RCMP say charges are pending after a ballot box was tampered with during a band by-election on the Poundmaker Cree Nation. Cut Knife RCMP received a complaint that two men had entered the building where voting was taking place on Sept. 30, took the ballot boxes outside, and threw them into a fire. One 34-year-old male from Poundmaker First Nation was arrested by police shortly after the incident. He was released but charges are pending. Police were also seeking at 35-year-old male from Poundmaker First Nation in relation to this incident.

Three people are battling for the position of chief for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations including Second Vice Chief Bobby Cameron. Also seeking the position are Helen Ben of Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation and Leo Omani of Wahpeton Dakota First Nation. With Cameron throwing his name into the race, a by-election for the position of Second Vice Chief will be held. Three candidates have also declared for that race, including former FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild of White Bear First Nation, who was forced out of his position in 2011.

National Geographic’s explorer-in-residence Wade Davis said First Nations taking part in the tourism industry could revolutionize the sector by promoting a more substantial appreciation of cultural diversity. Davis gave the keynote address at the second annual Pacific Asia Indigenous Tourism and Trade Conference mid-September, which brings together groups of the Pacific Ocean to strategize on promoting the industry. He said efforts in the sector have to be about more than just increasing the numbers of First Nations in the industry.

An archeologist who has studied the Coast Salish village site at Dionisio Point on Galiano Island has dispelled the belief that First Nation people travelled great distances for the volcanic rock they used for tools. The study instead says the people just used the rock that washed up on their shores. Colin Grier, associate professor at Washington State University, said his team picked up some dark rock on the beach at Dionisio Point and began questioning the theory of travelling for the rock.

Lax Kw’alaams is claiming Aboriginal title of Lelu Island and Flora Bank, the sites of a planned $11.4 billion terminal to export liquefied natural gas. Lax Kw’alaams believes Aboriginal title, if proven in court, will save the territory, providing them a veto over development. Flora Bank is habitat for juvenile salmon in the Skeena River estuary. “We want to protect crucial salmon habitat, protect our food security and ensure that governments and industry are obligated to seek our consent,” said a spokesperson for the Lax Kw’alaams.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has rejected Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations attempt to quash the environmental certificate issued for the $8.8-billion Site C project on the Peace River. “I am satisfied that the petitioners were provided a meaningful opportunity to participate in the environmental assessment process,” Justice Robert Sewell wrote in his decision. Sewell ruled against a claim by the Peace Valley Landowners Association in July, with very much the same reasoning. That claim also hoped to halt the project.

Ten years have gone by since 50 eagles were found dead in Vancouver, and while the investigation concluded with more than 100 charges against 11 First Nations men, the Crown has now chosen to drop the charges against Gary Abbott and Ralph Leon in mid-September. They were the last of the men expecting to have their day in court. “The lead investigator was senior conservation officer Rick Grindrod,” reads a report by Global News.

As British Columbia plans to increase the number of wolves it culls to save endangered caribou, a pop singer has come out to criticize the strategy. Miley Cyrus of “Wrecking Ball” fame travelled to B.C. in September to discuss the wolf cull with members of Klemtu. And earlier that month she took to Instagram with a petition from Pacific Wild to stop the wolf kill. In response, Premier Christy Clark said Cyrus didn’t know enough about the province’s environmental plan to be a source of good information in the debate.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission only recently released their final report calling for Canada-wide education on Indian residential schools, but two Canadian territories have been at it for a few years.

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are the first in Canada to make the material mandatory for high school graduation, and the Northwest Territories has taken it a step further this year by mandating that all educators receive residential schools training before they can be certified to teach in the territory.

The Ktunaxa Nation Council has formed an historic alliance with the provincial Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation in British Columbia. The two bodies have come together to better assess and develop programs for vulnerable Aboriginal adults in the First Nation.

While the Ktunaxa Nation already runs programs for its vulnerable people—as well as other Aboriginal individuals in their area—the goal of this partnership is to use what’s currently available to find gaps, then remedy them.