Polish the silver covenant chain of friendship
November, 11th 2013 marked the 219th Anniversary of the Canandaigua Treaty. It is also known as the Pickering Treaty or the George Washington Covenant.
News
Feds spending record-breaking dollars on litigating Onkwehon:we land claims
A new article from the Law Times revealed that by far the largest spending on legal battles by the Canadian government is taking place in what most people still know as “Indian Affairs”.
Ontario launches “development corporation” in the Ring of Fire
Last Friday, the Ontario government announced the creation of a public corporation to oversee the development of infrastructure that will facilitate the extraction of resources in the ‘Ring of Fire’.
Ontario’s lead negotiator in the ‘Ring of Fire’ Frank Iacobucci gestured towards Onkwehon:we in a public statement concerning the announcement, saying that “There is no question that vital infrastructure is required in the region to support remote First Nations communities.” But Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle put business front and center: “Infrastructure is vital to developing the Ring of Fire. People need to get in to work and products need to get out to the global market.”
Pollutants near Aamjiwnaang causing skewed sex ratios, study shows
A new study from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in collaboration with the Aamjiwnaang Environment Office confirms what many people of Aamjiwnaang (Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation) have long suspected: That exposure to the pollutants deriving from “Chemical Valley” is strongly associated with the neurodevelopment problems and skewed sex ratios that the local Ojibwe community has long observed.
Leaky B.C. pipeline being quietly dealt with
News hasn’t been the only thing “leaking” this week for American pipeline giant Kinder Morgan. The energy company is reported to be in the process of quietly cleaning up some 5005 cubic meters of oil-contaminated soil from its Trans Mountain pipeline near Hope in lower mainland British Columbia, ancestral Sto:lo territory tracing back as far as 10,000 years.
Onkwehon:we war veteran arrested at Toronto
TORONTO, ON – Social media lit up with outrage this week as video of an Onkwehon:we War Veteran, Davyn Calfchild, being arrested at a public Toronto Remembrance Day Ceremony went viral. The video showed Davyn refusing to put away two traditional flags – the Hiawatha and the Unity Flag – and refusing to leave the public ceremony at the request of Toronto Police.
Tyendinaga Youth wins the James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing Award
Tyendinaga resident Emily Workman, 12 years old, is one of six winners of the prestigious James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing Awards for her poem, When Skunk Smelled like Flowers.
Danielle Brant, Emily’s mother, tells me that after Emily finished writing she told her mother, as a matter-of-fact, that she was going to win the award. But despite her confident prediction, Emily could not contain her tears while hearing the news.
Union Delegation joins the work at Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp
Penetanguishene – On November 9th, for the second weekend in a row, [tweetable]a delegation from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 joined the Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp[/tweetable] to help construct a hunting lodge, chop wood for the winter, and build new relationships with Anishinabek people.
The Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp is reclaiming ancestral Anishinabek land in Awenda Provincial Park, at the site of an historic counsel rock in Penetanguishene. It is guided by a vision referring to the “New People of the Seventh Fire Prophecy, who will pick up the many things left on the trail to ensure Humanity’s survival in the Eighth Fire.” The camp began in protest to the Coldwater Narrows Settlement agreement. By reclaiming Crown land, the camp also aims to educate others about treaties and agreements that came before modern day settlements with the Crown. It is organized by the Anishinabek Confederacy to Invoke Our Nationhood (ACTION).
In gaming conflict with the Oneida, Cayuga Nation gains support
The Cayuga Nation of New York has been in the news for economic development for the past few years. In 2012 the tribal government launched a Cayuga brand tribally manufactured cigarette. In 2013, the Cayuga Nation re-opened a Class II electronic bingo parlor in Union Springs, New York.
The tribal government business plan has now received the support of a prominent group of elected councils. The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) formed in 1968, is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Awenda provincial park reclamation continues
TINY TOWNSHIP: A reclamation of Awenda Provincial Park is now entering its 19th month. Organizers have formed a grassroots connection with neighboring Springwater Provincial Park which has also been occupied by members of Beausoleil First Nation.
“We began as a result of the illegal surrenders of our Inherent Rights and Traditional Territories along with the policies and laws enforced upon our people where the Chippewa Tri Council and Canada are in breach of the 1764 Niagara Covenant Chain Belt” explains Kai Kai Kons, a spokesperson for the camp.
Federal legislation robs tens of thousands of their rights
SIMCOE – A twenty-five-year-old Ojibwa mother of two, Heather Harnois, finds herself neither an Indian or a Canadian after being denied a social insurance number, health-care coverage and child tax benefits.
New Brunswick opposition to fracking continues
Despite the vicious RCMP-led raid which culminated in the arrests of 40 people – four of whom have still not been released since October 17th – on-the-ground opposition to seismic testing in Kent County, New Brunswick, continues.
On Monday, November 5th, an event marketed as a march for ‘Unity and Solidarity’ took place in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where activists have erected a longhouse and continue to keep a sacred fire lit opposite the provincial Legislature House.
Patrick Brazeau and violence against Indigenous women
Senator Patrick Brazeau, 38, who is being investigated by the RCMP over allegations of breach of trust over his housing and expense claims, and faces additional legal troubles including assault and sexual assault, is now making allegations that his “political downfall” with the Prime Minister’s Office started a year ago when he began to question the government as to why it hadn’t called a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, according to CBC News.
This comment made by suspended Senator Brazeau has been unsettling to certain members of the First Nations community, especially those who have been fighting for the rights of Indigenous women and who have been advocating for a National Inquiry for years.
Haldimand Quilters Guild were on hand to showcase the beautiful handcrafted quilt
Members of the Haldimand Quilters Guild were on hand to showcase the beautiful handcrafted quilt they are donating to the West Haldimand Hospital Foundation Auction.
The “Baltimore Bliss” appliqué quilt measures 94 X 80 inches in heritage hues of blue, gold and wine colours. In the above photos from left to right are: Audrey Mitchell, Shirley Kellar, Debbie Allan, and Betty Carpenter.
Long Awaited Water Treatment Plant Opens
SIX NATIONS — After years of empty promises from various levels of government, unforeseen delays, protests, controversy over a protected species of fish, and damage done by a flooding Grand River, the new $41 million Six Nations Water Treatment Plant is now finished and ready to bring enough potable drinking water to take the community into the 21st century. And they did it all on budget, according to Chief Bill Montour and economic development director Matt Jamieson.