Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.

OTTAWA REPORT

Page 2

The next time you start singing along to your favourite song on the radio, I want you to think of a guy named Tom Hudson. He used to spend a lot of time singing along to the radio when he was growing up in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Tom Hudson is a Metis and except for the fact that he says he sang all the time, his upbringing as a trapper's son was probably pretty typical for a northern teenager.

'Nova Scotia' proposal boosts FMC hopes

Page 2

The Nova Scotia government has offered a middle ground approach to dealing with the definition and protection of Aboriginal rights to self-government, Georges Erasmus, president of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) recently reported to Native media.

The parties involved in the preparatory meeting to the First Ministers' Conference (FMC) on Aboriginal constitutional matters, are polarizing their positions, said Erasmus.

Peigan chief denies funds allegations, protests ouster

Page 1

PEIGAN RESERVE - Chief Peter Yellow Horn angrily denied any wrong-doing after allegations of mismanagement of the $750,000 allocated by the province for a study of the potential impact of the Oldman River Dam on the Peigan Nation.

Yellow Horn called a press conference March 2 at his home to contest a decision February 27 by four Peigan councillors to temporarily suspend him.

MAA, IAA unit on key issues

Page 1

The Indian Association of Alberta (IAA) and the Metis Association of Alberta (MAA) have announced a united effort to ensure that Alberta's wildlife management and environmental protection rights are recognized by the Alberta government.

In a news release, the two groups state that the "management and environmental protection rights and capabilities of the Aboriginal people have been ignored in favour of the provincial government's single-minded pursuit of economic development."

Horsman's remarks damned

Page 1

CALGARY - Recent statements by Alberta's intergovernmental affairs minister, Jim Horsman, that the entrenchment of Native self-government in the Constitution "would have an extremely destructive effect on Canada" has drawn sharp criticism from Native leaders.

Native movie actors nominated for Genies

Page 22

Two Canadian Native people who are former residents of Edmonton have been nominated for Canada's most prestigious film awards, the Genies. Tantoo (Martin) Cardinal and Tom Jackson's names have been submitted for their roles in the widely acclaimed film production "Loyalties."

Altogether, Loyalties has been nominated for eight Genies at the 8th annual Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Genie Awards. This year they are to be presented on March 18 in Toronto.

WHERE IS BIG BEAR'S PIPE?

Page 20

Certain material possessions of Big Bear's eventually found their way into the hands of his son, Horse Child, or Joe Pimi. Some of those objects had been passed on to Big Bear by his grandfather, Little Black Bear, says Albert Chatsis.

"He (Pimi) sold most of his (Big Bear's) things - like any other Indian at that time," Chatsis claims. "He had several things for protection pieces."

One item Chatsis mentions is "a big blue bead," apparently a Hudson's Bay trade bead. "He wore that as a protection piece around his neck," he explains.

Big Bear's Bundle New Answers raise additional questions

Page 20

(In the January 9, 1987 issue of Windspeaker, we ran a front page story entitled "New York Museum has major Cree medicine bundle." The story left a few questions suspended in mid-air (on purpose) as a prelude to this subsequent article. An attempt to answer those questions is the main thrust of this article. The story in question centered around a bearclaw medicine bundle that had belonged to Cree Chief Big Bear, a major personality during the 1885 Northwest Resistance in Saskatchewan.)

WHO WAS JOE PIMI?

Local artists featured

Page 19

Artists Morris Cardinal, Roy Thomas and Brian Clarke are scheduled to be on hand for an exhibition and sale of their work on March 13 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Edmonton's Bearclaw Gallery.

Cardinal, noted for his pointillism, is this year's winner of the Peace Hills Trust art competition. Thomas is an Objibway artist originally from Ontario but now living in Edmonton. Clarke is noted for his mastery at sculpting.

The Bearclaw is located at 9724 - 111 Avenue in Edmonton.

Native art symposium to be held at U of L

Page 19

LETHBRIDGE - The Native American Studies Department and the Division of Continuing Education are organizing an international symposium on contemporary Native art in Canada and the United States.

Throughout July, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Bowman Arts Centre, the

Galt Museum and the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery will simultaneously exhibit art works of Native artists from throughout Canada and the Northwest Territories. This will be the first time Lethbridge's four major art centres have contemporaneously exhibited Native art.