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...
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Kanesatake grand chief testifies at standing committee
By Marcus Bankuti Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) grand chief Victor Bonspille revealed at a parliamentary committee appearance last week that he asked Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) for veto power to sign agreements on behalf of Council pertaining to the G&R Recycling file, a request he says went unanswered. Bonspille railed against the federal government and his MCK colleagues at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, which is studying freshwater protection, for a lack of movement on cleaning up the environmental catastrophe, which is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, if not more. Council has yet to meet ISC’s preconditions for moving forward on remediation, notably a refusal to accept a transfer of the Oka letter for the G&R...
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Barbie doll honoring Cherokee Nation leader is met with mixed emotions
By Sean Murphy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-An iconic chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, inspired countless Native American children as a powerful but humble leader who expanded early education and rural healthcare. Her reach is now broadening with a quintessential American honor: a Barbie doll in the late Mankiller’s likeness as part of toymaker Mattel’s “Inspiring Women” series. A public ceremony honoring Mankiller’s legacy is set for Tuesday in Tahlequah in northeast Oklahoma, where the Cherokee Nation is headquartered. Mankiller was the nation’s first female principal chief, leading the tribe for a decade until 1995. She focused on improving social conditions through consensus and on restoring pride in Native heritage. She met with three U.S. presidents and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award....
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In the Amazon, Indigenous women bring a tiny tribe back from the brink of extinction
By Fabiano Maisonnave, Teresa De Miguel And Andre Penner THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Juma Indigenous Territory, Amazonas, Brazil (AP) _ At night, in this village near the Assua River in Brazil, the rainforest reverberates. The sound of generators at times competes with the forest, a sign that there are people here. Until recently, the Juma people seemed destined to disappear like countless other Amazon tribes decimated by the European invasion. In the late 1990s, the last remaining family was made up of three sisters, Borea, Mandei, and Mayta and their father, Aruka, in his 50s. In 2021, Aruka died of COVID-19, prompting obituaries like the one in The New York Times that said the “ last man of his tribe” was gone, pushing the Juma, a patriarchal society, closer to extinction. Or...
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Ottawa didn’t verify disputed Metis communities covered by federal bill: official
A high-ranking federal official says Ottawa has not verified the legitimacy of disputed Metis communities in Ontario that have been at the centre of heated debate over a government bill. Martin Reiher, a senior assistant deputy minister in the Crown-Indigenous Relations Department, said Bill C-53 only recognizes provincial Metis organizations that govern and the government isn’t required to dig into the legitimacy of specific communities. He made the comments at a parliamentary committee, where Indigenous leaders have been hotly debating legislation that would recognize Metis self-governance in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Chiefs of Ontario and other First Nations groups have argued that six new communities within the Metis Nation of Ontario, which the provincial government recognized in 2017, have no historical basis to exist. Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott...
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Metis self governance bill would help right wrongs, minister says amid controversy
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- The Liberal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations is defending a bill that would formalize several Metis self-governance agreements, after more than a month of heated debate between Indigenous leaders at a parliamentary committee. While the leaders of Metis groups in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario say the legislation would unlock new opportunities and foster a new relationship with Ottawa, prominent First Nations voices are raising concerns about irreparable damage to treaty rights. They say that with the bill, the federal government is essentially giving Metis organizations a blank sheet of paper to write treaties on, with no oversight. On Thursday, it was Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s turn to take questions at the House of Commons Indigenous and northern affairs committee. Anandasangaree said Metis have...
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Peruvian rainforest defender from embattled Kichwa tribe shot dead in river attack
By Ed Davey And David Pereda Zavaleta THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LIMA, Peru (AP)- A Kichwa tribal leader has been shot to death in an area of the Peruvian rainforest that’s seen high tensions between Indigenous people and illegal loggers. Quinto Inuma Alvarado was attacked as he was returning from presenting at a workshop for women environmental leaders in the San Martin region of the Amazon on Wednesday, his son, Kevin Arnol Inuma Mandruma, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Peruvian police confirmed his death. “He was travelling in a boat,” when assailants blocked the river with a tree trunk, Kevin Inuma said. “There were many shots fired.” The boat carried six people, said Kevin Inuma, including his mother, brother, sister and uncles. Quinto Inuma was shot three times...
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Alberta sued for discriminating against children in care by taking their child allowance benefits
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Treaty 8 chiefs and representative plaintiffs are leading the charge for Indigenous children living off-reserve and in care of the province who were denied their Children’s Special Allowance (CSA) benefit. A statement of claim was filed against Alberta and Canada Nov. 24 in Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton alleging Alberta withheld hundreds of millions of dollars from foster children since about 1993 and the federal government did nothing about it. “Today is a day of accountability for the government,” said Chief Albert Thunder of Whitefish First Lake Nation 459 at a news conference Nov. 27. He was joined by Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey, chiefs Ivan Sawan (Loon River) and Andy Alook (Bigstone Cree), as well as the representative plaintiffs and legal...
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National chief hopefuls say feds must back down from controlling First Nations membership
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Contenders for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations are hitting back against Ottawa’s proposed work to define the Indian status of First Nation members. Last week, Indigenous Services Canada Minister Patty Hajdu announced the establishment of an Indigenous advisory process that would inform the upcoming collaborative process on second-generation cut-off. This process, she said, is the next step in the co-development of reforms to address status inequities that remain within the Indian Act. This work follows in the wake of Bill C-38, the latest amendments to the Indian Act. It was debated in parliament for second reading on Oct. 20. The Bill aims to remedy the inability of those with a family history of enfranchisement (their Indian status having been terminated)...
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Dangerous future, scientists warn
By Jacqueline St. Pierre Local Journalism Initiative Reporter CANADA-The Lancet medical journal, founded 200 years ago in 1823, has sought to transform urgent societal issues by contextualizing scientific research and study to create positive impacts for humanity. The Lancet medical journal foresees potential hazards by the middle of the century should temperature escalation persist. The forthcoming United Nations climate talks, COP28, slated for November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, UAE, are anticipated to prioritize funding for economically repressed nations to adjust to climate shifts and manage the impact of severe weather occurrences such as floods, heatwaves and storms. The scientific journal projects heat-related deaths and food insecurity will skyrocket by mid-century_particularly in economically repressed countries. “We’re already seeing climate change claiming lives and livelihoods in every part of the...
