Author: Xavier Kataquapit

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:: Wawatay News :: First Nation Youth Protest Ottawa National Meeting Regarding Bill C5

photo by Ray Hookimaw, Attawapiskat FN First Nation protest leaders at the July 17 Chiefs meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney concerning Bill C5. From L-R: Ramon Kataquapit, Jeronimo Kataquapit and Danny Metatawabin.

First Nation youth from northern Ontario protested a major meeting between hundreds of Chiefs and Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa on Thursday July 17. The federal government had set up the meeting with the Chiefs in a tightly controlled event that was held at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. Jeronimo Kataquapit, an Attawapiskat First Nation youth leader led a group of 20 other young First Nation protesters to the entrance of the meeting and were turned away by security. Media had also been blocked from the event.

“When people come into your home, you don’t stand by and watch them do whatever they want. You protect it,” said Kataquapit speaking to reporters outside the meeting.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/breaking-news/first-nation-youth-protest-ottawa-national-meeting-regarding-bill-c5

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CBC Radio :: Ottawa Morning :: First Nations families protest Ontario & federal development laws

Jeronimo Kataquapit and his father on the Attawpaiskat River with the CBC Ottawa Radio logo

July 17, 2025

Jeronimo Kataquapit and his family are planting flags and teepee poles every half-kilometre along the Attawapiskat River to show their continued use of the land and opposition to Ontario’s Bill 5 and the federal government’s Bill C-5. He’s hoping to tell the Prime Minister all about it in Ottawa today.

…. to listen to the radio interview, please click on the link below

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-100-ottawa-morning/clip/16158396-first-nations-families-protest-ontario-and-federal-development

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:: Wawatay News :: Jeronimo’s Fight Is For All Of Us

Jeronimo Kataquapit has made us all proud for his ability to live up to the title of his grass roots movement ‘Here We Stand – Call To Action’.

Jeronimo Kataquapit has made us all proud for his ability to live up to the title of his grass roots movement ‘Here We Stand – Call To Action’. In a Monday morning meeting with Mushkegowuk Council Chiefs leading up to the Thursday July 17 meeting with the federal government, Jeronimo took the opportunity to state to the leadership that we need to take a stand and that we all need to take action in order to protect our communities, First Nation rights and the lands and waterways we all live on.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/jeronimo%E2%80%99s-fight-all-us

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:: Timmins Press :: Chiefs throw support behind youth-led protest against controversial resource legislation

Chiefs show their support for a youth-led protest against Bill 5 and Bill C-5 on the banks of the Attawapiskat River on July 1. From left are: Chief Elizabeth Kataquapit of Fort Albany FN, Chief Sylvia Koostachin-Metatawabin of Attawapiskat FN, Jeronimo Kataquapit, Chief Gary Quisses of Neskantaga, Grand Chief Leo Friday of Mushkegowuk Council and Chief Hosea Wesley of Kashechewan FN. Jeronimo Kataquapit/Supplied photo

Northern First Nation chiefs and leaders came together on the Attawapiskat River on July 1 to show their support for a youth-led protest against Ontario’s Bill 5 and Canada’s Bill C5.
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They came to meet with Jeronimo Kataquapit, a First Nation youth from Attawapiskat First Nation who is leading a protest to occupy the land and water way that the people of the Attawapiskat River call home.

…. to read the full story, please click on the link below

https://www.timminspress.com/opinion/chiefs-throw-support-behind-youth-led-protest-against-controversial-resource-legislation

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:: Wawatay News :: Here We Stand – A Call To Action

photo provided by Jeronimo Kataquapit 'Here We Stand - Call to Action' on the banks of the Attawapiskat River on July 1 were Jeronimo Kataquapit and First Nation Chiefs and Grand Chief who came together in a show of solidarity. From L-R are: Chief Elizabeth Kataquapit of Fort Albany FN, Chief Sylvia Koostachin-Metatawabin of Attawapiskat FN, Jeronimo Kataquapit, Chief Gary Quisses of Neskantaga, Grand Chief Leo Friday of Mushkegowuk Council and Chief Hosea Wesley of Kashechewan FN.

Northern First Nation Chiefs and leaders came together on the Attawapiskat River on July 1 to show their support for a youth led protest against Ontario’s Bill 5 and Canada’s Bill C5. They came to meet with Jeronimo Kataquapit, a First Nation youth from Attawapiskat First Nation who is leading a protest to occupy the land and water way that the people of the Attawapiskat River call home. Kataquapit and the Chiefs held a gathering that included leaders and community members and youth from Neskantaga First Nation to discuss their concerns and show to government that their people still use and live on the river.

…. to read the full story, please click on the link below

https://wawataynews.ca/breaking-news/here-we-stand-%E2%80%93-call-action

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:: Wawatay News :: The Buck Stops Here

First Nation youth are rising up to protest Canada’s Bill C5 and Ontario’s Bill 5 which both threaten the most pristine wilderness in Northern Ontario. These new bills threaten to bypass the idea of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) which is a principle within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that emphasizes the right of Indigenous peoples to give or withhold their consent to activities that affect their lands, territories, and resources.

Both the Federal government and provincial government used the excuse of American tariff threats to push through these bills. It should be noted both governments also used this excuse in their bid to win recent elections and this worked for them. Arrogantly they have refused to include First Nations before setting up and pushing through these historic bills.

…. to read the full column, please click on the link below

https://www.wawataynews.ca/blogs-columns/buck-stops-here

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CBC National :: First Nations encampment set up to oppose Ring of Fire development

Jeronimo Kataquapit on CBC News National on June 30, 2025

a report by CBC News National

A First Nations encampment has been set up in Ontario’s mineral-rich Ring of Fire region to protest provincial and federal laws created to fast-track development. Organizer Jeronimo Kataquapit, a member of the Attawapiskat First Nation, explains why he and his family travelled 400 kilometres by canoe to get to the site of the encampment.

…. to read the full news story and video, please click on the link below

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6815503

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Canadian Press :: Two First Nations setting up encampment near proposed bridge to Ring of Fire

Jeronimo Kataquapit, right, and his father James A. Kataquapit, from Attawapiskat First Nation, are shown on the Attawapiskat River in this recent handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Jeronimo Kataquapit (Mandatory Credit)

Liam Casey The Canadian Press
Jun 26, 2025 Updated Jun 26, 2025

A political decision one thousand kilometres from Jeronimo Kataquapit’s home in a remote First Nation near James Bay set the course for his summer.

Now, the 20-year-old from Attawapiskat First Nation, his father, mother and older brother are headed upriver in two 24-foot freighter canoes on a 400-kilometre journey to “reassert First Nations’ presence” near the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario.

…. to read the full news story, please click on the link below

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/business/two-first-nations-setting-up-encampment-near-proposed-bridge-to-ring-of-fire/article_c9de4267-d9e2-511b-9926-03905e552a5f.html

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CBC :: First Nations families in Ontario protest development laws by reasserting presence on the land

Jeronimo Kataquapit and his family are planting flags and teepee poles every half kilometre along the Attawapiskat River to demonstrate their continued use of the land. (Jeronimo Kataquapit/Facebook )

by Faith Greco (with files from Markus Schwabe)

A family travelling on the Attawapiskat River in Ontario’s far north has been planting flags — created by Attawapiskat First Nation families — as a symbol of protest after the passing of provincial and federal laws created to fast-track development.

Bill 5, the Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, allows Ontario to create special economic zones, where companies or projects can be exempted from having to comply with provincial laws, regulations or municipal bylaws.

Attawapiskat First Nation is downstream from the mineral-rich Ring of Fire, which Premier Doug Ford wants to designate as a special economic zone.

…. to read the full news story, please click on the link below

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/first-nations-families-in-ontario-protest-development-laws-by-reasserting-presence-on-the-land-1.7568643