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When Joy Desjarlais decided to self-publish her latest book it wasn't because she couldn't find a corporate publisher. It was because the material was so important to her that she couldn't stand the thought of an editor changing it.

The Right to Remain Silent: A Night to Remember is so important to her because it's about her nephew Darrell Night. It's about the two-year ordeal that followed one cold night in January 2000 when Night was abandoned on the outskirts of Saskatoon by two city police officers.

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About 250 people were in attendance on Feb. 28 as the Kikinahk Friendship Centre celebrated 25 years of community service with an anniversary banquet.

The gathering celebrated the friendship centre's determination and past success, and looked forward to an even brighter future.

"I admire all of your perseverance for hanging in there and not giving up," wrote former board member David Biblow in a statement read by current president Lloyd Robertson. "I am very impressed to see the facility and the programs today."

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Two Saskatoon based initiatives will be receiving money from the federal government for programs aimed at urban Aboriginal youth.

The Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company will receive $50,000 in funding for its Youth Initiatives project, which gives young people living in the city a chance to get involved in creating and performing cultural and theatrical presentations. The program is designed, in part, to help participants strengthen their cultural identity, while giving them skills that will make them more employable.

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Eldon Lautermilch is Saskatchewan's newest Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, receiving the post following a cabinet shuffle on Feb. 17.

Lautermilch, MLA for the Prince Albert Northcote constituency, was also named as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. He will also continue on as Government House Leader, a position he has held for the past two years.

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Students across Saskatchewan, from Grade 1 through to Grade 12, are being asked to help the RCMP Aboriginal Policing Services to design a new logo for the section.

The winning logo design will be made into a poster that Aboriginal Policing Services will use for special events such as career fairs. The design will also be made into a pin, which members of the RCMP Aboriginal Policing Services will hand out to members of the public.

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Students, faculty and staff of the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) gathered together in Woodland Campus' Aboriginal Activity Centre in Prince Albert on Feb. 27 to mark the centre's 10th anniversary.

The centre officially opened for business on Feb. 17, 1993, providing Aboriginal students at the campus with a place to get together, and learn more about their culture.

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An exhibition currently underway at Wanuskewin Heritage Park looks to spread awareness of the residential school experience, and to help residential school survivors and their descendants deal with the ongoing effects from now defunct program. The exhibition, which opened on Feb. 25 and runs through Aug. 8, presents the most extensive collection of residential school photographs and archival material ever assembled.

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Does archaeology, botany or Canadian history interest you? If it does, then you might want to take advantage of a summer employment opportunity at the Provincial Museum of Alberta.

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The National Indigenous Sexual Abuse Conference hosted by the Mikisew Cree First Nation of Fort Chipewyan on Feb. 10 to 13. More than 1,400 people gathered to take part in a number of workshops and to hear some of the country's most experienced facilitators on the topic of sexual abuse.

Steering committee chairperson Steve Courtoreille, who lives in Fort Chipewyan, said the conference went extremely well.

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For several years, hunter, trapper and outdoor enthusiast Robbie Piche enjoyed his adventures in the nearby marshes and on the rivers that ran close to his hometown of Fort Chipewyan. His love for nature would have continued but for a brain aneurysm that interrupted this precious life.

At 36 years old, Piche had to re-learn how to talk, walk and be independent all over again. Today the 45-year-old holds no grudges and accepts the cards that life has dealt him. He continues to see give thanks for every day.