Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Chief tells AFN they are only an advocacy group
By Eve Cable Local Journalism Initiative Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo used the recent Assembly of First Nations (AFN) special chiefs’ assembly to challenge federal leaders to envision what a future relationship could look like between Kahnawake and Canada. He also pushed for an official apology for the Oka Crisis at the assembly, where First Nations leaders from across the country gathered. “It’s always good to network with other communities and build relationships,” said Diabo, who attended the AFN alongside MCK chiefs Jeffrey Diabo, Iohahí:io Delisle, and Ryan Montour, as well as representatives from the external government relations portfolio team and Council technicians. Representatives from the federal government, including prime minister Justin Trudeau, were in attendance and addressed the AFN. “I feel the same urgency as...
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Chiefs’ players now starring again in the National Lacrosse League
By Sam Laskaris Writer It was certainly a star-studded lineup. Featuring a roster stacked with professionals who also toil in the National Lacrosse League (NLL), the Six Nations Chiefs were able to have another extremely successful season in 2024. The Chiefs captured their second consecutive national Mann Cup championship in September. The Six Nations squad downed British Columbia’s Victoria Shamrocks 4-1 in the best-of-seven Canadian Senior A box lacrosse series. All matches were held locally at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Besides defending the national title that they had captured in 2023 while squaring off against the host New Westminster Salmonbellies from B.C., the Chiefs were also able to win their eighth Mann Cup crown in franchise history. While local fans had up-close views of the pros showcasing their skills with...
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Pro teams hosting upcoming Indigenous heritage games
By Sam Laskaris Writer With a little bit of travel Six Nations sports fans can attend various Indigenous heritage games that will be hosted by professional squads in the coming weeks. A couple of Six Nations members will even be participating in those contests. And there will be other Indigenous individuals taking part as well. The two-time defending National Lacrosse League (NLL) champion Buffalo Bandits will stage their Native American Heritage Night on Jan. 10. The Bandits are partnering with the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino to celebrate Native American heritage and honour the origins of lacrosse. Buffalo’s roster includes Six Nations member Tehoka Nanticoke. Now in his third NLL season, Nanticoke was a member of the Bandits’ league-championship squads in both 2023 and ’24. Buffalo will host the Toronto...
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SPORTS BRIEFS
By Sam Laskaris Writer Jr. Snipers register lopsided win The Six Nations-based Jr. Snipers are looking for some better results during their current season. And the local Under-22 squad, that competes in the Junior Arena Lacrosse League, certainly got off to an impressive start to its 2024-25 campaign. The Jr. Snipers had posted a 4-6 mark last season. The club is obviously hoping to improve upon that record this year. The Jr. Snipers kicked off their season on a rather positive note, thumping the Toronto-based Jr. Monarchs 17-8 in a match held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Dec. 14. Wayne Hill, the president and head coach of the Six Nations Rivermen Senior B squad, has joined the Jr. Snipers as an assistant coach this season. Hill said the club...
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First Nations water act obstructed by Conservatives: Hajdu
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY — Reaching a consensus on Parliament Hill is difficult, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says. “The water legislation is a great example,” she told Newswatch in a recent interview. “I’ve got water legislation right now. The AFN (Assembly of First Nations) has a public letter out saying ‘stop obstructing this water legislation.’ “It’s transformational for communities and yet they won’t let it through.” “They” in this case refers to the Conservative opposition in the House of Commons. Hajdu, the member for Thunder Bay-Superior North, said the Pierre Poilievre-led Conservatives have been obstructionist on her First Nations Clean Water Act and other legislation put up by the Liberal government. The First Nations Clean Water Act, also called Bill C-61, was introduced in...
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No charges against Mounties in arrest of prominent Alberta chief
Canadian Press-Alberta’s police watchdog says there’s no evidence an offence was committed when Mounties used force to arrest a prominent First Nation chief outside a Fort McMurray, Alta., casino in 2020. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team also said in a report released Thursday that there’s no evidence of racist treatment by officers against Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam. It said a confrontation began when an officer working alone was patrolling the parking lot of the Boomtown Casino and found an unregistered truck. ASIRT said the officer was approached by Adam, who was agitated, swore and said he was tired of being harassed by RCMP. The report describes the chief throwing down his jacket, removing his ring and taking a fighting stance, making it “clear that (Adam) was...
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‘It’s a connection you can feel in your marrow’: Fort Smith instructor
By Tom Taylor Local Journalism Initiative Kyle Napier is achieving big things outside the NWT, but his connection to his home is as strong as it’s ever been. “I go back a few times a year,” the 35-year-old said. “Whenever I cross into the boreal, that’s when I feel home. “It’s a connection you can feel in your marrow.” For Napier, who grew up in Salt River First Nation with Dene/Cree/Metis heritage, home is Fort Smith. However, he currently lives in Edmonton, where he teaches at the University of Alberta, NorQuest College in Edmonton and MacEwan University and remotely at the University of Victoria and Mount Royal University in Calgary. He teaches a number of disciplines, including communications, linguistics and Indigenous studies. He’s passionate about all of the subjects he...
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Why is it so hard to type in Indigenous languages?
By Mark Turin and Rbyn Humchitt The Conversation, When it comes to digital access and internet technologies, some languages are still more equal than others. Speakers of majority languages, who type in English or text in Korean, assume their message will be transmitted accurately. But Indigenous language communities don’t share this same confidence. Computers and smartphones don’t come with the ability to type all letters in all languages. The unique characters integral to many Indigenous languages are often mangled as they travel across the ether. However, the inclusion of two capital letters needed to write Haíɫzaqvḷa in a recent update of the Unicode Standard means this Indigenous language can finally be written and read on all digital platforms. Why did it take so long? And what challenges do Indigenous communities...
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Sussex-area wind farm aims to be up and running next month
By Andrew Bates Local Journalism Initiative reporter Active construction has concluded on a $90-million wind farm project near Sussex and its developer hopes it will be fully operational by the end of January. Work started on the Neweg Energy Project in Penobsquis, about 20 km away from Sussex, in April. The six-turbine, 25.2 MW project is a co-development by Halifax-based firm Natural Forces and an investment group representing New Brunswick’s eight Mig’maq First Nations. A 30-year purchase agreement was reached with NB Power in January. A press release last week from J.D. Irving, Ltd. said that construction on the project “was completed in late September,” with subsidiaries Gulf Operators handling civil construction, including preparation of access roads and building pads, and Irving Equipment using a 770-ton crane to help install...
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Nancy Karetak-Lindell, former MP, appointed as Nunavut Senator
(CP)-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced two new appointments to the Senate, including Nunavut’s first ever member of Parliament. Trudeau announced the appointments of Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who will fill Nunavut’s only Senate seat, and former Nova Scotia cabinet minister Allister Surette, on Thursday. The appointments are formally made by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon after recommendations from the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments. Karetak-Lindell was elected as a Liberal MP in 1997 after playing a key role in negotiations to establish Nunavut as its own political riding two years before it achieved status as a territory. She would represent the territory for more than a decade and served for a time as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of natural resources. In 2022, she was named as a member of...
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Two Brantford men facing firearms charges
BRANTFORD, ONT-Two Brantford men have been arrested and are facing charges after two firearms were seized by city police during a search of a Sheridan Street residence, December 18, 2024. Brantford police executed the search warrant after receiving a report of an assault involving a firearm that occurred on Sunday, December 15, 2024. An investigation was launched by the Brantford Police Service Drug and Firearm Enforcement Unit and BPS Major Crime. On December 18, 2024, at about 3:34 p.m., with the assistance of the BPS Emergency Response Team and the BPS Ident Unit, a search warrant was executed at the Sheridan Street home. As a result, two firearms were located and seized and two men, ages 40 and 41 from Brantford, both found in violation of firearms prohibitions, were arrested...
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Ontario appoints reviewer for Catholic school board after pricey Italy art trip
BRANT COUNTY -(CP)-Ontario has appointed a reviewer to look into expenses at the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board after four trustees spent $45,000 on a trip to Italy to buy $100,000 worth of art in July. Education Minister Jill Dunlop calls the board’s use of public money “appalling.” Aaron Shull, who is currently the managing director and general counsel at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, has also been tasked with examining the board’s conflict of interest and accountability policies. The four trustees who went to Italy have promised to pay back the trip expenses and look at donations or other funding to offset the cost of the artwork. The Brantford Expositor reported that the art purchased in Italy included life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio...
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Liard First Nation members organize meeting amid concerns regarding leadership, finances
Dene Ā́ Nezen in Liard First Nation has organized a meeting with membership and council regarding the community’s confidence in their leadership. The group of Liard First Nation members formed in October after the First Nation’s council publicly shared a letter of no confidence on social media. The group is petitioning for the immediate resignation of the current chief and council, and the scheduling of early elections. According to their website, they also want the development and implementation of a constitution for the First Nation and a code of conduct for leadership, among other demands. The meeting was announced over social media, and it will take place at the Watson Lake Rec Centre building on the evening of Dec. 17, 2024. There will be two resolutions on the agenda for...
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Amikwa cannabis trial dates set for spring 2025
By Jacqueline St. Pierre Local Journalism Initiative Reporter SUDBURY—The high-profile case involving 10 defendants charged with operating unregulated cannabis stores on Wahnapitae, Henvey Inlet, and Garden River First Nations has entered a critical new phase as trial dates have been scheduled for three weeks in the spring of 2025: the weeks of April 7, April 21 and April 28. This case, which began with a constitutional challenge over four years ago, revolves around the assertion that the legalization of cannabis in 2018 infringes on the defendants’ rights as First Nations people to trade the substance as part of their economic development. The defendants argue that the Cannabis Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act violate their rights under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which recognizes and affirms Indigenous...
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Missing woman’s body discovered: NAN
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative reporter A 41-year-old Sandy Lake First Nation woman who had been missing for more than a week this month in Thunder Bay’s south core was found dead on the weekend. But city police have yet to say if there is a connection between her case and a city man who they charged this week with a serious crime involving “human remains.” In a news release on Wednesday, Thunder Bay Police Service would only say that Deborah Anishinabie “is no longer the subject of a missing person investigation.” “This is now a private matter between investigators and the family,” the release said. In a second news release on Wednesday about a “sudden death investigation,” police said remains of a person who they did not identify...
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CP NewsAlert: No charges against officers in arrest of prominent Alberta chief
ALBERT-(CP)-Alberta’s police watchdog says there’s no evidence an offence was committed when Mounties used force to arrest Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam outside a Fort McMurray, Alta., casino in 2020. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team also says there’s no evidence of racist treatment against Adam....
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DGR opponents get petition presented to Parliament
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – People need to understand it’s far from a done deal that a deep geological repository for nuclear waste will be built in Northwestern Ontario, Dodie LeGassick said Wednesday. LeGassick, a We the Nuclear Free North member, made the remark after a petition against the repository, or DGR, was tabled in the House of Commons by MPs including Thunder Bay–Superior North Liberal Marcus Powlowski. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization announced on Nov. 28 it has selected a location between Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Ignace township for a DGR that could be built in the 2030s and early 2040s, pending regulatory and environmental approvals. But the fight is far from over, LeGassick told Newswatch. “This agreement that Wabigoon Lake has gotten...
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NDP seeks distance from Liberals, sees fight in next election is with Conservatives
OTAWA-(CP)NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh began 2024 by propping up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government. He is ending the year calling for Trudeau’s resignation. Singh’s gradual effort to limit his alliance with the Liberals hastened this week after Trudeau’s finance minister quit, plunging the government into more political chaos and raising questions about whether Trudeau can even stay on as prime minister much longer. But Singh is still not putting any kind of timeline on when his party will join the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois to defeat the government and trigger an election. After Chrystia Freeland’s sudden departure — a move blamed entirely on Trudeau who told her he she would be replaced as finance minister — Singh said it is time for Trudeau to resign. But when asked if...
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Mik’maq elver fishers hope quotas create safety on N.S. rivers, but critics doubtful
(CP)Indigenous elver fishers who once were at odds with federal fisheries officers say they’re hopeful that a new plan to provide them quotas this season will create more peace on the water. Earlier this month, a letter released by the federal Fisheries Department proposed a new quota system for the lucrative baby eel fishery that shifts 50 per cent of the total allowable catch of about 9,960 kilograms to First Nations fishers from commercial licence holders. Commercial elver fishers in the Maritimes have condemned the new system, saying it slashes their quotas without compensation, leaving little motivation for non-Indigenous companies to share their methods and facilities with the Indigenous entrants. However, Blaise Sylliboy, a 26-year-old Mi’kmaq fisher, says he is optimistic about receiving a legal quota, after he was arrested...
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Survivors’ Secretariat warns it’s at risk of bankruptcy without funding decision
(Canadian Press)-The Survivors’ Secretariat says it will be bankrupt by the end of the month unless Canada makes a decision on whether it will fund the group’s work. The organization documents what happened at the Mohawk Institute, a residential school that operated in Brantford, Ont., and supports survivors of the school. Laura Arndt, the secretariat’s lead, says it has been waiting months to hear whether it will get funding through the residential schools and missing children community support fund. In 2021, after numerous First Nations reported finding what appeared to be human remains on the sites of former residential schools, Ottawa set aside money to fund searches of the sites and documentation of what happened at the schools. Arndt says bureaucratic processes in the department of Crown-Indigenous relations are delaying...
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