Top News - February - 2004 Published February 16, 2004 Northern athletes ready to compete Leaders join exclusive club Health and healing conference a success This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the February 2004 issue of Alberta Sweetgrass. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sweetgrass, then you have missed out on a lot. Click here for Alberta Sweetgrass subscription information. Northern athletes ready to compete Jennifer Chung, Sweetgrass Writer, Fort McMurray The region of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta is ready to play host to this year's Arctic Winter Games starting Feb. 28 and running to March 6. The area will welcome 2,100 athletes ranging from 15 to 26 years of age from seven countries-Canada, the United States, Greenland, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Participants will be vying for a golden Ulu. The Ulu is an Inuit cutting tool, and was the inspiration for the medal creation. "The Arctic Winter Games have grown to be the Olympics of the North and really are the most important competition for northern youth," said Tom O'Hara, general manager of the 2004 Arctic Winter Games host society. "When they are travelling to the Canada Games, they are often at a disadvantage because they are competing against youth that are from cities of a million people or more. There are only just over 100,000 people in Northern Canada, so when they go to the Arctic Winter Games, they have a level competitive playing field where they can actually win medals." The Arctic Winter Games will feature northern sports such as snowshoeing, dog mushing and the snowshoe biathlon, but two other categories that give the games their distinct flavor are the Inuit games and the Dene games. The Inuit games, a crowd favorite, include events such as the one and two foot high kick, Alaskan high kick, one hand reach, kneel jump, knuckle hop, airplane, arm pull, head pull, sledge jump and the triple jump. Competitors in the Dene games will take part in the finger pull, hand game, snowsnake, stick pull and the pole push. "They are all quite unique. A lot of people have never seen any of them before and they like to come out and see what they are all about. It is amazing; the athletes all have a lot of athletic ability and good eye-limb co-ordination," said Tim Horseman, coach for the Northern Alberta men's Inuit games team. Thirteen athletes will be accompanying Horseman to Fort McMurray, the main staging area, including Aboriginal athletes Robbie Anderson and John Michelmann from Slave Lake. Anderson will be participating in the 17 and under age group in the junior male category in all the events with the exception of the airplane and head pull. Michelmann, who broke an Alberta record in the one foot high kick last month, will be competing in the 18 to 23 age group of the open male category. Michelmann is preparing for his first games by incorporating his skills from other sports. "I am a basketball player so I am really trying to work on my jumps with that. With the kicks, I used to be in tae kwon do so I just learn from that." Not only is the young athlete looking forward to the competition, he also values other aspects of this experience. "One of the things I am looking forward to is learning new things about the different cultures, meeting new people and just having fun," said Michelmann. "I am very excited." "I am hoping that they have a good time, practice good sportsmanship and that they do their best, " said Horseman. "I'd like to see them improve at what they are doing for next time. Most of the athletes on the Inuit games team are Arctic Winter Games athletes so it's a good learning experience. And they get a feel for the competition that goes on and see how the games are run." Athletes and visitors can take a break from the action by taking in performances by Juno nominee Leela Gilday, the rap group ReddNation, Spirit Child Dancers and the Merc Métis Dancers. A market featuring 24 artisans from across northern Alberta will be part of the festivities. The Arctic Winter Games were the inspiration of James Smith and Stuart Hodgson, then commissioners of the Yukon and Northwest Territories, who traveled to Quebec City to cheer on their home team at the Canada Games in 1967. Disheartened by the performance of their athletes, the two men, along with the governor of Alaska, came up with the idea of creating their own sporting competition for the North, which first took place in Yellowknife in 1970. The Arctic Winter Games will air on CBC television starting on Feb. 28. For more information visit www.awg2004.com. Top

Leaders join exclusive club Paul Barnsley, Sweetgrass Writer, Calgary To a list that already includes Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, country music superstar Garth Brooks and former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, you can now add Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine and his current crop of vice-chiefs. What could they all possibly have in common? Well, each has received a white Smithbilt Stetson from the City of Calgary. Fontaine and the other AFN executive members received theirs on Feb. 8. Marj Goodmanson, a volunteer with Tourism Calgary, made the presentation on behalf of Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier. The white hat confers honorary citizenship in the southern Alberta city, said Goodmanson, and is presented to "every VIP who visits Calgary." The presentation was made at a chiefs' reception on the evening of the first day of a two-day AFN executive meeting. Fontaine noted that it was the first executive meeting of the year. He took the opportunity to announce that Edmonton lawyer J. Wilton Littlechild has been re-appointed as the AFN's official representative and advisor on international issues. The national chief also said the executive members spent a lot of time discussing the speech from the throne that had been delivered by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson just a few days before. In the speech, the Prime Minister committed to a new approach to dealing with Aboriginal issue. "We discussed the throne speech and came to the conclusion that it represents real opportunities for us," Fontaine said. He later told the gathering that the AFN was "to a considerable extent responsible for those words spoken by the Governor General." He said he and his officials met with newly appointed Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell on the day he was appointed, "just a couple of hours after he was sworn in." Fontaine said the minister repeatedly used the phrase "collaborative approach" during that first meeting. "We took him up on those words," Fontaine said. "And we undertook to influence the throne speech. In my humble opinion, I think we succeeded. I think we succeeded quite nicely." Top Health and healing conference a success Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Fort Chipewyan The weather co-operated and allowed everyone who attended the 10th annual health and healing conference in Fort Chipewyan to enjoy a fun-filled and worthwhile three-days of activities. The conference was held Feb. 4 to 6 and on opening night attracted 200 people to the Community Role Model Dinner where community members Louise (Jo-Jo) Cardinal, 83, Donal Voyageur, 16, Maureen Clarke, an instructor at Keyano College, and Irene Flett-Redwood, a high school teacher at Athabasca Delta community school in Fort Chipewyan, were honored for their contributions to the betterment of their community. "It's great being a role model to the youth my age," said Voyageur. "And my way of setting an example to them is by not smoking or doing anything that is not right. It feels pretty good. I would like to say to the youth for them not to drink or smoke," he said. Country singer Duane Steele performed at the dinner. The next two days were filled with workshops, a MuchMusic Video Dance for the youth and a fiddle dance. Athabasca Dene fiddler George Robillard of Stony Rapids performed. Community Wellness manager Donna Cyprien said this year's conference tried to accommodate all ages with a variety of activities. "Everyone who worked to make it happen worked really hard and the success was due to team work. It was great. I hope that in the future we would have more participation from the community in the workshops, but for those who did attend the workshops it made it worthwhile," she said. Community member Christina Simpson who lives and works in Fort McMurray said that she enjoyed the event. "All in all it was really good. I really enjoyed the role model supper. I liked the way that the people involved went out of their way to initiate and set up this event. I believe this dinner encourages our young people to try and do well." A workshop offered by facilitator George Tuccaro included information about raising children. Family dynamics were discussed by Viki and Alan Jacob of Cold Lake. Francis Whiskeyjack taught a workshop on traditional teachings. "Henry Parker who did a magic show was a hit for the youth at the school. They really enjoyed his show and the other facilitators did a good job. The dance was excellent. People really enjoyed the fiddle music. People were dancing right from 9 p.m. right until they finished at 1 a.m. The floor was full," Cyprien said. Top