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Guest Editorial

Minister of Indian Affairs John Munro's approach to Indian self-government needs to be seriously questioned by the Indian nations in terms of process and substance.

The Indian nations must remember the unilateral move by Parliament in 1952 to include the provinces in governing Indians by enacting Section 88 of the Indian Act and the "constitutionalization" of this by the 1982 Canada Act.

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The President of the Indian Association of Alberta, (IAA) Wilfred McDougall, announced march 20 that the Canadian native Friendship Centre in Edmonton, and the IAA will be jointly sponsoring a workshop dealing with the recommendations of the Penner Report.

This two-day meeting will be held March 27 and 28 at the Friendship Centre. Lunch will be served to all participants.

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Edmonton

Alberta Minister Responsible for Native Affairs Milt Pahl and Larry Shaben MLA for Lesser Slave Lake announced March 21 a $15,000 grant to the Frontiers Foundation.

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Specialized training for nurses working in the northern and isolated areas of Canada will soon be cut from the faculty of medicine at the University of Alberta.

The five month nurse practitioner program at the university will not continue after April of this year. In 1983-84, the program trained 16 nurses to deal with the special situations they will encounter when working at nursing stations in the North.

Nurses attend the program after they have a degree in nursing or are registered nurses.

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Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs John Munro, on a cross-country tour seeking support from Indian First Nations for the government's proposed federal legislation process, received an unfavorable reaction from Alberta chiefs meeting in Edmonton March 19.

Munro disclosed the intentions of the federal government to introduce in parliament legislation which will recognize the status and powers of the Indian First Nations for those who wish to be self-governing.

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In the last issue of AMMSA we examined some of the different ways in which the Ceremonial Pipe is used for social, spiritual, political, and even military purposes. Now let us take a look at a Pipe ceremony in detail and explore its meaning and purpose.

First of all, it is important to understand that each tribe has its own various Pipe Ceremonies for different purposes. Each Pipe Holder has his own ceremony which is given to him at the time when a sacred pipe is placed in his care.

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The AMMSA newspaper will be celebrating its first anniversary on March 18,1984, one year after AMMSA's first publication date. We wish to share this anniversary with our readers, subscribers, advertisers and our funding agencies.

History of AMMSA

"A New Dawn in Aboriginal Communications" became a reality on January 23, 1983, when the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) was incorporated under Alberta's Society Act.

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Following a five month long investigation in the Cold Lake/Bonnyville area, the Department of Public Lands and Wildlife in conjunction with the attorney general's office has charged 78 individuals and firms with the illegal sale of fish and game.

Most of these charges, which total 153 violations collectively, are levied against people holding Native or Metis domestic fishing licenses. Most will appear in court in nearby Grand Centre April 4 to answer the charges.

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Over the course of the First Ministers' Conference on the Aboriginal rights, the subject of equality rights monopolized much of the discussion. Debate of the issue became complicated when Harry Daniels, vice-president of the Native Council of Canada (NCC), suggested that the issue of equality did not deal exclusively with sexual equality, but also with equality between the different Aboriginal groups.

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A well deserved "Happy Birthday" to the supporters, readers, staff and members of the board of AMMSA. It's a first of many to come, we strongly believe.

This past year has featured the usual problems one encounters in giving birth to a new organization. I am happy to report that staff and board members confronted the start-up difficulties, as well as those of maintenance and development, with honesty and competence.