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The election of a new president of the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) is being challenged by Alberta members of the group. The challenge stems from dissatisfaction with the way Donna Weaselchild ran the Alberta section of NWAC. However, Weaselchild denies these allegations.

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I didn't do much writing this summer because I took a couple of weeks off and went to British Columbia. Don't get excited, though, this is not going to be one of those "What-I-Did-On-My-Summer-Vacation" stories. But while I was in Vancouver, I was invited to a very special event.

The Law Society was holding a ceremony to call a hundred new lawyers to the bar. They sat as a group under the glass canopy of the brand-new provincial courthouse. There were only two Indian faces in the sea of black-robed lawyers.

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The leader of Canada's most broadly based Aboriginal organization has added his voice to those condemning the Meech Lake-Langevin Accord before the parliamentary committee studying it.

Louis "Smokey" Bruyere, recently elected to his fourth two-year term as president of the Native Council of Canada, faulted the accord for its bypassing of Aboriginal peoples and it petrification of the constitutional process.

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In a committee room on Parliament Hill, a group headed by an Alberta representative, discuss the highly contentious issue of immigration and refugee determination.

Located just yards from the House of Commons, the National Youth Parliament headed by Alberta's Carolynne Buffalo of the Montana band at Hobbema, this week drafted their own refugee bill many say is more humane than the current government bill.

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The Nistawoyou Friendship Centre has been ordered to recover thousands of dollars loaned to directors and members of the organization and is embroiled in an RCMP investigation over "misappropriation of funds."

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Cardston RCMP officers have been ordered to attend a Native orientation workshop after a recent human rights investigation over discriminatory practices against a Blood Indian ended in an out of court settlement.

Rene Tallow, a Blood band member who was paid $1,500 in compensation, received a written apology and the assurance that a workshop would be conducted. The settlement came after Tallow complaint with the Human Rights Commission over the abuse treatment he had received at the hands of the Cardston RCMP.

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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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Although the Heart Lake band says it is in favor of Bill C-31 and the return of reinstated Indians, it has rejected all reinstatement requests received to date.

"They just didn't fit," said band councillor Rose Monias, of the two people who applied for instatement to the band but were turned down.

"We're not saying you automatically have a home if you're a reinstated person. You have to prove that you belong to our reserve first," stressed Monias, who is also a member of a selection committee that reviews reinstatement claims to the band.

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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.