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Resident Eder Ellen White raised her hands in a blessing and in thanks to the dancers who had entertained at the feast. "It's so beautiful when you see what the old people left behind," she told the students and instructors who had gathered in the room.

"Never forget them. This is our teaching here and you have similar traditions. You can go back home and say, 'I have seen that-and we are all similar' and that is so great."

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For those who have just found or re-discovered their Metis culture and identity, Kootenay Region Metis Association (KRMA) may be the very place to turn for comfort and support.

Marlin Ratch, executive assistant to the council, and the program co-ordinator for the employment and training program at the KRMA, said, "That's a big part of our being right now is trying to reintegrate some of that lost culture back into Metis people in our area because a lot of them were never even exposed to it.

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Urban Aboriginal parents in the Yukon are welcome to enjoy a unique program offered by the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre in Whitehorse that allows them to pursue a traditional lifestyle. Program co-ordinator Joe Migwans explained that a group of parents recently spent three days away from town participating in berry picking, fishing, and hunting, led by Elders who remember the old way of life that the people of the area lived not so long ago.

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When Alex Van Bibber signed up for service in World War II, he became one of four Yukon Aboriginal men who have continued to this day to lead by example in their home communities. Alex, his brothers Archie and Dan, and friend John Adamson all took their basic training in 1944 in camps at Vancouver and Wetaskiwin. The men are members of the Champagne-Aishihik and Selkirk First Nations.

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On a breezy early fall evening, First Nations Creations, an art co-operative fully owned and operated by First Nations artists, celebrated its one-year anniversary in the historic Gastown in Vancouver.

Only a stone's throw from the famous steam clock and surrounded by souvenir stores boasting commercialized Native tchotches, First Nations Creations aims to breathe fresh air into Vancouver's First Nations art scene.

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Loretta Hurst loves her job in the forest industry.

"Every day there is something I really enjoy. Either the sun coming up in the morning in my rearview mirror, or coming home at night I see the moon coming over the ridge. Or I see an animal."

Hurst had a goal when she began working in forestry in 1992. She wanted to help other people to obtain solid employment in the industry too, and today that is becoming a reality.

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Sto:lo Office Outfitters celebrated an opening Oct. 22 as a brand new business, reincarnating itself from the former Sto:lo Office Supplies, which began nearly four years ago.

Bigger and better means that the new Aboriginal-owned-and-operated wholesaler sells office furniture in addition to standard paper, pencils and staplers.

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As First Nations singers and dancers performed a welcoming paddle dance, and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds blasted over the domes of the Legislature, Queen Elizabeth II mingled with Vancouver Island residents, talking at length with First Nations children and artisans.

From the moment the Queen and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh arrived on Vancouver Island until the moment they left, First Nations people played a pivotal role in celebrating the Queen's golden jubilee.

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FORT ST. JAMES - The Nak'azdli and Tl'az'ten First Nations in British Columbia have signed an agreement with the government enabling the bands to receive federal money to develop their own services for children's safety and well-being.

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Last month the Seabird Island band announced the Federal Court of Appeal had reversed a lower court decision that they had no taxable interest in land taken from them for a highway right-of-way in the 1950s.