Peter Clarkson running for mayor of Inuvik
By Aastha Sethi Local Journalism Inititative Reporter Peter Clarkson is challenging incumbent Clarence Wood for the title of Inuvik’s mayor in this month’s municipal election. Inuvik, Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson are each less than two weeks away from municipal election day, October 21. Clarkson, a longtime resident of Inuvik, has previously served one term as mayor and another as deputy mayor. He said he worked as a GNWT regional director in Inuvik between 2006 and 2020. He told Cabin Radio he decided to put his name forward because he cares about the town’s future and wants to see strong collaboration with local Indigenous leadership. He believes his past experience makes him an ideal candidate for the role. “I think this has prepared me really well...
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Boissonnault appointed to lead federal government’s effort to rebuild Jasper
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has been tasked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead the federal government’s share of the work to rebuild Jasper, Alta. In July, a wildfire destroyed one-third of the Rocky Mountain tourist town and displaced some 2,000 residents. Boissonnault, an Edmonton member of Parliament, will be responsible for co-ordinating federal resources with the Alberta government, the municipality and Indigenous groups. Trudeau also appointed a group of cabinet ministers, including Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Housing Minister Sean Fraser, to support Boissonnault. “This role that the prime minister has asked me to play in terms of ministerial lead is important, but it’s a whole-of-government approach,” Boissonnault told reporters Wednesday. He is expected to meet with officials in Jasper this week to get a better grasp of immediate...
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Dryden mill receives ‘clean and green’ energy funding
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter DRYDEN – The pulp mill in Dryden is receiving money from a “green” fund, and Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa has questions about that. The Northern Energy Advantage Program (NEAP) funding received by Dryden Fibre Canada should be conditional on the mill taking measures to “put an end to the exacerbation of the mercury poisoning crisis in Grassy Narrows First Nation,” Mamakwa said in an interview Wednesday. Dryden Fibre Canada has owned the decades-old mill since the summer of 2023. Under a previous owner, the mill dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River in the 1960s and ’70s. The resultant mercury poisoning caused debilitating illnesses in the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) First Nations downstream from the mill. Mercury hasn’t...
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Conor Kerr, Anne Fleming among five authors shortlisted for Giller Prize
Conor Kerr was bird hunting in rural Saskatchewan when he learned his book, “Prairie Edge,” had been shortlisted for the Giller Prize. He’s one of five finalists named Wednesday for the prestigious literary award, which goes to the best work of Canadian fiction published in English in the previous year. “My phone’s been cutting in and out all day,” Kerr said, so the congratulations have come piecemeal – perhaps an anticlimactic end to a big couple of weeks that also saw him shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. He said he’s thrilled his crime thriller about two distant Metis cousins planning an attention-grabbing Land Back protest is getting recognition. “It’s just so nice to see my book out in the world and getting some love.” The short...
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Iqaluit mayor, councillor again call for increased RCMP patrols for public drinking
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa and Coun. Kyle Sheppard say they want to see stepped-up enforcement of open liquor laws continue following a summer of increased patrols from RCMP. The topic came up at Tuesday’s city council meeting, when Sgt. Zhivka Ivanova presented the RCMP’s monthly reports for July and August. During those months, one of the tasks that kept officers busy was seizing open alcohol and patrolling the city on all-terrain vehicles to curb public drinking. Out of 448 beers seized between January and August, 97 were confiscated in July and 88 in August — which comes out to 41 per cent of the total for those eight months. Of the first eight months of 2024, August was the busiest for Iqaluit RCMP...
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Boissonnault appointed to lead federal government’s effort to rebuild Jasper Slugline: Alta-Wildfires
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has been tasked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead the federal government’s share of the work to rebuild Jasper, Alta. In July, a wildfire destroyed one-third of the Rocky Mountain tourist town and displaced some 2,000 residents. In his new role Boissonnault will be responsible for co-ordinating federal resources with the Alberta government, Indigenous groups, and the municipal government. Boissonnault says he will be in Jasper this week meeting with local officials to get a better grasp of immediate needs. He says one of the first tasks will be to see if the federal government can support Jasper in establishing temporary housing, which the province and municipality have been working on since August. Trudeau also appointed a group of cabinet ministers, including Environment Minister Steven...
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Ontario launches review following Ford criticism of children’s aid societies
The Canadian Press TORONTO-Ontario launched a review of the province’s 37 non-Indigenous children’s aid societies Wednesday after Premier Doug Ford suggested they are being financially mismanaged, but the unions representing CAS workers say it is a mere “smokescreen.” Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services officials say the review will look at issues such as the quality of protection they provide and their finances. As part of a background briefing Wednesday, they provided graphs that show annual funding for the sector steadily increased over the past decade to $1.7 billion this year, even as the number of children in care declined. Ford indicated last week that his government was doing an audit, as he railed against “nightmare stories about the abuse of taxpayers’ money.” Officials said the process to look...
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SPECIAL: 100 Years: Canada’s Failed Coup d’état Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council still here
Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council still alive despite Canada’s attempt to oust the oldest democracy By Lynda Powless Editor It was a coup d’état that failed. For 100 years Canada has attempted to oust the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) and for 100 years Six Nation Grand River supporters have fought back keeping it alive. From a violent attempted overthrow of the traditional Haudenosaunee national council in 1924, to the RCMP’s second removal of HCCC supporters in 1959 from the same building to the imposition of an elected band council. Now in 2024 the HCCC has recovered its council building a symbol in the heart of the community that they are still here, a century old Indigenous government still actively operating. This week marks both the anniversary of Canada’s attempted coup d’état and...
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Five unit townhouses completed
By Austin Evans Writer Five new townhouses near Fourth Line Road were unveiled, with promises that they would provide affordable housing for families. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) announced the completion of phase two of the Onondaga construction project on October 3. The Onondaga construction project is a collaboration between SNEC and Habitat for Humanity aiming to provide safe and affordable rental options for families within Six Nations. The newest building, also called Onondaga 2, is a five-unit housing building with one three-bedroom unit, two two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units. Onondaga 2 sits at 49 Harold Road in Ohsweken, directly beside Onondaga 1 which was completed in December 2023. Onondaga 2 is five townhouses labelled A to E and Onondaga 1 is labelled F to J. The Onondaga buildings,...
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Fairy or mushroom rings, it’s a first for local resident
By Austin Evans Writer The spookiest month of the year started early for one Six Nations resident who found seven fairy circles on his property. Fred Clause didn’t used to believe in fairies, but he’s not so sure after fairy circles started mysteriously appearing on his lawn. Clause was mowing the grass the week of September 16 when he first started noticing dark rings of grass on his lawn. “All of a sudden I’d seen these circles, and I was wondering what it was,” he said. “I phoned my niece in Fredericton, New Brunswick if she’s seen it and she texted me back and she said those are fairy circles.” Fairy circles start off as dark rings of grass in an otherwise uniform field of grass. After a while, mushrooms...
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Family dispute leads to man charged with assault
A Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) resident was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm and disobeying court orders after a family dispute. The Haldimand detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a family dispute on Ojibway Road in MCFN at approximately 12:10 pm on September 22. Police arrested a 20-year-old MCFN resident following the dispute, though they have not released any information identifying them. As a result of the investigation, the OPP charged the arrested person with assault, unauthorized possession of a firearm, disobeying a court order, two counts of possessing a firearm or ammunition contrary to a probation order, and four charges of failing to comply with a probation order. The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Cayuga...
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A failed coup d’état
It couldn’t be more ironic. This month marks a dark period in Six Nations history. 100 years since Canada removed the community’s traditional governance structure and imposed an elected band council system, answerable to Canada, on the community. 100 years. As the anniversary is marked the Six Nations Elected Council, (SNEC) that represents that imposed system today, has launched a lawsuit seeking compensation for lost Six Nations lands. Lands based on history and negotiations undertaken in the 1700s before anyone dreamed a system of administrative councils would be imposed on communities country wide as Canada tried to take root on stolen lands. Turtle Island News will spend this month looking at that history through the eyes of today’s Royanni who carry the torch for the community’s traditional governance structure, the...
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Letter to Editor
Six Nations does not have a community decision-making process that satisfies and is approved by the collective including the Six Nations Grand River Elected Council (SNGREC) and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC). It was at the land talk table back in the Douglas Creek days when the thought came to me that Six Nations has no way of making a decision that involves the collective. In speaking only for myself and not the SNGREC, since then, I’ve been raising this issue every chance I get. Right now, the only reliable decision-making process Six Nations has is the Indian Act’s referendum/voting process. We have people refusing to participate in this process because “we don’t vote” they say. On the traditional side we all know the clan system is broken. The...
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Weekly Cartoon
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All Nations Grand River Walk
By Austin Evans Writer The All Nations Grand River Water Walk honoured the water by following the 280 kilometres of the Grand River in one week. Walkers dipped a copper pail where the Grand River empties into Lake Erie at 3:00 am on September 15. Following the west bank of the Grand River, the walkers carried the pail of water for the next week. Throughout the journey the water was honoured through song, prayer and offerings of food and tobacco. The walk ended with walkers pouring the pail into the Grand River’s source near Dundalk on September 21. The Grand River Water Walk began in 2003 as a way to raise awareness for issues such as water accessibility and water preservation. Josephine Mandamin was the first to lead the walk,...
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Caledonia Corvairs to retire Brandon Montour’s jersey this month
By Sam Laskaris Writer Brandon Montour’s first trip to Ontario during the 2024-25 National Hockey League season will be an extra special one. Montour, a Six Nations member, was on the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers squad this past June. But the 30-year-old defenceman signed a free agent contract in July and is now a member of the Seattle Kraken. Seattle will travel to Ontario to square off against the host Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 31. It was announced on the weekend that Montour will also be rather close to his home community on Oct. 30. That’s because he will attend a ceremony organized by the Caledonia Corvairs, a Junior B squad that he played for while he was a teenager. The Corvairs will retire Montour’s Caledonia jersey number, 62....
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Six Nations teen becomes regular with Corvairs at age 15
By Sam Laskaris Writer Kane Styres is too young to drive. Or vote. But the Six Nations member, who will not celebrate his 16th birthday until Dec. 11, is making a name for himself in junior hockey circles. The 15-year-old defenceman is a rookie with the Caledonia Corvairs, a Junior B squad that participates in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). That means Styres is participating in a league that includes players who could potentially be up to six years older than him right now. And it’s not as if Styres is seeing limited action. He’s a regular on the Corvairs’ blueline and is earning plenty of praise from club officials. Styres still has plenty of growing to do. He’s 5-foot-10 now and weighs 160 pounds. While some other...
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Sports Briefs: From Women’s Lacrosse to Bearcats
Women’s lacrosse league seeking new players The Ontario-based women’s East Division for the Arena Lacrosse League is seeking some new players for its 2025 season. As in previous years, the league will play all of its matches at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena beginning on Jan. 4. The league operated with five clubs last season. They were simply called the Sky Hawks, Firebirds, Blazers, Cobras and Sirens. All returning players to the league will be assigned to the squad that they played for last season. But they still must register online and pay their full registration fees before being allowed to compete this coming year. Registration is now also open for new players that are interested in joining the league. Those that pay their fees on time will be eligible...
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Six Nations Elected Council lands claim team updates community
By Austin Evans Writer Six Nations Elected Council’s(SNEC) legal team told the community it could expect a settlement higher than Canada can pay from their ongoing legal battle. Lands and Resources department director Lonny Bomberry and former director Phil Monture sat in front of the Six Nations community on October 3rd to provide updates about the band council’s ongoing legal battle against Canada and Ontario. In 1994, SNEC, under the name of Six Nations of the Grand River (SNGR), filed a notice of action against Ontario and Canada saying they mismanaged the lands promised to Six Nations in the 1784 Haldimand Proclamation. Bomberry told a crowd of about 50 people SNEC was not looking to get land back. Instead, it is suing for the money the “Crown” earned from selling...
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Choose Life supports youth in northern FirstNations
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In the year or so that she’s worked with Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s Choose Life program, Constance Lake First Nation member Mallory Solomon has “seen a lot of good progress within my community.” “Now there’s a place where you can go hang out and do activities – there’s a safe space in my community that Choose Life was able to establish, a place where you can just hang out, chill on the couch,” Solomon said from Niagara Falls, where NAN Choose Life is holding its annual general meeting. The clinical psychology student said she appreciates how Choose Life has established safe places where First Nation youth “can be themselves.” “And especially I think it’s important that we build more spaces for our two-spirit LGBTQ+...
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