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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.

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When the First Ministers' Conference between Native leaders and the governments ended in Ottawa on March 9 with little progress made toward defining Aboriginal rights, the two groups representing treaty Indians, the Assembly of First Nations and the Coalition of First Nations, agreed that the provincial governments have no authority to determine Aboriginal rights.

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The appointment of two band constables to the Paul band's reserve, 55 km west of Edmonton, on March 12 gives federal recognition of that band's power to enforce band bylaws and the Indian Act on their reserve.

Usually the provincial attorney general gives tribal police the power to enforce provincial laws in addition to the powers given to tribal police under the RCMP Act. The appointments are important for the Paul band because it supports their position that provincial laws do not apply on the reserve.

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Editorial

The recent ruling by the Alberta Press Council that a Calgary Herald cartoon, which ridiculed the Lubicon Lake Indian band, is racist should encourage those who support Indian rights and freedom of the press.

The Herald has responded by indicating freedom of the press is in jeopardy, but this "freedom" does not mean that anybody, including the press, can do exactly what they like. The press is indeed powerful and it is a newspaper's responsibility to take this power and freedom seriously, and use it wisely and respectfully.

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A Native medical student who studied medicine to help his people was killed in a car accident two days after his 25th birthday.

Darcy Tailfeathers, a Blood band member and third-year student at the University of Alberta, died Nov. 22 when his car hit a patch of ice near Fox Creek.

Tailfeathers was the university's first and only Indian medical student and recently returned to Alberta after studying at the Indian medical program at the University of North Dakota.

He had also studied at the Brigham Young University of Utah on a hockey scholarship.

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Environmentalists are trying to quash the proposed dam on the Old Man River, saying Alberta minister Ken Kowalski broke the rules when he approved construction of the $350 million project.

During a hearing a Calgary Court of Queen's Bench, a lawyer for a group opposed to the dam said the government's licence for the project should be cancelled because the government failed to notify the public, did not obtain written permission from the municipality and neglecting to consult the Energy Resources Conservation board and other affected parties.

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The Alberta Press Council has ruled that a Calgary Herald cartoon depicting the Lubicon Lake Indian band was "offensive beyond the bounds of good taste" and "denigrated the Indian race."

The cartoon which appeared Oct. 23 and depicted a four-panel story on the Lubicon band was created by cartoonist Vance Rodewalt. Since the publication of the cartoon the newspaper has received numerous complaints.

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The Alexander band's funding has been cut off after the Department of Indian Affairs declared the Sept. 11 election "illegal" this week.

The band voted to move the custom elections in July, however, according to department officials the band's decision to reduce the number of council members from eight to six or the raising of the voting age from 18 to 21 was not ratified by the government.

Until the Sept. 11 election the band had run its election under the provisions of the Indian Act.

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Financial problems still plague Cree Airways

Cree Airways is still not operational despite the reversal of a default judgment last week.

The airline received a default judgment when it failed to submit a statement of defense to a lawsuit. This judgment has now been overturned and the lawsuit will be brought to court.

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Alberta Metis may become the first Aboriginal people to have their right to self-government and their land base entrenched in the Canadian Constitution.

After the failure of the First Ministers Conference, which many had hoped would entrench Aboriginal self-rule into the constitution, many Native groups began to look for other methods. But for the Federation of Metis Settlements, self-government is more than a dream.