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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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(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?

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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.

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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.

Top artists featured

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LOS ANGELES - Results are already evident from the exhibition of the work of Canadian Native artists which opened earlier this month at the Southwest Museum here.

Canadian-born actor John Vernon, the prime mover in making the exhibition, a reality, dubbed the Los Angeles Celebration of Contemporary Canadian Native arts, says the initial good response to the show continues to expand as word of the work and the acclaim it is receiving spreads.