Both Haudenosaunee clubs capture bronze medals at world championships
By Sam Laskaris Writer Numerous Six Nations members have returned home with some hardware as they represented the Haudenosaunee Nationals at the world box lacrosse championships. Both the women’s and men’s global tournaments concluded on Sunday in Utica, N.Y. The two Haudenosaunee clubs concluded their action at the tourney on Saturday. Both squads registered convincing victories in their bronze-medal matches. The Haudenosaunee women’s club posted a 21-4 triumph over Australia. And their male counterparts thumped England 14-5. This marked the first time the women’s category had been included at the world tournament. Six Nations member Fawn Porter was the captain of the Haudenosaunee entry. Porter was thrilled to be part of the historic event. “It means so much and it’s such a big deal for this organization,” she said. “And...
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Montour scores goal in his home debut with Seattle Kraken franchise
By Sam Laskaris Writer The back of his jersey still had his surname and his signature number 62. But when Six Nations’ Brandon Montour took to the ice this past Friday at the Climate Pledge Arena it was the beginning of a new era for him. For Montour it marked the first time he was playing a home game, albeit a pre-season match, for the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken. Montour, a 30-year-old defenceman, joined the Seattle club during the off-season, mere days after helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup. Montour’s first exhibition contest with the Kraken was on the road in Vancouver on Sept. 24. The host Canucks beat Seattle 3-1. Then three nights later Montour made his home debut with the Kraken. He scored once, had...
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Sports Briefs: Stallions to Hawks busy sports seasons
By Sam Laskaris Writer Stallions enjoying successful season The Six Nations Stallions just might have what it takes to win this year’s Ontario Senior Men’s Field Lacrosse League (OSMFLL). Following a pair of victories this past Saturday in Brantford, the Stallions are challenging for top spot in their nine-team league. Six Nations downed the London Mollys 13-11 in a Saturday morning tilt at Brantford’s Kiwanis Field. The Stallions then edged the Toronto Blue Jays 13-12 in a match later that afternoon. With those two win the Stallions are now sporting a 5-1 record. Six Nations is occupying second place in their league standings. Only the Orangeville Generals, who are sitting in first place with a perfect 6-0 mark, are ahead of them. Orangeville defeated Six Nations 9-4 on Sept. 14...
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Local elementary schools take to the diamond for fun!
By Austin Evans Writer Oliver M. Smith-Kawenni:io Elementary not only went undefeated in the junior three-pitch tournament, they scored more home runs than their coach could count. The junior league three-pitch tournament brought six elementary schools from Six Nations and the Mississaugas of the Credit’s Lloyd S. King Elementary school together to play ball on September 17. Schools were split into two groups playing off against each other to determine who would go on to the championships. Kawenni:io and Oliver M. Smith-Kawenni:io (OMSK) schools each placed first in their groups qualifying to face off against each other in championship match. Going into the championships, Kawenni:io Coach Longboat said her team has improved since last year and played well together. “The team has been, I’d say, playing very well together as...
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Hamilton resident facing charges in fatal collision
(HALDIMAND COUNTY, ON) – Haldimand County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged a 26-year-old Hamilton resident after a fatal collision Sept., 13th in Hagersville. Haldimand OPP responded to a two vehicle collision on September 13, 2024, at about 12:45 p.m., at the intersection of McKenzie Road and 3rd Line, Hagersville that saw the driver and the passenger of one vehicle taken to a trauma hospital with serious injuries. OPP said the 22-year-old passenger, from Hamilton was later pronounced deceased. The driver of the second vehicle was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. A 26-year-old from Hamilton has been charged with: Dangerous Operation Causing Death Dangerous Operation Causing Bodily Harm Anyone with information regarding this ongoing investigation is asked to contact Haldimand OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to...
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Laurier Brantford hosts inaugural MarketFest
By Kimberly De Jong, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Around 200 residents attended Wilfrid Laurier University’s inaugural MarketFest: In Peace and Friendship event in Brantford’s One Market atrium on Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, 2024. Darren Thomas, Laurier’s associate vice president of Indigenous Initiatives and associate professor of Indigenous Studies, said that the overall idea for the event came from the history surrounding the One Market building (formerly the Eaton Market Square Mall). “This is an idea we came up with because of the historic ties to this land because originally, this land was ceded by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to be a public market for mutual benefit.” he said. “Somewhere along the line, the Haudenosaunee farmers were actually displaced and were no longer allowed to come and sell, and...
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Ontario is lagging on winter road funding, says Mamakwa
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – The Ontario government needs to do more to address the transportation needs of the Far North, says Kiiwetinoong’s member of provincial parliament. “The Ontario government continues to invest only $6 million (annually) for winter roads in the Far North,” Sol Mamakwa said Tuesday in an interview. The funding has been the same for years, he said. “It’s just a program that they re-announce every year,” Mamakwa added. Seeing the static budgeting for winter roads while inflation carries on and climate change chips into winter road season, Mamakwa said, “you just shake your head.” The winter roads line in the provincial budget is overdue for a substantial increase, he said. Mamakwa represents a riding that comprises much of Ontario’s North and...
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Award-winning book to become docudrama series
By Crystal St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Métis/Cree filmmaker Barbara Todd Hager will be adapting the award-winning book On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe to a three-part docudrama series titled On Distant Shores. Todd Hager also owns Acimow Media, which she established in 2021. Acimow means “she tells her story,” in Cree. The Indigenous-owned production company, based in Vancouver, specializes in the production of international Indigenous documentaries. The book was optioned to the company by its author Caroline Dodds Pennock providing Todd Hager a certain amount of time to find financial support and a broadcaster for the series. Todd Hager said she became interested in reaching out to Dodds Pennock after she read the book. She travelled to Europe for other reasons but decided to reach out...
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Montana US Senate candidate says derogatory comments about Native Americans were ‘insensitive’
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy acknowledged Monday that derogatory remarks he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive.” But Sheehy rejected his opponent’s call to apologize, during a contentious debate in a race that’s emerged as pivotal for control of the Senate. Three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester had challenged Sheehy over remarks last year in which the Republican told a group of laughing supporters about bonding “with all the Indians … while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” while working cattle at a ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation. “Yeah, insensitive,” responded Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL. “I come from the military as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off color-jokes sometimes.” Sheehy then...
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Nunavik dentist laments ‘frustrating’ state of dental care in region
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Anita Gordon has been living with a cracked tooth for more than five months with no relief in sight. “I never got a call, it is just getting worse and it is a lot of pain,” she said. “But they can’t do anything about it, they don’t have the equipment, they can’t fix it.” The Kuujjuaq resident says she’s in agony but not crying about it — she’s one of many people in Nunavik who have to live with their dental problems. With extremely long waitlists, a lack of infrastructure and no competitive salaries for staff, access to dental care in the Ungava Bay region is “appalling,” says Nathalie Boulanger, who works as a director with Ungava Tulattavik Health Centre. The centre offers...
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‘Indigenous-led stewardship’ supported
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Thunder Bay Source THUNDER BAY – Bertha Sutherland, Constance Lake First Nation’s land and resource officer, appreciates the work of the Four Rivers Regional Guardians Network. A grad student with Four Rivers “has been with us for almost two years now and she’s doing an excellent job,” Sutherland said at the announcement of a major development for the Canada-wide Guardians environmental initiatives program. Four Rivers, an initiative of Matawa First Nations Management, is part of that of the National Guardians Network and has been helping Constance Lake figure out what happened in late 2021 when the First Nation northwest of Hearst was hit by an outbreak of fungal infection called blastomycosis. Caused by spores found in soil and rotting wood, blastomycosis often has...
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Media veterans tell inquiry of pervasive influence wielded by China, India in Canada
Canadian Press The Chinese community in Canada has long been caught in the crosshairs of political discourse, disinformation and propaganda originating from the Communist Party in Beijing, a media industry veteran told a public inquiry Tuesday. If Beijing seeks to influence or interfere in Canada’s democratic processes, one of its most effective tools is the Chinese-language media, said Hong Kong-born Victor Ho, who came to Canada in 1997 and worked in newspaper and radio journalism over the years. From Toronto to Vancouver, much of the Chinese-language media operates “under the immense influence” of the Communist Party, Ho said. The ongoing commission of inquiry’s latest hearings are focusing on detecting and countering foreign meddling. A final report from the inquiry is due by the end of the year. Ho was part...
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B.C. father and daughter accuse Canadian Tire, security company of racism, profiling Slugline: Canadian-Tire-Racism
(CP) COQUITLAM BC-An Indigenous father and daughter in British Columbia are accusing Canadian Tire and its third-party security company of racial profiling and racism after they say he was singled out at a store in Coquitlam and an employee responded with a racist comment. Dawn Wilson is speaking publicly about the human rights complaint she and her father, Richard Wilson, filed after years of trying to settle the dispute herself, saying she hopes it will lead to systemic change at the retail giant. The complaint alleges that on Jan. 17, 2020, the pair purchased new tires for installation and shopped in-store while they waited. At the checkout, Wilson says a guard with the company Blackbird Security asked to search her father’s backpack, despite other customers also having similar bags. Wilson,...
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N.B. election: Conservative candidate compares LGBTQ policy to residential schools
(CP)-A Progressive Conservative candidate in New Brunswick’s election is facing calls to withdraw after she compared the province’s former policy on gender identity in schools with the residential school system. Sherry Wilson, Tory candidate in the Albert-Riverview riding, was referencing the policy allowing teachers to use the preferred first names and pronouns of trans and non-binary students. Claiming “parents rights,” the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Blaine Higgs modified that guidance in 2023, requiring that teachers get parental consent before they can use the preferred names of students under 16. Wilson, in a Facebook post on Monday marking National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, said the residential school system isolated Indigenous children from their parents, traditional values and family culture. She says isolating children from parents “must never be allowed...
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Montana US Senate candidate says derogatory comments about Native Americans were ‘insensitive’
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy acknowledged Monday that derogatory remarks he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive.” But Sheehy rejected his opponent’s call to apologize, during a contentious debate in a race that’s emerged as pivotal for control of the Senate. Three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester had challenged Sheehy over remarks last year in which the Republican told a group of laughing supporters about bonding “with all the Indians … while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” while working cattle at a ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation. “Yeah, insensitive,” responded Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL. “I come from the military as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off color-jokes sometimes.” Sheehy then...
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As many forests fail to recover from wildfires, replanting efforts face huge odds – and obstacles
BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — Camille Stevens-Rumann crouched in the dirt and leaned over evergreen seedlings, measuring how much each had grown in seven months. “That’s two to three inches of growth on the spruce,” said Stevens-Rumann, interim director at the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. Her research team is monitoring several species planted two years ago on a slope burned during the devastating 2020 Cameron Peak fire, which charred 326 square miles (844 square kilometers) in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. They want to determine which species are likely to survive at various elevations, because climate change makes it difficult or impossible for many forests to regrow even decades after wildfires. As the gap between burned areas and replanting widens year after year, scientists see big challenges beyond where to put...
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Seminole Hard Rock Tampa evacuated twice after suspicious devices found at the casino
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa was evacuated Sunday night and again on Monday after the discovery of two suspicious devices at the Florida hotel and casino, officials said. Tribal police described the crude concealed devices as having fireworks components, but it wasn’t immediately clear how dangerous they were or who left them. The first device was discovered shortly before midnight Sunday in a men’s restroom near the Casino, police said in a news release. Part of the casino was immediately evacuated, and the device was removed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Team, officials said. The casino reopened around 3 a.m. As part of the investigation into the first device, a second device was discovered in another men’s restroom in the casino just after...
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Native Americans in Montana ask court for more in-person voting sites
bILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Native Americans living on a remote Montana reservation filed a lawsuit against state and county officials Monday saying they don’t have enough places to vote in person — the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle by tribes in the United States over equal voting opportunities. The six members of the Fort Peck Reservation want satellite voting offices in their communities for late registration and to vote before Election Day without making long drives to a county courthouse. The legal challenge, filed in state court, comes five weeks before the presidential election in a state with a a pivotal U.S. Senate race where the Republican candidate has made derogatory comments about Native Americans. Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship a century ago. Advocates say the right still...
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Survivors call for reversal of Canada’s ‘cut’ to residential school search spending
Canadian Press-Residential school survivors say the federal government is keeping the truth about those institutions in the dark by cutting back on funding for records and ground searches looking for unmarked graves of children who died at the schools. More than 150,000 children were forced to attend residential schools, and many survivors detailed the horrific abuse they suffered to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. An estimated 6,000 children died while attending the schools, although experts say the actual number could be much higher. In 2021, after numerous First Nations reported locating what appeared to be human remains on the sites of former residential schools, Ottawa stepped in with more than $116 million to search for unmarked graves and to memorialize the children who died. As of March 2024, the government...
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B.C. Conservative Leader Rustad vows to ‘unleash potential’ for Indigenous prosperity
(CP)-The federal government has been “absent” and failing to live up to commitments to First Nations on housing and clean water, and a B.C. Conservative government would fix the problems, then send Ottawa the bill, Leader John Rustad said Monday. Rustad said if his party wins the Oct. 19 provincial election, B.C. would partner with First Nations and “unleash the potential” for prosperity through mining, forestry and other resource projects. He has previously pledged to repeal B.C. legislation adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and his party said in a release it would instead honour the declaration “as it was intended,” with laws advancing economic reconciliation and Indigenous autonomy. All three party leaders turned their attention to First Nations on Monday on the National Day...
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