Six Nations Police to get
badges...
Three police officers received special
recognition on the evening of
June, 29 at the Six Nations Band
Council chambers to honour them
gaining their badges as full officers
of the law.
Michael Anderson, David Lickers
and Jacob Isaac were commended
by friends, family and fellow officers
in attendance for their achievements
and service to the
community last Monday night.
The ceremony was followed by a
light reception so that family and
friends could enjoy the moment.
Anderson and Lickers have been
with the Six Nations Police department
since January of this year
when they graduated college in
Aylmer. Isaac graduated over a
year ago and has been with the department
ever since.
Also present will be Const. Rob
Davis who received a scholarship
for Special service deserves special
recognition and that’s exactly what
Staff Sergeant Robert A. Davis of
the Six Nations Police service is
getting.............................
Language diploma first step in Polytech, creating knowledge centre.......
A new two-year Ogweho:weh language
diploma through Six Nations
Polytechnic and McMaster University
with a focus in Mohawk or
Cayuga is coming to Six Nations
this fall.
And, said Dawn Martin-Hill, director
of the indigenous studies
program at McMaster, an Indigenous
Knowledge Centre at Six Nations
is also in the works.
About seventy language advocates
celebrated last Friday at Polytech
with officials, including Polytechnic
CEO Linda Staats andMcMaster
University president Peter
George.
The school is partnering with Mc-
Master’s indigenous studies program
to launch the new diploma.
It’s designed to take students right
from a beginning level of speaking
to a conversational and intensive
level....................................
Caledonia militia gets makeover, now peacekeepers...
CAYUGA-OPP riot police stood
behind J.L. Mitchner public
school.
Afew houses away, Caledonia resident
and former contractor Doug
Fleming stood in front of the
Cayuga Lions hall explaining that
his newly revamped protest group
is not a militia, but peace keepers.
Facing him were almost 100 protesters
from across southern Ontario,
protesting Fleming’s plan to
create a militia.
Fleming held a recruitment meeting
last Tuesday to gauge interest
in forming a citizens’ group that he
says will patrol sections of the
town of Caledonia.
He said his militia would be unarmed
except for video cameras
and would focus its efforts on the
former Douglas Creek Estates now
known as Kanonhstaton since Six
Nations reclaimed the land three
and a half years ago.
Fleming claims the site has become
a safe zone for native criminals
because police refuse to patrol
there.
He believes OPP are failing citizens
by not enforcing the law.
He said the militia’s ultimate goal
is to provoke a confrontation forcing
OPP to act...........................
Militia? Boyscouts do a better job...
Militia
Peacekeepers.
What’s next, the Caledonia Junior Police Squad .
The decision by a Caledonia man to launch a militia turned peacekeeping
group couldn’t be further from what Caledonia and Six
Nations need.
Doug Fleming, a former contractor working at the controversial housing
site, has put himself in the unenviable position of being seen as the
head of a vigilante group (no matter what he calls it) that is targetting
aboriginal people.
Fleming has been overly outspoken about the fact that his group is out
to patrol the town armed with video cameras in search of lawbreakers.
People they will when they come upon them, what, wrestle them to the
ground, fight, blow whistles?
He admits his group will target people spotted in Caledonia and seen
heading toward the Reclamation site. And who else would be headed
there but Six Nations people?
For the past three years this same rag tag group of now wanna be cops
have been engaged in series of activities aimed at instigating violence
and incidents at the Six Nations Reclamation site, and then when an
incident does occur as a result of their behaviour they run, until caught
by OPP for their mischief........................................
Turtle Talk
with Dakota Brant... “Akwesasne...I’ve never been smuggled before...”Educ a t ion-
July 1st
This week,
all across our
t e r r i tor i e s ,
we will be
seeing thousands
of students
walking
across hundreds of podiums
and proudly adding themselves to
the growing ranks of Indigenous
people claiming an education.
Whether you are graduating high
school, college, university, or simply
going from one year of school
to the next, you are helping break
away the belief existing in this
country that Indigenous people are
vulnerable and ill educated; I am
so proud of all of you.
Today I am writing about education,
a significant aspect of life
that most of us have been able to
use to define our personal growth.
One significant point I would like
to make is this; Growing old is
mandatory, growing up is optional.
Being an educated person does
not and will not make you a superior
person to those who have not
followed the same path as you. If
you believe that, than you have a
lot of growing up to do. Our survival
here in Haudenosaunee territory
has never in our history been
dependant on educated people.
Quite the contrary, we can accredit
our survival to the mothers,
fathers, ceremonialists, artists,
singers, dancers, volunteers, traditional
leaders and anyone else
who chose to stay home so that the
rest of us could tackle the barriers
that isolated us from the world.
These people demand your attention
and respect; they deserve it..........................
.Sports Headlines
Chiefs win battle for first place...
SIX NATIONS- They may not
score many goals or make outstanding
plays but they can
change the momentum of a game
instantly. They are enforcers and
the Six Nations Chiefs of the
Major Series Lacrosse League
definitely have themselves a gem
in Tim “The Surgeon” O’Brien.
The big Albertan knocked out
Peterborough’s Daryl Welsh at
14:10 in the third period of the
Chief’s 10-7 overtime over the
Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the
Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.
“He was brought in for a reason
and he did what he does very well.
The boys took a lot out of that and
it was really good to see. It’s been
a long time since Six Nations had
one of the toughest guys in the
league and we definitely have that
in Timmy O’Brien,” said Chiefs
head coach Darris Kilgour. “He
did it at the right time and the right
way. It really did give us a lift and
I think the boys rode that out
through overtime.”...........................
Rebels in tough battle with Oakville... OHSWEKEN- On paper, the Six
Nations Rebels have a lot of
offensive firepower but lately,
they haven’t been lighting it up
like a lot of people think they
should be doing.
On Friday night at the Gaylord
Powless Arena, the Rebels opened
their best-of-five Western
Conference quarterfinal playoff
series against the Oakville Buzz
and unfortunately, they failed to
come out on top as they suffered a
5-2 loss. period. Oakville scored twice in
the second period and the Rebels
failed to score any goals making
the game tied 2-2 after 40 minutes
of play. In the third period,
Oakville scored three goals and
once again, the Rebels failed to
score any goals despite having
numerous opportunities to settle
for the loss.
Davide Diruscio stopped 51 of 53
shots that he faced to get the win.
“Every time that we get beat it’s
because of a hot goalie. It’s not a
lack of our offence not trying,”
said Rebels first vice-president
and general manager Wray
Maracle.............
Six Nations drivers do well at Billy Bash... PARIS-Clear skies greeted demolition
drivers from all over
Southern Ontario and the
Northern United States this past
Saturday and Sunday in Paris in
the fifth annual Billy Bash, held at
the fairgrounds.
Billy Bash is a weekend dedicated
to smashing and crashing cars and
honouring the memory of the late
Bill Williams.
William and his brother, Walter
Williams, are the founders of
Thrill Show Productions, producers
of Canada’s number one
Demolition Derby.
What started with only 50 registered
cars for the weekend, has
grown to over 200 cars and trucks
and this year was no exception as
close to 400 cars and drivers took
part on the weekend.
In the Super Modifieds, Ryan
Hess of Six Nations was eliminated
early in the final.
Hess had a strong Saturday crashing
and banging his way into the
main event on Sunday.
In the Open Modifieds, a strong
contingent of demolition drivers
took to the track for the championship
Sunday afternoon.
Cole Jamieson, Ryan Hess and
Clint Hill, all of Six Nations,
drove there demo cars into the
final.......................................
National News
Reclaiming culture through education...
Meeka Kakudluk is still
struggling to relearn the Inuit
culture she lost a half-century
ago in schools where southern
ways and the English language
dominated.
This week, when she and her 20
classmates receive the first Master
of Education degrees ever granted
in Nunavut, she'll do her part to
ensure that in the future, Inuit
schools and students are led by
Inuit educators.
``The more they see Inuit
leading, the more encouraged
(students) will be to do the
same,'' said Kakudluk.
Kakudluk, 56, has been a
teacher in Nunavut for 31
years, but that career will turn
a whole page on Wednesday
when she graduates with a
brand-new Master of
Education degree.......................
Information released concerning police shooting...
WAGMATCOOK, N.S. -The chief and council of the
Wagmatcook First Nation have received information about the
forensic portion of an investigation into the RCMP's fatal shooting
of band member John Simon.
Halifax Regional Police is conducting the investigation into the
Dec. 2 death.
Lead investigator Insp. Michael Burns provided the
update to the band's director of operations, Brian
Arbuthnot, earlier this month.
While the band would have liked to see the process unfold more
quickly, Arbuthnot said they are fairly satisfied with the way it
has proceeded.
``We don't want to be interfering with their process, but we've
kept in touch with them, they've kept in touch with us, they've
been transparent during the process as best they can,'' he said.
``As you can imagine, they're processing information and evidence and
it's going to be dealtwith sensitively and according to the law.''
Arbuthnot said the probe is moving on to a review of RCMP
policy and practice for the situation that Simon and the RCMP
constable faced that evening.
Arbuthnot said he couldn't comment on the details of the investigation
until the final report is released and reviewed with the
band council, Simon family and the community.
He noted he has spoken with Simon's widow and she is anxious
to receive the final report.........................................
Additional
RCMP to
aid Metis
communities...
EDMONTON - Eight Alberta Metis communities
have inked a deal with the provincial government
for RCMP officers who will work on community
policing initiatives. Provincial officials say the
five officers could work on crime prevention, traffic
enforcement or act as school liaison officers
along with their regular duties. Aboriginal
Relations Minister Gene Zwozdesky says it's part
of a long-term governance and funding agreement
with Metis communities. Typically, communities
pay up to 70 per cent of the cost of policing, while
the federal government contributes the remainder.
But the Alberta government has agreed to cover
the nearly $1.8 million cost of the three-year
agreement through a safe communities initiative.
Solicitor General Fred Lindsay says the program
will allow a long-term policing vision and strategy
for Metis communities..............................................
Serial killer’s appeal dismissed in B.C....
VANCOUVER-Convicted serial
killer Robert Pickton's appeal on
six counts of second-degree murder
has been dismissed by B.C.'s
high court, but a potential second
trial hangs in the balance as the
former pig farmer's legal odyssey
trudges on.
In a two-to-one decision, the
B.C. Court of Appeal Thursday
rejected claims from Pickton's
defence that the trial judge made
numerous significant errors while
instructing the jury.
``The judge acted correctly
in providing the jury with
instruction that embraced the
law . . . , '' Justice Richard
Low wrote in a decision that
sets the stage for Pickton's
case to potentially be heard in
the Supreme Court of Canada.
``In my opinion, there was no
procedural error,'' Low said................................................................................
United Nations Declaration
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Please speak out!
Within weeks, the United Nations General Assembly must make a decision on the long awaited and urgently needed UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Either the international community will move ahead with final adoption as has been urged by Indigenous peoples and their supporters worldwide, or adoption of the Declaration will once again be delayed due to the demands of a small, yet vocal group of states.
Please take this opportunity to support the Declaration.
More than 14,000 individuals and organizations have already signed a global petition hosted by Amnesty International Canada in support of the Declaration.
If you haven't already done so, please add your name and encourage many
others to do so.
The petition, in English, Spanish, French and Russian is online at:
Pending band council
landclaim court action may
stall negotiations
By Susannah Schmidt
Writer Six Nations land negotiations may be on thin ice with
speculation rife that federal officials will walk from the land
rights table when a band council initiated court case opens
next week. Adding to the speculation is Ontario’s
decision not to approve negotiation
budgets until August.
Those budgets include funding for
research, technical staff, office
staff, operations and while they
have been submitted, approved
isn’t coming until August.
Two negotiations education projects
are hanging on the budget
being approved.
Education and public awareness
side table member Ron Thomas
said he is hoping the table is in a
“position to move forward.”
“I believe we had a finance meeting
today and I think everything is
going to be ok now. We are in a
position to move forward,” he said.
Militia, peacekeepers,
Caledonia group changes
name again
By Mike Sheeler
Writer One of the most recent land claim disputes in Cayuga has officially been
turned over to the OPP.
Ernie Palmer, farmer and deed holder of the land in question, was told
Haldimand County to remove what they called an illegal smoke shack put
up by Six Nations activist Steve 'Boots' Powless by noon last Friday.
After a meeting with Inspector McLean of the Cayuga OPP that same afternoon
Palmer now says the issue is in the hands of the OPP.
"As a land owner I feel I am caught right in the middle of a land dispute,"
said Palmer.
Withholding hand sanitizer from flu
ravaged reserves ‘outrageous’: chiefs
WINNIPEG - Canada’s health minister
must apologize on behalf of
Health Canada for withholding
hand sanitizers from flu-stricken
reserves because they contained alcohol,
one of Manitoba grand
chiefs said Tuesday.
Grand Chief Sydney Garrioch,
who represents Manitoba’s northern
reserves, was responding to reports
from an Senate committee
meeting in Ottawa.
A representative from the Assembly
of First Nations told the
committee time was wasted discussing
whether it would be appropriate
to send the disinfectants to
communities battling alcohol addiction.
A representative from Health
Canada said First Nation chiefs
were involved in the pandemic discussions,
including whether to use
alcohol-based sanitizers.
But Garrioch said he doesn’t know
of any consultation and the assumption
that hand sanitizers
would be abused is offensive to all
First Nations people across
Canada.
``It’s outrageous, the ignorance
and possibly some racism, expressed
toward First Nation people,’’
Garrioch said. ``First Nations
leaders and the communities know
the intent and uses of hand sanitizers.
I don’t think our people will be
using it for alcohol-related matters.’’
Your guide to tourism, festivals and entertainment in aboriginal country nationwide!
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Six Nations at the Cross Roads
The Day The Trust Died
April 20, 2006 OPP Raid Kanonhstaton
Exclusive Photos by Turtle Island News photographer Jim C Powless.
Written by Turtle Island News Editor Lynda Powless.
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