Hamilton changes site trucking waste stop after MOE says no
By Lisa Iesse Writer HAMILTON – Ontario’s ministry of environment has pulled the brakes on 8,000 cubic metres or 16,000 tons of Chedoke Creek waste enroute to a local suburban landfill site in Hamilton. About one month ago, in a message posted on their website the city announced the clean-up was complete. “The in-water targeted dredging activities are completed, concluding the four-month effort to remove sediment from the bottom of Chedoke Creek.” It was a job that came with a $10.4 million price tag. “We’re running around 32 trucks a day of dried material as we’re able to,” Nick Winters, the city’s director of water told city council on November 21. About 2 weeks ago, the province stepped in warning that the planned dumping site, the GFL landfill in Stoney...
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Six Nations Elected Council confused on fire truck costs
SNEC NEEDS FIRE TRUCK COSTS EXPLAINED Six Nations Fire Department continues to work toward purchasing a ‘new’ fire truck, but by the time they receive it, it will already be two years old. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) deferred a motion to approve the truck at its General Council meeting on December 12, despite the motion being labelled “time sensitive.” Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill said they needed to “clarify the numbers.” The deferred motion stated the invoices for the Four-door Extreme Tactical Sawtooth was $182,287 with a total cost of $366,574 coming from Minor Capital funds of 2021-2021 and 2022-2023. Councillor Kerry Bomberry pointed out that by the time the fire department receives the truck it will already be two years old, but they will pay the sticker price of...
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Feds pushing First Nations to sell their land to developers for housing
Conservative Members of Parliament (MP) are pushing Indigenous communities toward selling land to developers for housing instead of funding community builds. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) was told Conservative MP’s are pushing “assimilation” at the General Council meeting on December 12. Councillor Helen Miller gave a report on a lobbying trip she took to Ottawa on December 4 as part of delegation through the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Committee on Housing and Infrastructure. “It was quite the event with them. They were attacking us, you know,” she said. “They kept saying, ‘we’ve got to worry about everybody in Canada, not just you. We’ve got to worry about housing for everybody.’” They were there to meet with six MP’s to try to secure more funding for Indigenous communities to meet...
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Hydro One told to work out kink before SNEC approves plan
Hydro One needs to prepare accurate information before asking Six Nations for permission to work on the territory. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is asking Hydro One to bring more specific information to them after a presentation by Chris Grol, Indigenous Relations Coordinator didn’t have the information necessary at the General Council meeting on December 12. Grol came to SNEC asking for two band council resolutions to allow Hydro One to complete two projects. One was a customer request on Seneca Road to upgrade the power supply to their residence, which would require Hydro One to install a new, larger, hydro pole. He said that may require clearing more of the area around the pole. The other request was unclear, but required two new, upgraded hydro poles to supply more...
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SNEC to mark phase two of development
Six Nations will pause its orientation to celebrate the Onondaga Buildings with the community. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) was invited to the celebration of the new buildings on Harold Road and despite having scheduled orientations decided at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on December 11 that they would take a break to have the entire council attend. “It is actually a pretty big deal,” Councillor Greg Frazer said. “They do a lot of work we don’t have to cover in terms of cost for Habitat for Humanity. I think it’s good to show an appearance.” The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Six Nations Community Hall on December 19. The event boasts that it will “honour the hard work, dedication, and the community engagement...
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Issue of Metis recognition haunting First Nations’ organizations
Metis potentially receiving First Nation’s status and rights continues to dominate conversions at First Nation’s political meetings and Six Nations is at the forefront. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) members attended meetings for the Chiefs of Ontario (COO), Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and, Iroquois Caucus in the last three weeks and the Metis issue was brought up at all of them, which SNEC discussed at its Political Liaison meeting on December 11. Elected Chief Sheri-Lyn Hill discovered she’s responsible for the Bill C-53 portfolio for the Iroquois Caucus said she is working to get up to speed. Bill C-53, which passed second reading in June and has been sent to a standing committee to accept First Nations positions on the bill, before going to a third reading and then...
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Woman who lured doulas with pregnancy claim pleads guilty
BRANTFORD / SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – The Brantford woman who confessed to staging pregnancies plead guilty to over 20 charges involving doulas across the province. On March 13, Kaitlyn Braun, who is 25 years old, was arrested and accused of misleading a number of doulas with claims of pregnancy and miscarriage from June 2022 to February 2023. The identity of the doulas has been blocked by a publication ban. At a Brantford court on Thursday (Dec. 7) Braun pleaded guilty to 21 of 52 charges of fraud, indecent acts, false pretenses and mischief. Among the charges Braun pleaded guilty to was a charge of mischief for falsely misleading the Brantford police in February, by accusing another person of the crimes. Doulas are professionals hired to provide support to...
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Entrepreneurs and artists bedazzled at GRETI’s annual Christmas Night Market in Ohsweken
Photos by Lisa Iesse SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – Entrepreneurs and artists bedazzled at GRETI’s annual Christmas Night Market in Ohsweken. The market took place on Thursday (Dec. 7) at the Grand River Employment and Training (GREAT) centre on 16 Sunrise Court Tawnie Johnson, who is GREAT’s special projects coordinator, told Turtle Island News this was the third year of the annual event. The market featured about 14 outstanding vendors from Six Nations and surrounding areas, explained Johnson. “It’s really about giving local entrepreneurs a place to showcase their crafts,” she said. The market happens only once a year and it began about three years ago, said Johnson. “It first started to help entrepreneurs, the goal was to help some of the entrepreneurs from Six Nations have an avenue...
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Wishing you the season’s happiest
The holidays are upon us. And it couldn’t come at a more needed time. For some of us personally, including myself, we have seen loss this year that touches us deeply and the holiday spirit of giving, sharing and family love couldn’t come at a better time. It’s a holiday, one of two Christian holidays, that have become universally celebrated, one for Jesus birth and the other his crucifixion, with Christmas growing more to become more broad based as a celebration of winter itself and a weirdly dressed man in a red suit with a beard sliding down chimneys than the other where you may take your kids to an Easter egg hunt or stage one yourself but that doesn’t connect you to its religious roots. Christmas is different. In...
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CN finally acknowledges “complex history of railways’’ after mass resignation of Indigenous advisory council
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter It took the resignation of its entire Indigenous advisory council for CN Rail to acknowledge “the complex history of railways and the role they played as instruments of colonial policies, as well as the intergenerational economic, cultural, and social effects that these policies have had on Indigenous communities.’’ CN issued its formal acknowledgement Monday, just after the 12 members of the council tendered their resignations en masse. The acknowledgement also stated, “We are grateful for the privilege of working and residing on these lands and recognize and honour their original people?’’ Council co-chairs Roberta Jamieson and Murray Sinclair said in a prepared statement to Windspeaker that “an acknowledgement is a start, but it is not an apology. “We can see Indigenous people want...
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Six Nations’ athletic headline makers in 2023
By Sam Laskaris Writer Local sports fans had plenty of reasons to celebrate during the past 12 months. That’s because Six Nations athletes and teams had their share of successes. The Turtle Island News will now look back at some of these athletic headline makers. Part one of this remembrance with five of those who achieved greatness is below. And part two of the series will be published next week. SIX NATIONS CHIEFS The Chiefs, members of Major Series Lacrosse, managed to end a seven-year drought when they captured the national Mann Cup in September. After being crowned Ontario champions, the Chiefs travelled to British Columbia to square off against the host New Westminster Salmonbellies in a best-of-seven series to determine who would be dubbed the best Senior A men’s...
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Mixed weekend results for Six Nations’ Arena Lacrosse League entrants
By Sam Laskaris Writer The three Six Nations-based men’s teams in the Arena Lacrosse League all have different records now following action this past weekend. The Paris RiverWolves, one of three clubs that play their home contests at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA), are now sporting a 2-0 mark following a 14-12 victory versus the defending league champion Toronto Monarchs on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Ohsweken Bears saw their record fall to 1-1 when they were beaten 12-10 by the Whitby Steelhawks in a match staged at Children’s Arena in Oshawa on Saturday. And the Six Nations Snipers are now winless in two starts as they were downed 14-9 by the Brampton Express on Friday. That game was held at the Brampton Memorial Arena. RiverWolves’ coach Jamie Dubrick was...
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Native American translations are being added to more US road signs to promote language and awareness
By Michael Casey THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP)- A few years back, Sage Brook Carbone was attending a powwow at the Mashantucket Western Pequot reservation in Connecticut when she noticed signs in the Pequot language. Carbone, a citizen of the Northern Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, thought back to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she has lived for much of her life. She never saw any street signs honoring Native Americans, nor any featuring Indigenous languages. She submitted to city officials the idea of adding Native American translations to city street signs. Residents approved her plan and will install about 70 signs featuring the language of the Massachusett Tribe, which English settlers encountered upon their arrival. “What a great, universal way of teaching language,” she said of the project done...
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‘A front row to our funeral’: Canadian local news coverage erodes in 2023
By Ashley Joannou THE CANADIAN PRESS Jessica Wallace stood in Ottawa’s Rideau Hall in June as she and her co-workers at the British Columbia newspaper Kamloops This Week were recognized as finalists for the Michener Award, a top journalism prize in Canada. On a short list with the likes of the Globe and Mail and Global News, the newspaper’s stories uncovered questionable spending at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, including a $500,000 retirement payout for a chief administrative officer and lavish spending at steak houses and champagne rooms. The work was praised by the judges as “an outstanding example of the bedrock of journalism.” The newsroom was closed less than six months later, leaving the community of about 100,000 people in B.C.’s Interior without a newspaper for the first time since...
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Metis cabin in Temagami area subject of litigation
By Darlene Wroe Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A conflict between two Indigenous groups over land use in the Temagami area has now reached the level of litigation. A statement of claim has been issued by the Temagami First Nation (TFN) and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai (TAA) against Marc Descoteaux, a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO), his brother Peter Descoteaux, and the Ontario government. Marc Descoteaux applied for and received the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) to build an incidental cabin (allowed because of his Indigenous ancestry) at Pond Lake. The site is within the southern section of the land legally claimed by the TFN and the TAA as N’dakimenan (Our Homeland). The TFN and the TAA take the position that membership in the MNO...
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International court rules against Guatemala in a landmark Indigenous and environmental rights case
By Daniel Shailer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEXICO CITY (AP)- Guatemala violated Indigenous rights by permitting a huge nickel mine on tribal land almost two decades ago, according to a ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Friday. The landmark verdict marks a monumental step in a four-decade struggle for Indigenous land rights and a long, bitter legal battle, which has at times spilled into the streets of northern Guatemala. It also comes at the close of the United Nations U.N. climate summit COP28, which stressed the importance of renewables and energy transition minerals like nickel more than ever. According to a verdict read from Costa Rica in the early hours of the morning, the Guatemalan government violated the rights of the Indigenous Q’eqchi’ people to property and consultation, by...
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Minnesota panel chooses new state flag featuring North Star to replace old flag seen as racist
Minnesota’s new state flag should feature an eight-pointed North Star against a dark blue background shaped like the state, with a solid light blue field at the right, a special commission decided Tuesday as it picked a replacement for an older design that many Native Americans considered offensive. By Steve Karnowski THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-Minnesota’s new state flag should feature an eight-pointed North Star against a dark blue background shaped like the state, with a solid light blue field at the right, a special commission decided Tuesday as it picked a replacement for an older design that many Native Americans considered offensive. The State Emblems Redesign Commission chose the final version on an 11-1 vote after finalizing a new state seal that depicts a loon, the state bird. Unless...
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Six Nations Police and Ministry of Transport truck inspections raise community concerns
By Lynda Powless Editor SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND-A political misstep could have come close to a confrontation Tuesday (Dec.19, 2023) when Six Nations Police invited the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to conduct vehicle checks on large trucks passing through Six Nations without the approval of either the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) or Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) . Turtle Island News received calls from community members of trucks being pulled over and inspected including opening the doors to look inside. Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton said the MTO “has no authority at Six Nations and shouldn’t be here, and the Six Nations Police have no authority to call them in.” He said the HCCC was not contacted or consulted by Six Nations Police. Not just the HCCC wasn’t made...
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Will the eruption of the volcano in Iceland affect flights and how serious is it?
Iceland’s Reykjavik penninsual volcano erupts (Supplied photo) LONDON (AP)- Scientists anticipated the eruption of a volcano in southwestern Iceland for weeks, so when it happened on Monday night, it was no surprise. The region had been active for more than two years and thousands of small earthquakes rattled the area in recent weeks. Here is a look at what happened and what may be ahead: HOW THE ERUPTION UNFOLDED It started at about 10:20 p.m. local time on Monday north of Grindavik, a fishing town of 3,400 people on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The town is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, in an area known broadly as Fagradalsfjall volcano. First there was a series of small earthquakes. Then lava that’s some 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 degrees...
