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Charges that three non-Native teenagers committed a hate crime when they allegedly opened fire on a school and six homes on the Blood reserve with paint-ball guns on Oct. 9 were reduced to 13 counts of vandalism by the Crown Attorney two weeks later.

The Blood Tribe chief and council are not happy with the decision.

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EDITORIAL

As everyone stresses communication and unity as the only things that will keep the Metis Association together, last week's general assembly indicates this is exactly what's not going to happen.

Only about 800 people showed up at the Lac Cardinal for the assembly. This compares to about 4,000 to 6,000 that used to attend the event. The Assembly once stood as a forum for all members to network and discuss Metis issues ? now a lot of people nix the assembly because they are tired of the bickering.

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From all appearances, it looks as if the second attempt in 13 years to open a friendship centre in Wetaskiwin will prove to be successful.

Twelve years ago, the original centre was forced to shut its doors due to lack of funds. It had only operated for 11 months. Today, the city has another centre and an open house was held August 14 welcoming visitors from throughout the province and from neighboring provinces.

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In a surprise move, moments before the close of the Metis Association assembly, Paul Sinclair pulled out of the presidential race over what he calls the disrespectful treatment accorded to president, Sam Sinclair, and his fear that candidate Jo-Ann Daniels would win the presidency.

In an interview after the final day of the two-day assembly, Sinclair said because he feared his candidacy would split the vote allowing Daniels to walk away with the presidency, he had decided to stand down and throw his support behind Larry Desmeules.

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The applause and standing ovation which followed Sam Sinclair's farewell speed as president of the Metis Association of Alberta changed quickly to angry words and an attack on Sinclair's leadership when a resolution that $25,000 in severence pay be given to Sinclair was introduced to the assembly.

During a heated and at times emotional debate, MAA treasurer Paul Sinclair advised delegates to vote against the amendment because of the MAA deficit.

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Business was put on the backburner as politics and in-fighting dominated the Metis Association of Alberta annual assembly held at Lac Cardinal, August 15 and 16.

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Bruce Starlight is bitter and angry over his treatment at the hands of Olympiques Calgary Olympics (OCO) which, he says, forced him to walk away from his job last May without giving official notice.

Starlight, a Sarcee band member and coordinator of the Treaty Seven Corporation, a company formed to organize Native cultural participation in the olympics, says he is frustrated with OCO's bureaucracy and red tape.

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A suit against the Canadian and British Columbia governments for Native control of 57,000 square kilometers of northwestern BC will continue even though the Natives' funding for the case has been cut by the federal government.

The Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en bands were promised $3.5 million by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to fight the case, but that amount was cut in May.

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Thousands of northern Natives are expected to flock into Fort Simpson, NWT Sept. 20 for a four and a half hour visit by Pope John Paul II.

This will be the second time the Pope has tried to visit the community; fog prevented him from landing there three years ago.

Native leaders and politicians are hoping the visit will focus global attention on the lifestyle of the northern Natives and generate some "political fallout" for the Canadian government.

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Four prairie Natives were given a all-expense paid trip to South Africa to investigate conditions in that country and to publicize their own grievances.

Gerald Wuttunee of the Red Pheasant band, Bryan Tootoosis of the Poundmaker band, Lindsay Cyr, chief of the Pasquas, and Eldon Bellegarde, representing 16 Saskatchewan bands, had their trip paid by the South African government's tourism board.

The four are in South Africa at the same time as Canadian External Affairs minister Joe Clark visits that country.