Latest news with #Tyendinaga
CBC
17-07-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Lacrosse roots run deep in Haudenosaunee Nationals team heading to South Korea
In some communities lacrosse sticks are placed next to newborn babies by fathers who learned the game from their fathers, to pass on the tradition; players on this year's Haudenosaunee Nationals team are no exception. Ranked third in the world, the team is heading to South Korea for the World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship in field lacrosse in August. The roster was announced earlier this month. The Haudenosaunee — a confederacy of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations — invented lacrosse and the Haudenosaunee Nationals teams represent the confederacy in international tournaments. It will be defenseman Rarihwenote Maracle's first time wearing the Nationals' jersey on an international stage. His brother Oneniotekowa Maracle and his father, Brent Maracle, also played for the Nationals. "I don't feel pressure, but I feel an obligation," said Rarihwenote, who is Kanien'kehá:ka from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The 19-year-old said growing up his two biggest teachers were his older brother and his father. He said his father taught him to play defensively, "how to protect the house." He said his brother, who plays offence, "tells me what annoys him the most ... what drives an offensive player crazy," to give him an edge over his opponents. Both brothers agreed the most important skills that their father taught them are to have a strong body, strong mind, and strong unity with their team. Rarihwenote said a lot of his game is patience. "I don't have to react, I just have to wear you down," he said. "As a lighter player, I'm not going to be able to bully you, but I can stop you from getting to the net by staying in front of you and pushing on your hips." The Onondaga term for lacrosse is Deyhontsigwa'ehs, which roughly translates to "they bump hips." Backyard lacrosse Rarihwenote's older brother, Oneniotekowa, 23, has played on the Nationals development team. He said he's proud of his younger brother and that they played backyard lacrosse growing up with their father and younger brothers. Their dad played for the Nationals from 1990-1995 and he also helped to start the development teams program. "It's not just a game to us," he said. "It was passed down to us not just from our fathers, but from our great-grandfathers and our great-great-grandfathers." He pointed out that they're the smallest of all of the populations that are participating in international lacrosse yet consistently rank within the top three. Nationals alumnus Marty Ward, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is the head coach of the men's U20 team. He lives in Florida and is head coach of the Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team in Division 2 NCAA. He said team cohesion is vital. "We have the strongest group that's committed to go and compete for a gold medal," Ward said. He said Rarihwenote's a versatile player who does a good job communicating with his teammates — so much so he wanted to recruit him to Florida Southern. Ward also played with Brett Bucktooth and Ron Cogan for the Nationals, and their sons, Brett Bucktooth Jr. and Chace Cogan have also been named to the U20 roster. General manager Delby Powless, from Six Nations of the Grand River, first suited up for the Nationals back in 1999 and has since seen the game grow across Haudenosaunee communities and internationally. He said it's going to be a tough tournament and in order to win, they're going to have to upset the United States and Canada who hold the first and the second spots, while Australia, England and Japan are strong contenders as well. "I think this tournament is going to be really competitive just because of the growth of lacrosse."
CTV News
30-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
2 people injured in rollover crash on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
An OPP cruiser is pictured in this undated photo. (Source: OPP Central Region) Ontario Provincial Police say a woman suffered 'life-altering injuries' in a rollover crash on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on Thursday. The crash happened at around 10:30 a.m. on Highway 49, north of Lower Slash Road, OPP said. The woman was a passenger in the vehicle and was taken to regional trauma centre to be treated for her serious injuries. The man driving the vehicle was also hospitalized. Highway 49 was closed for several hours for an investigation but has since reopened, OPP said. The Tyendinaga Police Service and the OPP continue to investigate.
CBC
20-05-2025
- CBC
Their families never accepted the official account of their deaths. Now police are taking another look
"Nothing's the same as it was before," says Jenni Wannamaker, not far from the waters of the Bay of Quinte where she lost her brother 10 years ago. Wannamaker lives in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, about 220 kilometres southwest of Ottawa. For the past decade, the First Nation has been grappling with the sudden deaths and subsequent police investigations of Wannamaker's brother, 26-year-old Matty Fairman, and Tyler Maracle, 21. In the early hours of April 26, 2015, Fairman and Maracle set out on the bay to do some spearfishing, but they never returned home. There followed a community-wide search and an investigation that was initially led by Tyendinaga Mohawk Police before being handed over to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). According to OPP records, fishers found the bodies of Maracle and Fairman nearly two weeks later, about 15 metres apart. Their boat was found at the bottom of the bay the day after, connected to 274 metres of net full of rotting fish. At the time, investigators concluded the young men had cut the net, which police believed belonged to another member of the community, and tried to haul the fish into their boat, overloading the vessel and causing it to sink — and the two men to drown. The coroner's office classified their deaths as accidental. 'They weren't thieves' But the families of Fairman and Maracle have long rejected the police theory about the circumstances of their deaths. "There was no way," said Wannamaker. "Matty and Tyler were smart. They learned how to fish a long time ago." She said the only reason they went out that day was to show some boys in the neighbourhood how to properly clean fish. "They wanted to do something good. They weren't thieves," she insisted. For years, Maracle's mother Tammy protested outside the police station, calling for the case to be reopened. She believes her son and his friend may have been victims of foul play. "I just kept fighting and fighting and fighting," she said. That fight has finally paid off. Case reopened after APTN investigation Last month, following an investigation by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), OPP reopened the case. Investigators first had to exhume the boat — APTN reported it had been buried according to a claimed Mohawk tradition — then load it with more than twice the weight of the fish believed by police to have been in the net when the men drowned, to see how it fared in various scenarios. The boat never sank. A followup study ordered by the coroner confirmed the results. "From the conditions outlined in this report it can be safe to assume that the vessel was not overloaded at the time of sinking," concludes a report from BYD Naval Architects. The report also noted the boat was found with concrete blocks and more fishing net aboard, all intact. "Equipment was found on the benches and interior of the vessel in what seemed an undisturbed state, which seems to suggest that the descent to the lake bed was relatively flat," the report concluded. It offered several other possibilities for what may have happened that morning, but dismissed them all as unlikely — except for one. "The vessel was affected by an external force and one or both gentlemen ended up in the water," according to the report. That external force — or perhaps an attempt by both men to clamber back aboard from the same side of the boat — could have caused it to take on water. However, according to the authors, "there is not enough evidence or signs of this occurring on the vessel at the time of the survey." Cause of deaths now 'undetermined' Regardless, the findings prompted Ontario's chief coroner to reclassify the deaths from accidental to undetermined. "Which means we don't actually know what happened," Dr. Dirk Huyer said. "We always are open to hearing and considering new information or information that might be different than what we found during our earlier investigations." OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique has ordered the case to be reopened, this time under the lead of the Toronto Police Service (TPS). "We respect the Toronto Police Service's process and await their results, following which we will identify any necessary next steps based on their findings," Carrique said in a statement to CBC. The TPS confirmed it's conducting a review of the investigation at the request of provincial police. A painful 10 years The families of Maracle and Fairman have now been given new reason to hope they may finally get answers about what happened to their loved ones. But their loss — and their belief that police mishandled the initial investigation — has taken a tremendous toll. "It's been a living hell. There's times when I didn't want to be here, and there's actually times I tried not to be here," said Fairman's mother Beverly Maracle. "How do you move on without your baby?" Tammy Maracle said she and her husband Robin feel the same way without their son. "I would lay in bed just thinking, like, 'Who do I go to? Who will help me?'" she recalled. On the cusp of a new investigation, Maracle said she'll be watching police closely. "I hope ... they get justice for us. But if they don't, I'll be back out there again," she said.
CBC
18-05-2025
- CBC
Human remains found in Tyendinaga, OPP say
Remains were discovered near Highway 49 on Saturday afternoon Image | Ontario Provincial Police OPP patch badge Caption: Ontario Provincial Police say the remains were found around 3 p.m. on May 16 near Highway 49, and it appears they'd been there for some time. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) Open Image in New Tab Provincial police say they're investigating the discovery of human remains in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The remains were found around 3 p.m. Saturday near Highway 49 between Old Highway 2 and Lower Slash Road, just west of Deseronto, Ont., OPP said in a news release later that evening. It's believed they had been there for some time, the police force added. The investigation is in the initial stages, and residents should expect a higher than normal police presence, OPP said. Police said there doesn't appear to be any risk to public safety.
CBC
18-05-2025
- CBC
Human remains found in Tyendinaga, OPP say
Social Sharing Provincial police say they're investigating the discovery of human remains in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The remains were found around 3 p.m. Saturday near Highway 49 between Old Highway 2 and Lower Slash Road, just west of Deseronto, Ont., OPP said in a news release later that evening. It's believed they had been there for some time, the police force added. The investigation is in the initial stages, and residents should expect a higher than normal police presence, OPP said. Police said there doesn't appear to be any risk to public safety.
