Top News - August - 2003 Published August 18, 2003 Sun shines on Treaty Day celebrations Hike in rent, services not sitting well with Elders Kikino Rodeo developing into a summer classic This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the August 2003 issue of Alberta Sweetgrass. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sweetgrass, then you have missed out on a lot. Sun shines on Treaty Day celebrations Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Cold Lake First Nation The weather was perfect for a celebration and people frolicked in the sun by a lake that could only be described as breathtakingly beautiful. The Cold Lake First Nation's 23rd annual Treaty Days celebration was held at the English Bay campground on July 11 to 13. Hundreds of people took part, enjoying the weather, the food and the competitions, which included among other things canoe races, a pie eating contest, a bottle sucking contest, and a tug-of-war. "I think everything that happened during the celebration is so awesome, said Vi March, the chairperson of Treaty Days 2003. "It is so nice to have the community pull together.... I cannot describe how our great spirit, our heavenly father has provided this for us. A beautiful blue sky, nice weather, everyone happy, it was awesome to see that. There was an event for everyone," she said She estimated that there were 1,000 people in attendance every day. Tents and trailers dotted the area, and this year the community decided to add a Déne cultural camp where Elders demonstrated their skills in preparing fish and drying meat. On Saturday evening, hundreds of people lined up to enjoy a traditional feast, which consisted of smoked fish, moose, soup, bannock and fruit. Cold Lake councillor Brian Grandboise said that in the Déne language, Cold Lake was known as Big Fish Lake and it is still called that by the Elders. The community promoted a non-alcoholic and drug-free celebration because they want to promote a healthy lifestyle and create a good image for the youth, he said. "We are working with the youth so that they can once again be reunited with the Elders. I noticed that for whatever reasons our social conditions have separated our youth and Elders. Originally the Elders were our teachers. They taught us a lot of basic things, like how to get along and respect each other. I think that is lost today, because the children are only learning from books, television or from the computers. It is something that we are trying to rebuild in our community," he said. Panago Pizza workers, along with a number of other food vendors, were kept busy as they served cold drinks, pizza, hamburgers, coffee or fries to the crowd. "It is a good hot day. We are making a lot of money selling the pizza," said Mathew Scanie of Cold Lake. "The money we make here is going to go to the sports teams and some other activities that Panago supports in the community of Cold Lake." Shannon Saloway of Elizabeth Settlement, part of the volunteer security crew at the entrance gate, weathered the hot sun while greeting and checking vehicles. He said he attends the celebration almost every year and this was his second year working in security. "I will probably do this again next year. My wife is from this reserve so I come out and I get involved too," he said. A spectacular fireworks display lit up the sky for more than 35 minutes on July 12. "The fireworks displays are the best one's around," said one spectator. "That is what I've been hearing from a lot of people who watched them. They were beautiful, very nice. A half-an-hour's worth and from what I hear is they spend thousands of dollars on them each year. Everything was great," he said.   Top

Hike in rent, services not sitting well with Elders Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Edmonton A proposed 40 per-cent hike in fees for long-term care is raising the temperature at the Native Seniors Centre in Edmonton. Centre outreach co-ordinator Elsie Kruger said the seniors met with provincial New Democrat party leader Raj Pannu at the centre on July 16. He talked about how the hike will affect the residents if new legislation is allowed to pass. "If it is not stopped by the fall sitting, it will go through and it will affect everyone. Not just the seniors, but it will also affect the families as well. Like us, the baby boomers who are the next generation of seniors," said Kruger. She said she is concerned because a single elderly person only receives about $13,000 a year, and some of the places for long-term care are charging as much as $1,500 a month now. Pannu talked about the increase and how the government is picking the seniors' pockets again. It was noted that seniors already lost some of their dental and optical benefits in the early 1990s. "These seniors have already fought for this country and they have to fight again. This time they are fighting to maintain their benefits. It just does not seem fair that they should have to do that." Kruger said that her father was in a long-term care facility before he passed away and her mother may soon need to move to a long-term care facility as well. "Someone will have to look after that for her, and I'm getting up there too. I'm in the baby boomer generation. The Elders are going through a really bad time. I mean a lot of them are outraged and they are really concerned. A lot of the seniors are talking about this situation, because they are having a lot of difficulty financially. And with the rising costs in living, how are they going to live and eat healthy when they do not have enough money coming in?" she asked. "They talk about Elders financial abuse, but what about when it is the government doing it? This is the worst kind of abuse, because it is the government that is doing this. These Elders have paved the way for us, so I think that it is horrible the way the seniors are being treated. I'll be considered a senior someday and I'm going to find it difficult too if this is not stopped." Lou Arab, a spokesperson with the New Democrats, said the concern from the party's point of view is that this decision will force seniors to rob their life savings just to pay the rent. "They will supplement the absolutely poor seniors, but what about the seniors that fall in the middle bracket of the rich and poor? They will suffer because they will not be eligible for any subsidy so they will have to keep paying out of their pockets," he said. "This idea is basically robbing assets of seniors...They are not going to change the care for the seniors one bit. They are just taking more money, that is all, and it is going to be the same care for a much higher price. "The sad thing is if a private landlord tried to raise the rent by 40 per-cent with a month's notice they would not be allowed to do that. The laws would say that you have to give more notice than what the provincial government is giving. This is not respectful to the seniors. It forces them into some very dire circumstances. Yes, they are right to say that no one will be thrown out into the street, but that does not mean that life will be good at all," Lou Arab said. Kevin Donnan, the communications officer with the Ministry of Alberta Seniors, said that a 40 per-cent hike is in no way a small increase and that the Ministry of Alberta Seniors realizes that there are some legitimate concerns out there and that they are focusing on low income seniors who are most in need. "The other thing is that absolutely no resident will be asked to leave or to move to another long-term care facility. If they are in long-term care, their meals are provided and we've got a supplementary benefit that is being implemented as well. So they will have a good chunk of that covered," he said. "The increase in the accommodation rate is for room and board and housekeeping, and low income seniors will be provided with assistance where they will retain a personal allowance of at least $265 a month in disposable income to use for personal items, such as toiletries and clothing and that sort of thing." He said that seniors facing a financial hardship should speak with their facility operator. Top Kikino Rodeo developing into a summer classic Gary Elaschuk, Sweetgrass Writer, Kikino The 14th annual Kikino Celebration Days and Silver Birch Rodeo, held Aug. 7 to 10 at Kikino Metis Settlement, drew overflow crowds throughout the three main days of the event. More than a thousand people a day went through the gates, combining with another thousand camped on-site to pack the stands to watch cowboys and cowgirls from the Lakeland and Foothills rodeo associations compete for $17,500 in prize money, and to take in numerous other events on the grounds. The Celebration Days kicked off Thursday night with pony chariot and chuckwagon races, which ran all four evenings of the event. Close to 300 competitors from across Alberta took part in the three days of rodeo. Other events on the grounds included pancake breakfasts, a two-day talent show, steak barbeques, a horseshoe tournament, horse races, a small midway, and the Adrian Hope Memorial one mile run, won by Trent Lavallee of Lac La Biche. Off-site events included a parade and a rodeo dance at the Kikino Hamlet. The rodeo featured daily performances by a team of women trick riders and the Texas Tornado Bull Show, which had a full-grown Brahma bull doing tricks, including balancing on all four feet on a platform the size of a kitchen chair and jumping through a ring of fire. The four-day event was capped off with a 21-minute fireworks display on the shore of Whitefish Lake, which started earlier than scheduled because of an approaching storm. The fireworks were "absolutely excellent," said Kikino Settlement administrator Roger Littlechilds, and were enhanced by a thunder storm rolling in across the lake. Littlechilds noted that the rodeo has grown in size again. "The talent show area was packed both days," he said, even while the rodeo was running. "It was a really good weekend," he added. "We managed to slip in and out of the weather so even Mother Nature co-operated." Littlechilds said a total of 3,456 people went through the gate over the four-days. The on-site camping was sold out, with many sites booked as early as January. Silver Birch Resort manager John Ritchie said there were about 1,500 campers, including the rodeo competitors and chuckwagon drivers and their families. Among those campers were 50 horsedrawn wagon units from the Great Western Wagon Train, which traveled to Kikino from the historic Victoria Settlement near Smoky Lake. The wagon train organizers have made the Kikino Celebration Days and Silver Birch Rodeo a "must attend" event on their summer calendar. Top