Stories by Steve Bonspiel

Not much has changed since we wrote an editorial called “Red alert for Red Dress Alert” two years ago. That’s not unexpected, in fact it’s by design, but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting, considering the scope and urgency of the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people (MMIWG2S+), which is nothing short of a countrywide emergency.

A few weeks ago, we used this space to reflect on the importance of solidarity between First Nations, especially when it comes to going up against governments that still don’t show respect when it counts, and that’s not set to change anytime soon.

Today’s the day: The Eastern Door’s 30th Annual Spring Cleanup. It sneaks up on us every year, and 2026 is no different. We hope you’ll join us in rolling up our sleeves, throwing on a pair of gloves, and picking up some of the garbage that has been been encased in ice and snow lo these many months.

Another day, another fake news article on Facebook (which still bans real news outlets like ours, by the way).

At the Siege of Kanehsatake commemoration event in Tiohtià:ke last year, this saying was shared: “You can break one arrow very easily, but if you take a bunch of arrows, you cannot break them.”

Wáhta season, the time when maple sap flows. It carries powerful cultural significance, and has nourished Kanien’kehá:ka since time immemorial. It heals, it calls for ceremony and thanksgiving.

If we offer you two knocks in the arm, and you ask for none, then naturally one is a good compromise, right?

And just like that, with no pomp, no fanfare, not even a press release, the Chateauguay oil spill lawsuit is no more.

Everything I write about is through the lens of a grizzled veteran reporter/editor who has seen far too much.

Okwire’shòn:’a. The trees. They’re mentioned in our old ways of giving thanks because they are that important. They help us breathe cleaner air, they add beauty to our landscape, they protect us from wind and from other people, yet they are so often forgotten these days, most notably with the latest fiasco - Hydro Quebec giving out the contract to cut a ton of them and clear space for their lines.