Six Nations player chosen to represent Laurentian at university rookie all-star contest
By Sam Laskaris Writer As it turns out, Rowan Smith’s first lacrosse season in the Canadian university ranks is not over yet. Smith, an 18-year-old Six Nations member, was a rookie midfielder with the Sudbury-based Laurentian Voyageurs. The Voyageurs had a challenging season as they failed to win any of their 10 regular season contests in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA). Smith, a midfielder, appeared in all 10 games for the Voyageurs. And he led the club in scoring, collecting seven points, including six goals. As a result, Smith was chosen to showcase his abilities at the CUFLA’s season-ending championship tournament, which begins on Friday and continues until Sunday at Brock University in St. Catharines. Six clubs will participate in the championship weekend. Smith will also be at...
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ILA to host 7 National Lacrosse League pre-season games
By Sam Laskaris Writer Local lacrosse fans will have plenty of opportunities to see some of the world’s top lacrosse players relatively close to home. And the best part, admission will be free for the seven National Lacrosse League (NLL) pre-season matches that will be held during November at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). “This is definitely the most games we’ve had here,” said Tracy Johnson, the ILA’s manager. Last year the local facility hosted four NLL exhibition contests. In recent years both the Halifax Thunderbirds, owned by Six Nations member Curt Styres, and the Georgia Swarm have staged their training camps out of the ILA. Johnson said that representatives from the Albany FireWolves also reached out to the ILA brass this year and requested to have their three pre-season...
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Six Nations own Brandon Montour hopes to inspire children back home
By Arielle Orsuto K5 SEATTLE — Brandon Montour is just cracking the surface of his Kraken career, but the defenseman has been in the league for seven years. With Seattle being his fourth city, with previous stops in Florida, Buffalo and Anaheim, he and his family is used to being new in town. “My family enjoys where we’re at. We’re settling in finally now. Making our house feel more like home,” said Montour. Even as he gets settled, Montour said his plan is to be here for a long time. “This is home and this is a community we’re going to grow.” His last stop was a big one, winning the first Stanley Cup in Florida Panthers history in 2023. He scored eight goals during the teams playoff run, leading...
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Haudenosaunee deer hunt dates set
The annual Haudenosaunee deer harvest is gearing up to start November 4th. The Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat Authority (HWHA) and Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) have agreed to dates for the 2024 hunting season running from November 4 to Dec. 5 on HCA lands, the Hamilton Conservation Authority announced. The now 13-year-old annual hunt stems from a 2011 agreement. In 2011 the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs recognized and supported the Nanfan Treaty, or the Treaty at Albany of 1701. The treaty outlines the Haudenosaunee right to harvest and fish in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area (DVCA). The HCA and HWHA agreement outlines Haudenosaunee treaty rights HCA lands and protocols. The 2024 deer harvesting has two schedules and will be held in two areas of the DVCA from November to December...
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Three facing charges after failing to stop for police
OHSWEKEN-Three Ohsweken people are facing a series of charges from drugs to firearm possession after the vehicle they were in failed to stop for police. Six Nations Police said on September 5th, 2024, at about 11:00 a.m. officers spotted a motor vehicle that had failed to stop for police in a plaza on Sour Springs Road near Mohawk Road. Police said the motor vehicle was successfully blocked in after attempting to flee from police again. Police arrested three people and seized fentanyl, hydromorphone and a replica firearm. As a result of the investigation Dillon James Miller, 34, of Ohsweken, has been charged with the following criminal offences: Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking: Fentanyl Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking: Hydromorphone Proceeds of Crime Under $5,000 Operation While Prohibited X...
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A century after Native Americans got the right to vote, they could put Trump or Harris over the top
RED SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Native American communities were decisive voting blocs in key states in 2020, and with the 2024 race remaining stubbornly close both campaigns have tried to mobilize Native voters in the final weeks of the presidential election. But when it comes to messaging, the two campaigns could not be more different, many Native voters said. It’s been 100 years since Native Americans were given the right to vote, with the passage of the Snyder Act in 1924, and whichever campaign is able to harness their power in this election could swing some of the most hotly contested counties in the country. In swing states like Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada, the candidates — particularly Vice President Kamala Harris — have been targeting Native Americans with...
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Seal is served: How coastal First Nations are reclaiming their roots by bringing back the hunt
By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Before there was an Island highway connecting the west coast to the rest of Canada and long before there was a food store bringing in fresh supplies, coastal First Nations hunted and ate seal for subsistence. To bring back this forgotten tradition, young Indigenous men from the Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warriors Family harvested four harbour seals in October – two from Sarita Bay in Huu-ay-aht First Nations (HFN) modern treaty territory and two from unceded Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (TFN) territory. For most of the Warriors, the whole experience of harbour seal hunting, or kuukuḥw̓isa ʔuʔuʔiiḥ as they say in Nuu-chah-nulth language, was a first. “There were a lot of emotions and tears of joy and pride in bringing this back and revitalizing this knowledge...
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AFN National Chief and Alberta Premier ask feds for more First Nations policing funds
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith both attended a special chiefs assembly in Calgary from Oct. 16 to 18. In opening remarks on the assembly’s first day, Premier Smith said she had a “very meaningful and productive conversation” with Woodhouse Nepinak on Oct. 15. “We are united in our commitment to establish First Nations policing as an essential service in First Nations communities,” said Smith. On Oct. 21, Woodhouse Nepinak and Smith released a joint statement reaffirming their shared commitment to First Nations policing and calling on the federal government to provide more funding towards it. “We call on the federal government to move forward on their commitment to implement amendments to the First Nations and...
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Haines Junction school without principal and teachers for multiple grades
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter St. Elias Community School in Haines Junction is dealing with nine educator vacancies, according to the president of the Yukon Association of Education Professionals. Ted Hupé told the News in an Oct. 28 interview that the school is looking for primary and intermediate teachers, a principal and educational assistants. St. Elias Community School is operated by the First Nation School Board (FNSB). It offers classes from kindergarten to grade 12, according to the school’s website. It follows the B.C. curriculum with Yukon First Nations and Champagne and Aishihik First Nations content as a foundation, reads the school’s website. Wade Istchenko, the MLA for Kluane, told the Yukon legislature Oct. 23 that grades 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 are without qualified teachers at...
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Interference didn’t change Peguis election result, rules judge
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative reporter A federal judge has ruled the results of a Manitoba First Nation’s election are valid despite evidence of “direct” interference when voters went to the polls in 2023. Federal Justice Ann Marie McDonald ruled last Thursday she would not negate the results of the April 6, 2023 election for chief and council held in the Peguis First Nation, an election that saw current Peguis Chief Stan Bird beat incumbent Glenn Hudson by 440 votes in the community with more than 12,000 members. After losing the election, Hudson launched an appeal asking that the results be thrown out and a new election called claiming that Bird and supporters of Bird had interfered with operations at an advance poll in the community on March, 28,...
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Jody Wilson-Raybould challenges Canada’s history in new book
By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter It was a full house at West Vancouver Memorial Library Sunday night in celebration of former Liberal MP Jody Wilson-Raybould and author Roshan Danesh’s latest book, Reconciling History: A Story of Canada. The book shares the voices of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, touching on Canada’s history of colonization and how that history has been painted. “We definitely still have a long way to go, and there’s still horrible disparities and realities. But I think we have to take stock in recognizing that there has been constructive change and continue to build on it,” Wilson-Raybould said. Reconciling History also touches on the history of her people, the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach, both part of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation on northern Vancouver Island. When Wilson-Raybould...
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Man facing impaired charges after business owner calls Six Nations Police
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- A 20-year-old man is facing impaired driving charges after a local business contacted Six Nations Police with concerns a patron in their business was impaired. Police attended the Highway 54 business Thursday, September 26, 2024, at about 11:10 AM and located an unoccupied vehicle. Six Nations Police said two men approached them on scene and identified themselves. Police said they reviewed security footage at the location and identified one of the men as the operator of the motor vehicle. Police said based on their interaction with the driver and witnesses at the location, they had reason to believe that the man was impaired by a drug and issued a Standard Field Sobriety Test demand that resulted in a Fail. The second man was released...
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US forest managers finalize land exchange with Native American tribe in Arizona
CAMP VERDE, Ariz. (AP) — U.S. forest managers have finalized a land exchange with the Yavapai-Apache Nation that has been decades in the making and will significantly expand the size of the tribe’s reservation in Arizona’s Verde Valley, tribal leaders announced Tuesday. As part of the arrangement, six parcels of private land acquired over the years by the tribe will be traded to the U.S. Forest Service in exchange for the tribe gaining ownership of 5 square miles (12.95 square kilometers) of national forest land that is part of the tribe’s ancestral homelands. The tribe will host a signing ceremony next week to celebrate the exchange, which was first proposed in 1996. “This is a critical step in our history and vital to the nation’s cultural and economic recovery and...
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Eby says NDP ‘happy’ to work with other parties in tight B.C. legislature
(CP) British Columbia Premier David Eby has scheduled a meeting with the B.C. Greens as he prepares to form government, a day after the NDP won the barest of majorities in a legislature where every vote will count. His party has also reached out to members of the future opposition caucus, according to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who said his members were asked about becoming Speaker. Such a move would effectively widen the NDP majority to two, and Rustad rebuffed the idea. Eby’s NDP finally won the election on Monday, nine days after election day, when a count of absentee votes lifted the party to 47 seats, while the Conservatives held 44 ridings and the Greens had two. Eby told reporters Tuesday that he was open to working with...
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Two more northern First Nations celebrate connection to power grid
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter BIG TROUT LAKE – Having reliable electricity opens up many opportunities for a remote community, said Chief Donny Morris as his First Nation celebrated “energization” by the Wataynikaneyap Power transmission line. With electricity the transmission line “brings opportunities in the future,” the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Innuniwug (KI) chief said, adding that his First Nation will “work together to produce progress moving forward.” KI and neighbouring Wapekeka First Nation, fly-in communities northeast of Sioux Lookout, were connected to the provincial power grid by Wataynikaneyap Power last Dec. 14. A celebration took place Monday in KI. Morris said his Treaty 9 community was “negatively impacted by frequent power outages” prior to getting hooked up to the grid. “Access to reliable energy will lead to many improvements for...
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Special interlocutor calls for 20-year probe into missing Indigenous children
GATINEAU,QUE.,-(CP)-A final report into missing children and unmarked graves at residential schools is calling on the federal government to create an Indigenous-led national commission with a 20-year mandate to investigate missing and disappeared Indigenous children. It’s also calling on Canada to refer itself to the International Criminal Court for investigation. Kimberly Murray, Canada’s special interlocutor on unmarked graves, released her final report Tuesday in Gatineau, Que., during a gathering with Indigenous residential school survivors and experts from across the country. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996. An estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, though experts say the actual number could be much higher. Many of their families were never informed of their deaths or told where they...
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Nuclear waste has another ‘willing’ community
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter IGNACE – South Bruce, a rural municipality near Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario, has joined Ignace as an officially willing host for proposed deep-underground storage of nuclear waste. That suits Ignace just fine, township outreach lead Jake Pastore said Tuesday. “That’s great,” he told Newswatch. “We’re thrilled that there’s another community in the process and that there’s ample interest in the project.” South Bruce “had a very strong voter turnout and a positive result, and that’s great,” he said. “We appreciate what all the municipalities and First Nations are doing,” he said. “The mayor and council want to congratulate South Bruce for the years of leadership and community engagement.” South Bruce’s referendum on the issue closed Monday evening with approximately 51 per cent...
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Sault Ste. Marie is home to Ontario’s first Métis Heritage Centre
By Maggie Kirk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In 1993, two Métis men, Steve and Roddy Powley, hunted a moose near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., asserting their right to harvest on their traditional lands — an action that would alter the course of Métis rights in Canada. The father and son were charged with hunting a moose illegally and argued that, as Métis people, they had a constitutionally protected right to hunt on their traditional lands. After a ten-year legal battle ending in 2003, the Supreme Court ruling affirmed the rights of Métis people under section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act. All 14 judges who reviewed the case agreed with the two Sault locals, who fought not only for the rights to their own land but for all Métis people...
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Eagle feathers play a sacred role in powwows. Poachers are exploiting the high demand
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members. The government’s response has been two-pronged: A crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles coupled with a longstanding program that lawfully distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members. But that program has a yearslong backlog, and officials said illegal killings appear to be worsening, with young golden eagles in particular targeted because of high value placed on their white and black wing feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, already faced pressure — from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions. An investigation centered around a Montana...
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Aklavik opens emergency women’s shelter inside its wellness centre
Aklavik Indian Band board member Rita Arey says the community, in desperate need of an emergency women’s shelter, recently opened one inside its wellness centre. Arey, who is also the Beaufort Delta representative for the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, said almost 35 people took part in a community wellness open house in August last year. She said that’s where a women’s shelter was discussed as a “key priority.” “It was stressed by the RCMP, social services and the N.W.T. government’s wellness department that this was definitely a need for our community and, most importantly, it was for the women and children who are in need of this service,” Arey told Cabin Radio last week. “The community has worked hard since then to make this a reality....
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