Page 7

Piece by art piece, the works of Native artists have slowly been receiving recognition from the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). But last month, the AGO seemingly went into fast forward mode, by adding a substantial number of Native works to its permanent collection.

A porcupine quill medicine bag, pipe bowls and a gunstock club crafted by nations living around the Great Lakes during the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries are among the pieces now displayed in the gallery's Canadian wing.

Page 7

Rebecca Belmore has become one of the leading contemporary First Nations artists in Canada. A multi-disciplinary artist, she is specifically interested in performance art. She recently brought her latest exhibition, called 33 Pieces, to Definitely Superior Art Gallery in Thunder Bay.

Now living in Vancouver, Belmore has performed and exhibited extensively throughout Canada and the world. She describes her work as, "low-key, simple, raw." Others see it as powerful.

Page 6

More than 800 people attended the National Aboriginal Health Organization's first annual conference at the Congress Centre in Ottawa from Jan. 21 to 23.

Participants came to listen and learn from presenters from all across Turtle Island. The workshops focused on topics such as midwifery, fetal alcohol syndrome, traditional medicine, and careers for aboriginal youth.

Page 4

The First Nations Governance Act (FNGA) proposed by Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault has some frightening components, according to some Manitoulin Island observers.

First Nations members from Zhiibaahaasing to Whitefish River gathered in M'Chigeeng Feb. 3 and 4 to examine the provisions of Bill C-7.

The legislation was first introduced in the House of Commons as Bill C-61 on June 14, 2002. A House of Commons standing committee on Aboriginal affairs has been conducting public hearings on the proposed act in communities across the country.

Page 3

Two Ontarians have been named among 14 who will receive a National Aboriginal Achievement Award at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on March 28.

Rock legend Robbie Robertson won the lifetime achievement award, and novelist Thomas King won in the arts and culture category

Robertson, a Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, will receive the lifetime achievement award for being one of the most influential musicians of his era..

Robertson toured the world in 1965-66 with Bob Dylan and recorded the legendary Basement Tapes with the folk-rock icon.

Page 2

CALGARY-A nationally available career awareness tool kit for Aboriginal youth has been announced by an organization called Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources, or BEAHR.

Aboriginal EnviroCareers, as it is called, is free, and it will be made available in high schools with Aboriginal students in the fall of 2003.

Page 2

HULL, Que.-Applicants to the Canadian Museum of Civilization's Aboriginal Training Programme in Museum Practices must get their paperwork in by March 15 this year. The program, now in its eleventh year, starts Sept. 3, 2003 and ends April 21, 2004.

Aims of the program are to equip Aboriginal participants with professional and technical training in museum practices. The two types of training offered are a practicum and an internship.

Page 2

ALDERVILLE-Ontario's First Nations Public Library Week, which was celebrated Feb. 10 to Feb. 15 this year, once again attracted bookworms and people who are earnestly promoting reading and literacy.

Page 2

CAT LAKE-The Ojibway community of Cat Lake, located approximately 500 miles north of Toronto, has increased its reserve lands seven-fold, adding 33,836 acres.

Chief Charles Wesley of Cat Lake First Nation and Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault made the joint announcement on Jan. 31. "Increasing our reserve base today has opened up opportunities for the Cat Lake community," said the chief.

Page 12

When Barb Cote talks about the pilot project she has initiated in Columbia Lake Band at Windermere, passion and determination dominate her normally gentle tone.

Cote completed the Distributed Learning Facilitation for Indigenous Communities (DLFIC) undergraduate certificate program on Nov. 25, and on Nov. 26, she watched as the chief and council of Columbia Lake Band and Gregory Claeys, co-ordinator of Indigenous programs at Royal Roads University, signed a memorandum of understanding that marked a new road in Aboriginal educational opportunities.