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A two-year project is getting under way to educate Native on the Blood and Peigan reserves about AIDS. The project is being done jointly by the Lethbridge AIDS Connection and the University of Lethbridge Four Worlds Development Project. Spokesman Philip Johnson says program presenters must be sensitive to cultural differences like members of the Blackfoot nation not being allowed to speak about sex if relatives are in the room.

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An Indian law expert from New Mexico has been asked to help settle a dispute between Blackfeet Indians and the Provincial Museum of Alberta over sacred relics bought recently by the provincial government from a Montana art collector.

Albuquerque lawyer Alan Taradash was approached by a Browning, Montana Blackfeet member after a delegation of Native elders was turned away from the Edmonton museum June 20 without reclaiming religious items they believe will lose their spiritual powers if kept off the Indian reserve.

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Near-record rainfalls and a flood of setbacks didn't dampen the spirits of organizers and athletes of the first North American Indigenous Games held in Edmonton from June 30 to July 8.

More than 1,500 competitors and performers from across Canada and the western United States ready to punch, kick, shoot and stoke their way into sports fame paraded into the opening ceremonies hosted by the University of Alberta at the Butterdome.

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Veronica Kootenay's smile said everything about her pride, excitement and expectations as she anxiously waited for her appointment with the Queen during the royal visit to Calgary.

"We couldn't sleep last night because of the excitement. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Veronica," Desmonia Kootenay, Veronica's mother, said as they waited in the Palliser Hotel lobby June 27 for the appointed time to meet Queen Elizabeth.

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An historic agreement has been signed giving the Blood tribe a voice on the Cardston school board.

After years of talks, the Blood chief and council signed an addendum to the existing tuition agreement June 15 with the Cardston school board, allowing for Native representation on the board for the first time in history.

The agreement is the first of its kind in the province. Native parents whose children attend Cardston schools will now have a formal channel to voice their concerns, said Blood education chairman Richard Mills.

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When Jim Thunder was turned away from New York's American Museum of Natural History last spring without reclaiming Big Bear's sacred bundle, he was leaving behind one of the most spiritual gifts ever handed down to western Canadian Indians.