NCN warns parents kids shouldn’t be “running around terrorizing” the community
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative A 13-year-old boy struck by a bullet in his bedroom was the victim of a “targeted” shooting over the weekend, in a community that continues to grapple with violence, fears of dangerous weapons and youth crime. According to RCMP, around 2:25 a.m. on Saturday morning, they got a call about someone being shot inside a home on the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN). According to police, shots were fired at the house from outside, and bullets passed through a wall in the living room and into the victim’s bedroom where he was struck while lying on his bed, while five other people who were in the home at the time, including three other youth, were not injured. The boy was transported to a Winnipeg hospital...
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Marathon Active Living Centre in the works
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter MARATHON – This town along Lake Superior has big plans for a multi-use complex that includes a hockey rink, pickleball courts, a playground, basketball courts and swimming pools. Two nearby First Nations – Biigtigong (Pic River) and Netmizaaggamig (Pic Mobert) – have committed to providing a combined $1.5 million to help finance construction of the Marathon Active Living Centre, a news release from the Town of Marathon said. “These projects have been on the books for Marathon for close to a decade,” Mayor Rick Dumas told Newswatch Tuesday. The town talked with Biigtigong about a partnership to build a rink for both parties five years ago, he said. “Now we’ve worked out a plan with Biigtigong and Netmizaaggamig with financial support recognizing their...
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Mixed reactions to Manitoba premier’s wind power plan
By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Premier Wab Kinew’s announcement last month that Manitoba would work with Indigenous partners to create wind power has brought mixed reactions among local First Nations and Métis. In September, the premier announced the province will help Indigenous bands create 600 megawatts of new wind power. The intent, he said, was to bring affordable, clean energy to Manitoba and produce jobs for the Indigenous bands — an idea that has brought mixed reactions from local bands. Waywayseecappo First Nation chief Murray Clearsky says he’s interested in moving forward with wind turbines, partially because the current cost of electricy is a significant portion of their expenses. “I think we have to start looking at stuff like this,” Clearsky told the Sun on Friday. “Because right...
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Search warrant finds cache of firearms in Cold Lake FirstNations
By Chantel Downes Local Journalism Initiative In a public statement released on Monday, Daniel McLaughlin, Communications Manager for Cold Lake First Nations (CLFNS), said CLFNS was aware of the police activity in the LeGoff townsite. He noted that CLFNS leadership had been in communication with the RCMP, closely monitoring the situation and cooperating with law enforcement to ensure all necessary steps were taken during the ongoing investigation. McLaughlin assured the public that the community was not in immediate danger and urged calm while the investigation continued. “At this time, the community can be assured that there is no immediate danger. We ask residents to remain calm and allow the RCMP to complete their investigation,” he said, adding, “Further details will be shared as they become available.” Cst. Cory Riggs, Public...
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Oil removal work begins on ‘fragile’ Second World War-era wreck in coastal B.C.
An oil salvage operation is underway on the fragile wreckage of a U.S. army transport ship that sank almost 80 years ago off coastal British Columbia in a race to head off an eruption of thousands of litres of oil that a coast guard official says is “near imminent.” The Canadian Coast Guard said the 77-metre-long Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski has been burping up “slow but consistent drops of oil” since the fall of 2022 at the shipwreck site in Grenville Channel, part of the Inside Passage off northern B.C. Jeff Brady, superintendent of marine environmental hazard response in the west for the coast guard, said the discovery comes after 44,000 litres of heavy fuel oil and 319,000 litres of oily water was successfully extracted from the sunken ship in...
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First Nation calls for all-season road amid rising winter temperatures
By Angela Amato Local Journalism Initiative Reporter With the winter months nearing, many First Nations communities across the country are worried that shorter and shorter seasons for ice roads are increasingly threatening the livelihood of their people. “We rely on winter roads to bring in fuel, heavy structures for construction, groceries, housing supplies, everything,” said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam in an interview. “Everything for the community … It’s how we survive.” Many Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation members live in the town of Fort Chipewyan on the southwest edge of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta, approximately 224 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. Access to the town of nearly 800 is limited to boat and aircraft in the summer months, and winter roads when it is cold enough for ice to...
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Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions
The Canadian Press-Black and Indigenous women gathered in Ottawa to demand action following a spate of police-involved deaths, including nine Indigenous people who were killed in interactions with police in August and September. The families, who often spoke through tears about their loved ones, say the federal government must launch a national inquiry into the deaths of them and others. Laura Holland, a Wet’suwet’en woman and the mother of Jared Lowndes, says it’s impossible to get justice for her son, saying politicians are not listening to victims and are refusing to meet with them. She says there must be systemic change to the way police services operate. The minister of Crown-Indigenous relations earlier called the string of deaths troubling and said he encouraged police services to ensure accountability and build...
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Ottawa asked to amend policing program
The Assembly of First Nations and Premier Danielle Smith are calling on the federal government to implement amendments to the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program. This program would commit sustainable funding for Indigenous-led law enforcement. In a joint news release from AFN and the premier, they said both parties have advocated for police services which reflect community values, cultures and needs, but to achieve this, First Nations need to have jurisdiction and authority over their police frameworks. “It is essential First Nations have clear jurisdiction and authority over their own policing frameworks, underpinned by equity funding from both federal and provincial governments. Such funding must be sustainable and sufficient, ensuing First Nations-led police services have the resources they need to deliver a high standard of community policing,” the release...
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First Nations protest ‘morbid’ situation in Nipigon
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter LAKE HELEN – As roughly 200 Red Rock Indian Band members and allies walked from Gas Road to the Nipigon Bridge on Monday, the words on a picket sign put their sentiment succinctly: “Give us back our people!” The First Nation north of Nipigon has been at loggerheads with Parks Canada since the 600-year-old remains of four Anishinaabek ancestors were found at a site where parks officials to build a visitor centre. The remains have been treated with indignity and nearly 60 dug-up loads of earth have been moved from the excavation site to unknown locations, according to the First Nation. It’s clear that Parks Canada did not have an archaeologist on site during excavation and did not follow their own rules for...
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Child welfare reform is in the hands of the AFN after deal voted down, minister says
-CP-Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says it is up to the Assembly of First Nations to come back to the federal government with a clear message about how it wants to proceed after chiefs voted against a $47.8 billion child welfare reform agreement last week. Hajdu says she is sure AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is “listening very closely” to concerns chiefs have about how the AFN handled negotiations for that agreement. Chiefs rejected the 10-year reform deal at a gathering in Calgary last week after many of them blasted the AFN and Canada for lacklustre consultations that resulted in a weak deal. Hajdu says the government is waiting for the AFN to come back with a plan but says they’ll be looking at every option they can to...
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What’s going on at Lindberg Landing?
Relations between people connected to a small cluster of homes beside the Liard River are deteriorating amid rumours and accusations. By Simona Rosenfield Local Journalism Initiative In 2019, five new families moved to Lindberg Landing, a collection of land leases just north of Nahanni Butte off Highway 7 in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho region Clinton Leussink’s family made the move after buying into leases with Sue Lindberg, a longtime leaseholder in the area and its namesake. The two had become friendly through Leussink’s work trucking supplies into isolated northern communities. “I stopped by Lindberg Landing one day having heard about it, and there was Sue, living in the bush all alone,” Leussink told Cabin Radio. “She was definitely getting to that point in her life where she needed support, or...
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Metis player wearing the C for the Belleville Senators
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Though he has spent the majority of his pro career in the minors, Garrett Pilon is still aspiring to become a regular player in the National Hockey League. Pilon, who is Métis and grew up in Saskatoon, is in his seventh pro season. The 26-year-old has appeared in just three NHL contests, his last one being with the Washington Capitals during the 2021-22 campaign. Despite obviously preferring to be in the NHL, Pilon isn’t complaining too much about where he is now. He was recently appointed the captain for the Ontario-based Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Senators are the top affiliate for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Pilon was told early on during Belleville’s pre-season schedule that he would be...
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Liberal majority victory shifts political landscape in New Brunswick
Canadian Press-New Brunswickers are waking up to a transformed political landscape, after the Liberal Party ended six years of Progressive Conservative rule in Monday’s provincial election. Winning 31 of 49 seats, Susan Holt’s Liberals delivered a convincing majority win, with the Tories earning 16 seats and the Greens two. Holt has become the first woman premier-designate in the province’s history. She credits the victory to her campaign’s focus on health care and affordability — she is promising to open 30 community health clinics across the province, to remove the provincial sales tax on electricity bills, and to cap rent increases. Meanwhile, outgoing Premier Blaine Higgs lost his riding of Quispamsis and told supporters Monday night he will begin the process to replace him as leader. The Liberals’ win signals a...
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‘Repeated indignities’: First Nation shuts down highway following discovery of early 15th century human remains
By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Members of Red Rock Indian Band and their supporters brought all traffic to a halt between eastern and western Canada at the Nipigon Bridge for an hour on Monday morning. The shut-down came after pre-contact human remains were found at a nearby park construction site. Demonstrators from across the Robinson-Superior Treaty area called on Parks Canada to cease construction and acknowledge what the First Nation says are systemic mistakes that caused this to happen. In May, four unique sets of human remains were overturned in development of Parks Canada’s $37-million Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area visitor’s centre in Nipigon, 100 kilometres east of Thunder Bay. Carbon dating ordered by Red Rock Chief Allen Odawa Jr. showed the person with the most complete...
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‘We are seeing reconciliation in action’: New artwork honouring Indigenous peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador at Confederation Building
By Anasophie Vallee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Following the unveilling of Baetha, a two-piece bronze statue depicting Demasduit, Nonosabasut, and their infant child in Botwood on Sept. 30, the provincial government has announced the introduction of a permanent exhibition in the East Block and a statue outside the front of the Confederation Building to honour the Indigenous peoples in the province. The unveilling ceremony of the new works took place at the Confederation Building, and numerous Indigenous leaders, representatives of the provincial government, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members were in attendance. Minister Scott Reid, responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation, announced that the provincial government has received five works of art from The Nunatsiavut Government, The Innu Nation, The Miawpukek First Nation, The Qalipu First Nation, and The NunatuKavut...
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Lawyer for family members of Pickton’s victims wants copy of killer’s ‘tell all book’
The Canadian Press-A Vancouver lawyer representing families of the victims of serial killer Robert Pickton says he’ll be asking for a copy of a “tell all book” seized from Pickton’s cell after he died following an attack in a Quebec prison earlier this year. Jason Gratl says he and his clients, who have pending lawsuits against Pickton and his brother David in B.C. Supreme Court, were “surprised” when an RCMP search warrant document revealed the existence of a 200-page manuscript handwritten by Pickton. Gratl says they were led to believe the investigation was over, but police say the materials seized from Pickton’s cell after his death offered nothing new. The search warrant document filed in New Westminster, B.C., this summer says prison officials found “numerous writings and notes authored by...
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Onigaming councillor saw an ‘awfully divided’ AFN meeting
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Thunder Bay Source ONIGAMING – Chiefs’ rejection of a settlement on child welfare reform was disappointing but not entirely surprising, says the band councillor who represented the Ojibways of Onigaming at this week’s Assembly of First Nations gathering in Calgary. Debate at the special assembly “looked awfully divided,” Kathy Kishiqueb said Friday in a phone interview. “All the speakers for the past two days made good points, whether they were in favour or not in favour of the agreement,” she said from Calgary. “I knew it was going to be close either way. “Throughout the two days I was feeling very conflicted, just because all the chiefs and communities had really good points, whether they were in favour or not in favour.” In...
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Health-Ability Fair returns with a showcase of informative topics – including an Indigenous comedy hypnotist
By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council’s (NTC) Disability Access Committee is hosting its annual Health-Ability Fair on Oct. 23 and 24 at the Alberni Athletic Hall. ‘Living in Balance’ is the theme for the 2024 event, which features two days of presentations and free offerings geared to improve mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing of Nuu-chah-nulth members. Set to wow everyone on Day One of the fair is comedy hypnotist Scott Ward. The Sandy Bay Ojibway Nation member takes to the stage at 1 p.m. for an empowerment workshop, and then after dinner at 6:30 p.m. he will entertain with his comedy hypnotist show. “The big thing, in today’s world, is trying to inject some humour into life, and provide as much information as...
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Chumash people in California to co-steward marine sanctuary in historic partnership
(AP) For more than 10,000 years, Native Americans have been living along California’s central coast, an area of breathtaking beauty with stunning turquoise waters rich in biodiversity. Now, in the first partnership of its kind, the area will soon be part of a new national marine sanctuary that Native people will co-steward with a federal agency. It will give the Chumash people, once the largest cultural group in California, a say in the way the marine sanctuary is preserved. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, designated by the Biden administration last week, is the first tribally nominated sanctuary in the United States. It covers 116 miles (187 kilometers) of California coastline. The more than 4,500 square miles (11,655 square kilometers) of coastal and offshore waters that will be included contain...
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One of the last Navajo Code Talkers from World War II dies at 107
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — John Kinsel Sr., one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers who transmitted messages during World War II based on the tribe’s native language, has died. He was 107. Navajo Nation officials in Window Rock announced Kinsel’s death on Saturday. Tribal President Buu Nygren has ordered all flags on the reservation to be flown at half-staff until Oct. 27 at sunset to honor Kinsel. “Mr. Kinsel was a Marine who bravely and selflessly fought for all of us in the most terrifying circumstances with the greatest responsibility as a Navajo Code Talker,” Nygren said in a statement Sunday. With Kinsel’s death, only two Navajo Code Talkers are still alive: Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald and Thomas H. Begay. Hundreds of Navajos were recruited by the...
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