SNEC accepted a bid from...
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Six Nations Elected Councillors discuss travels and meetings
Some Six Nations council members are off to Ottawa this week attending the Assembly of First Nations meeting. The meet runs to Wednesday culminating in the election fo a new national chief. COO Six Nations Elected Councillor Audrey Powless-Bomberry has concerns about the Chiefs of Ontario (COO), but is enjoying the addition of culture to the meeting. She gave a verbal report at the Six Nations Elected Council General Council meeting on November 28. She attended the Fall Chief’s Assembly in Toronto on November 21 to 23 and said there weren’t enough chief’s to carry all of the member nation’s flags, which was disappointing. Community members were asked to carry flags. The COO have had an entrance of flages for more than two decades. She attended a committee for education...
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Six Nations to co-own battery storage system
By Lisa Iesse Writer Six Nations will co-own a new battery storage system if the community’s latest bid gets a green light from the province. Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (SNGRDC) is teaming up with the Mississaugas of the Credit Business Corporation (MCBC), along with NRStor Inc and Aecon for the new project. The project partners hope to build a Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”) on a 20-acre lot near Simcoe within five years. The structure would take up about 8 acres of space, and would house up to 106 MW, supplying 424 megawatt hours to the electric grid. If SNGRDC’s latest battery project bid is approved by the province’s Electricity System Operator (IESO), SNGRDC will hold a 25 percent ownership. MCBC will hold another 25 per...
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Local businesses hit by thieves in smash and grabs
Three local Six Nations business have been hit by robbers in the past week. The latest was a cannabis shop call the “Tribe” that sells cannabis and other items. The Chiefswood Road shop was hit Dec., 3 at 6:45 a.m. Two males broke into the shop through a door and stole an inside ATM machine from the store. They were driving a GMC SUV. The theft comes just six days after a local restaurant, Maracle’ Man’s, was hit. The restaurant was hit last Tuesday Nov., 28th at 4:21 a.m. Video shows two men getting out and used a crowbar to smash through the back door entering the shop and stealing the safe before leaving in a tan coloured pick up truck The driver never left the vehicle. There were two...
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Canada treading on First nations rights….again?
It looks like any love affair between the Liberal party and First Nations is quickly coming under fire. A parliament committee began studying Bill C-53, the Métis self government bill, last week and the new Crown-Indigenous Relations minister found himself getting off to a rocky start. The Liberal minister came out defending a bill that is aimed at formalizing Métis self-governance agreements. Agreements that have come under fire by Indigenous leaders who question the Bill and its affects upon Indigenous rights, in particular in Ontario. But no one is surprised, the newly appointed Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree, has continued to defended the government position saying the Liberal government is righting the wrongs of the past. He argues Métis have been fighting for their rights for centuries. And he told...
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Six Nations Police charge man who barricaded self in house
Six Nations Police said no one was injuried after a man barricaded himself inside a Sixth Line Road home and shot at police last Thursday, Dec., 1. Six Nations Police Const. Cody Johnson said the incident began when officers responded to a weapons call on Sixth Line between Chiefswood Road and Tuscarora Road in Ohsweken around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Ontario Provincial Police were called in as back-up. Constable Johnson said a man had barricaded himself in a home and began shooting at police early Friday morning. He said he shot multiple times during the standoff with police. A hold and secure for the immediate neighbourhood was put in place and residents were urged not to travel to the area. “Throughout the early morning police were under fire from the individual...
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Six Nations granted a second Junior B lacrosse franchise
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations youth will now have yet another opportunity to showcase their lacrosse skills locally in a junior league. That’s because the Six Nations Fire, a new Junior B squad, has been launched and is gearing up for its 2024 campaign. The Fire will be the only Canadian franchise in the First Nations Junior B Lacrosse League. Clubs from across New York also participate in the league. The Fire will play all of its home contests at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). “It kind of fell into our lap,” said Roger Vyse, who will serve as the head coach for the Fire. “Our community members jumped all over it.” Vyse had served as a co-coach for a portion of the 2023 campaign with the Six...
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Arena Lacrosse League kicks off this weekend
By Sam Laskaris Writer Another Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) season commences this Saturday. And all three of the squads that play their home contests at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) will be in action during the opening weekend of the eight-team, Ontario-based East division of the league. The ALL also has a British Columbia-based West division. Teams from the different provinces do not currently play each other. But league officials are hoping to one day have a national championship. For starters, the Paris RiverWolves, who do play home matches at the ILA, will start their campaign on the road on Saturday. They’ll square off against the Peterborough Timbermen, in a match which will be held at the Millbrook Arena, starting at 2 p.m. Then both the Ohsweken Bears and...
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SPORTS BRIEFS: Women’s lacrosse league unveils new jersey designs
By Sam Laskaris Writer Women’s lacrosse league unveils new jersey designs It’s now known what the players competing in the upcoming Women’s Arena Lacrosse League (WALL) will be wearing. The new jersey designs for all five squads that take part in the WALL’s Ontario-based East division were unveiled on social media on Monday. But it won’t be until later this month before it is determined which individuals will be suiting up for all of the clubs. All WALL East teams play all of their games at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. The WALL also has a British Columbia-based West division. Teams in that loop play all of their matches out of the Langley Field House. It was announced in October that all of the WALL East squads had been renamed...
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Assembly of First Nations to elect new national chief in special assembly
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- It’s election day for the Assembly of First Nations, where chiefs in the assembly or their proxies will decide who’s best suited to lead the organization after several turbulent years. The election comes months after former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was ousted over the findings of an investigation into complaints from five staff members about her conduct. The third-party independent review concluded some of Archibald’s behaviour amounted to harassment, and that she had breached confidentiality rules and violated internal policies by retaliating against complainants. Archibald denied the allegations. Her supporters maintain she was removed from the post for trying to change the organization’s status quo. Of the 231 chiefs who took part in the special assembly, 71 per cent voted to remove her....
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Biden to sign executive order on federal funding for Native Americans
By Colleen Long And Susan Montoya Bryan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP)-President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday during a tribal nations summit that aims to make it easier for Native Americans to access federal funding and have greater autonomy over how to invest those funds. “Tribal nations still face unacceptable barriers to fully exercising their inherent sovereignty, and really too often that occurs because of the way we are administering federal funding programs,” said Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser. Historically, Tanden said, federal policies attacked Native people’s rights to self-governance and caused lasting economic damage. The Biden administration is working to undo that damage, she said. The order in part creates a clearinghouse for Native American tribes to find and access federal funding, and...
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Biden, White House support Indigenous lacrosse team for 2028 Olympics
By Eddie Pells THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Joe Biden is pushing to allow the Indigenous nation that invented lacrosse to play under its own flag when the sport returns to the Olympics in 2028. Biden’s position, being announced Wednesday at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, is a request for the International Olympic Committee to allow the Haudenosaunee Nationals to compete as its own team at the Los Angeles Games. That would require the IOC to make an exception to a rule that permits teams playing only as part of an official national Olympic committee to compete in the Olympics. The Haudenosaunee have competed as their own team at a number of international events since 1990. “We’re hopeful the IOC will see it our way, as well,” Tom Perez,...
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Assembly of First Nations meeting kicks off as election of new national chief looms
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- A special meeting of the Assembly of First Nationskicked off in Ottawa on Tuesday, as chiefs get ready to elect a new leader. Hundreds of delegates flocked to a downtown Ottawa convention centre, where candidates for national chief were getting ready to plead their final case to those preparing to decide their fate. The election of the organization’s next national chief comes as members look for a reset, following a turbulent period when their internal politics were as high-profile as their advocacy for some 600 First Nations. Former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was ousted in June at a special chiefs’ assembly held to address the findings of an investigation into complaints from five staff members about her conduct. The third-party independent review concluded some...
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Six Nations man facing murder and weapon charges in standoff with police
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND-A 29-year-old Ohsweken man is facing a series of charges including attempted murder and weapons charges after Six Nations Police (SNP) were shot at by a man barricaded in his home last week. SNP called in the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Nov., 30 at about 10:32 p.m in response to an armed man barricaded in his home on Sixth Line between Chiefswood Road and Tuscarora Road where police said he was discharging a firearm, pointing and discharging the weapon at Police. Residents in the area were asked to shelter in place as the standoff continued. The standoff lasted until 9:05 a.m., on Dec. 1, when police say the man left his home and surrendered to the OPP TRU team and was taken into custody. SNP said James...
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Six Nations Fire Chief on medical leave
By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations of the Grand River (SNGR) Acting Fire Chief Michael Seth is on medical leave. Six Nations Elected Council announced the leave in sending its “thoughts and prayers to Acting Fire Chief Michael Seth and his family,” Tuesday ( Dec., 5 2023) saying the Acting Fire chief was on an “unexpected medical leave’ and out of respect for the Acting Chief Seth and his family they are requesting privacy. “We kindly request that their privacy be honoured, allowing them the time and space they need. Our thoughts are with Michael, and we appreciate the understanding and consideration of our community during this time.” Acting Fire Chief Michael Seth recently rejoined the Six Nations Fire Department in November to oversee all...
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Advocate “horrified” by troubling new report showing dramatic 40% jump in youth suicide in Manitoba
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A troubling new report shows that more youth in Manitoba took their lives by suicide last calendar year than in any other year on record, and that youth suicides in this province have jumped by more than 40% in a single year. “My first reaction was that I was horrified when I saw what was in this report,” Sherry Gott, Manitoba’s advocate for children and youth said on Monday. “It shows that we have a mental health crisis in this province, and because of that crisis we are now dealing with a suicide crisis.” The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) annual report was released on Friday, and shows that 37 Manitobans under the age of 21 died by suicide between April...
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Indigenous title claim ‘hangs like a guillotine’ over company: lawyer
By John Chilibeck Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A New Brunswick wood-cutting firm says an aboriginal claim to its property “hangs like a guillotine” over the business, seriously threatening it and the jobs it has created. rabbe & Sons Ltd. was one of three firms that appeared in Saint John’s Court of King’s Bench on Monday as part of motion to strike the Wolastoqey Nation’s request for a certificate of pending litigation on just over 5,000 parcels of privately-owned forestry land in the western half of the province. The certificate is hotly disputed in the massive litigation case. If awarded, the certificate would provide official court notice to the public that a property was subject to a legal dispute. The practical effect of such a court-imposed sanction would prevent the owners...
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Infrastructure Bank to provide loans for Indigenous equity investment in major projects
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Indigenous communities across Canada now have another avenue for achieving equity investment in infrastructure projects that will result in financial and social benefits for their members. Last week, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) announced it would be providing equity loans ranging from $5 million to $100 million that would cover up to 90 per cent of a community’s equity in a project. “It’s a busy week?with lots of in-person meetings?(because) lots of communities (are) seeking ways to move forward with access to capital,” said Hillary Thatcher, managing director of investments with CIB. Many of the chiefs who are in Ottawa this week for the Assembly of First Nations election of a new national chief have plans to meet with Thatcher. “We’ve had a...
