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Two Aboriginal women were among this year's recipients of Saskatchewan Healthcare Excellence Awards (SHEA), given out in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the province's health industry.

Marie Haviland and Myrtle O'Brien received their awards at a gala held at the Delta Regina Hotel on Jan. 31.

Haviland, from Muskowekwan First Nation, is health director at Touchwood Agency Tribal Council. "I design and develop health programs for our bands: Day Star, Gordon, Muskowekwan, Kawacatoose, Fishing Lake," she said.

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When Dene singer Leonard Adam entertains his audiences, he is accomplishing much more than providing them with a pleasurable sound. Adam, who writes his own material, sings stories learned from his grandparents who raised him in the northern Saskatchewan community of Uranium City. The family lived a traditional lifestyle, working a trapline and immersing themselves in their culture, and Adam's devotion to those memories shows through in his music.

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Three residents of Saskatchewan have been named among the 14 recipients of this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, which will be handed out at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on March 28.

John Arcand is a ninth generation Metis fiddler. With 250 original tunes of his own, he has been writing and performing since childhood.

His efforts to ensure that the Metis fiddle tunes of his father and grandfather remain a part of his people's culture is being recognized with an Arts and Culture Award.

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Things have certainly turned around for Raylene Powder.

Not too long ago, the 17-year old was thinking about dropping out of school. Now, she is not only succeeding in her studies, but she is leading other students by her example.

Powder recently received the Hudson's Bay Co. Aboriginal Youth Scholarship in recognition of her leadership qualities.

"Really?" was the beaming first reaction of Powder when she learned that several of her teachers had nominated her for the award based on academic achievement, contributions to the community and leadership.

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Joely BigEagle helps her children with homework at the kitchen table every night, sees them off to bed, and then pulls out another pile of books. The 33-year-old mother of three is in her fourth year of civil engineering at the University of Calgary and she always has assignments due.

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The transition between teenager and adulthood for Raelene Carter has been spent travelling across Canada while juggling parental responsibilities.

Now completing her two-year term as the youth member of the board of directors for the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC), those responsibilities bring Carter, a resident of Onion Lake, to Ottawa once a month.

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No one wants to think about a crisis happening in his or her community, but not thinking about it won't stop it from happening. Now, thanks to some forward thinking, there are 40 people on Big River First Nation who are prepared to help if a crisis does come their way.

The 40 community members are part of a crisis team formed on the First Nation. The team members are all certified in crisis intervention, having completed Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) training at the end of January.

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According to the results of Statistics Canada's 2001 census, the number of people in Canada identifying themselves as having some Aboriginal ancestry increased by 22.2 per cent since the last census was done in1996. Aboriginal people now account for 4.4 per cent of Canada's population.

The census results, released at the end of January, show 976,300 people identified themselves as North American Indian, Metis or Inuit in 2001. Over half of that total is made up of Aboriginal youth under 25.

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Twelve-year-old Darren Budd, a Grade 6 student from Prince Charles school in Prince Albert, was one of the winners of this year's National Non-Smoking Week poster competition, co-ordinated by the local Coalition of People for Smoke Free Places. Four area elementary schools participated in the contest, and the top three entrants from each school were presented with certificates of appreciation, a 'Smoke Free works for all of us' T-shirt, and a 'Stay Smoke Free for LIFE' button on Weedless Wednesday, Jan. 22.