About 2,000 people were evacuated from Poplar Hill, Deer Lake and Pikangikum as of July 16 due to smoke from forest fires near their communities. About 560 people were evacuated from Poplar Hill, about 630 from Deer Lake and about 865 from Pikangikum as of July 16.
National Chief RoseAnne Archibald was elected on July 8 as the first woman to hold the post after candidate Reginald Bellerose withdrew from the election after losing 32 votes on the fifth ballot. A sixth ballot had been announced before Bellerose withdrew because the winning candidate needed at least 60 per cent of votes to be declared as national chief. Archibald had 205 votes, which was 50.5 per cent of the 406 registered representatives for the national chief election, while Bellerose had 144 votes and 35.5 per cent.
Thunder Bay’s No Pride in Genocide march began at 2:15 on July 1 to honour the 215 children found at the former Kamloops Indian residential school.
“It’s a grieving time for us (with) what they found and what they’re going to continue finding,” says Elder Ma-Nee Chacaby, whose memoir, A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder, was published in 2016. “There’s going to be more.”
Chacaby says the turnout was “pretty good” for the walk from Waverley Park to the Thunder Bay waterfront.
Former senator Murray Sinclair will be presented with an honorary degree along with Rosalind Lockyer and Donald Paterson for their distinguished achievements at Lakehead University’s main convocation ceremony on May 29. Lakehead University will also name Seppo Paivalaninen and Vince Mirabelli as Fellows of the University during the virtual ceremony. Sinclair will be granted an honorary Doctor of Laws.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Grand Council Treaty #3 and the Chiefs of Ontario welcomed investments in infrastructure, policing, Indigenous women entrepreneurs, health, education and justice but called for more economic development investments after the federal budget was delivered.
Brayden Bushby was sentenced to eight years less one month for time served in pretrial custody in the death of Barbara Kentner on June 7 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Kentner, 34, died five months after Bushby, then 18, struck her with a trailer hitch that he threw at her from a moving vehicle while she was walking with her sister on a street in Thunder Bay in 2017. Bushby was convicted of manslaughter in her death in 2020.
Deputy Grand Chief Walter Naveau stressed the importance of working with Wawatay Communications Society to get messages out about COVID-19 during his WRN (Wawatay Radio Network) update.
“That is why having Wawatay is important to air what’s going on pertaining to COVID-19 … because not all people have cellphones but they still talk amongst one another about the measures being taken,” Naveau says. “So that is why I find that Wawatay is very instrumental and very important in terms of getting the word out.”
Indigenous journalist/author Tanya Talaga shared stories from community during her keynote presentation at the virtual Assembly of First Nations 4th Annual Water Symposium.
Niisaachewan’s Tania Cameron is looking to bring a different perspective to the Senate of Canada after former senator Lynn Beyak retired.
“I am community minded and continually serve my region in any capacity that I am able to,” says Cameron, chief of staff for the Ontario Regional Chief. “Today, I am on my way into town in Kenora to take care of the sixth and final potato delivery into northwestern Ontario.”
Ontario Superior Court Justice Helen M. Pierce reserved decision and reasons until May 4 at the Brayden Bushby sentencing hearing for the death of the late Wabigoon Lake citizen Barbara Kentner.
Blogs & Columns
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