{"id":97631,"date":"2025-09-30T09:31:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=97631"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:31:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:31:32","slug":"no-trust-neskonlith-members-seek-answers-as-tensions-climb-amid-firings-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/no-trust-neskonlith-members-seek-answers-as-tensions-climb-amid-firings-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No trust\u2019: Neskonlith members seek answers as tensions climb amid firings, lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Members of Neskonlith Indian Band are becoming increasingly frustrated with their leaders, after a councillor was removed from office over alleged election fraud and two staff people were fired. Lawyers for Neskonlith\u2019s chief and council say the band removed an unidentified councillor \u201calleged to have engaged in election fraud\u201d during the community\u2019s last elections in 2023. The tensions are about more than an election, however \u2014 as a series of controversies have fuelled mistrust between the First Nation\u2019s voters and those they elected to office nearly three years ago. The dismissals and allegations have sparked a lawsuit, transparency concerns, and a formal complaint to Canada over alleged financial mismanagement. Tensions within the 697-member Secw\u00e9pemc community erupted during an emergency community meeting in&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F09%2F30%2Fno-trust-neskonlith-members-seek-answers-as-tensions-climb-amid-firings-lawsuit%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Members of Neskonlith Indian Band are becoming increasingly frustrated with their leaders, after a councillor was removed from office over alleged election fraud and two staff people were fired. Lawyers for Neskonlith\u2019s chief and council say the band removed an unidentified councillor \u201calleged to have engaged in election fraud\u201d during the community\u2019s last elections in 2023. The tensions are about more than an election, however \u2014 as a series of controversies have fuelled mistrust between the First Nation\u2019s voters and those they elected to office nearly three years ago. The dismissals and allegations have sparked a lawsuit, transparency concerns, and a formal complaint to Canada over alleged financial mismanagement. Tensions within the 697-member Secw\u00e9pemc community erupted during an emergency community meeting in... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F09%2F30%2Fno-trust-neskonlith-members-seek-answers-as-tensions-climb-amid-firings-lawsuit%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018No trust\u2019: Neskonlith members seek answers as tensions climb amid firings, lawsuit - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/no-trust-neskonlith-members-seek-answers-as-tensions-climb-amid-firings-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018No trust\u2019: Neskonlith members seek answers as tensions climb amid firings, lawsuit - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Members of Neskonlith Indian Band are becoming increasingly frustrated with their leaders, after a councillor was removed from office over alleged election fraud and two staff people were fired. Lawyers for Neskonlith\u2019s chief and council say the band removed an unidentified councillor \u201calleged to have engaged in election fraud\u201d during the community\u2019s last elections in 2023. The tensions are about more than an election, however \u2014 as a series of controversies have fuelled mistrust between the First Nation\u2019s voters and those they elected to office nearly three years ago. The dismissals and allegations have sparked a lawsuit, transparency concerns, and a formal complaint to Canada over alleged financial mismanagement. 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