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This Saturday, July 11, B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will sign a pact that will form a new Canadian national park. The agreement comes after years of political manoeuvres with money and negotiations with the Haida Indians.

The park is to be established in the South Moresby region. The area, which is rich with unique and rare plants and animals, escaped the last ice age.

In addition, the park boundaries will include Haida totem poles and longhouses.

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The Frontiers Foundation/Operation Beaver is looking for Alberta Native volunteers, 18 yrs and over, male and female, to work in northern Ontario Native communities or NWT Dene communities.

Ray Yellowknee, Western Co-ordinator for the Foundation and former resident of Wabasca Demarais, made the bid for aid during a recent meeting in Lac La Biche. Yellowknee was part of a group promoting support for an FM radio station to be set up in Wabasca/Desmarais.

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Elder Eric Cardinal is in favor of competitive powwows because they help to develop a link between North American tribes.

Cardinal, 51, who has been the master of ceremonies (MC) for about 100 powwows, explains people from al parts of the country attend competitive powwows for the cash prizes awarded. But, more tribal customs and ideas are exchanged at these powwows as compared to traditional powwows, which may only attract communities closer to the event because of the limited money involved.

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A new radio station broadcasting in Cree may soon be on the airwaves as the newly formed Wabasca/Demarais Broadcasting Society sets about raising community support and financial backing for their project.

The Society was formed by local residents who saw a need for a community news media to give daily information on community happenings. It would also give local agencies and governments a channel to advertise and promote their programs.

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The Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN) has announced plans to develop a recreation area in English Bay. The plans include a water slide, driving range and tennis courts plus concession stands selling local arts and crafts.

CLFN Recreation director and planner, Ernie Houle, says a child care program is also in the works that would "give parents a chance to enjoy their holidays without having to babysit through it all."

Houle unveiled the project while overseeing the annual CLFN Treaty Days held July 9-12. He said the project will go ahead in three phases.

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McKnight's track record shows he should call it quits

Bill McKnight became the Minister of Indian Affairs one year ago. He didn't celebrate then because he didn't want the job. But he's worked at it ever since. Now, twelve months later, Bill McKnight still doesn't have much to celebrate. He hasn't accomplished much and he doesn't seem to care. AS a result, most native leaders want him replaced. A look at McKnight's record over the past year explains how this happened.

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A National Education Symposium is being hosted by the Alexander Tribal Government from August 17 to 19, to deal with the issue of education cutbacks.

Cutbacks to post-secondary education and band controlled schools total about $600,000 over a two year period in Alberta.

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Even though Alberta Indian Bands lead the way in submitting membership codes under Bill C-31, several have voiced exception to this imposition, maintaining they, not the government, have the right to determine their own membership.

In a recent survey of 11 Alberta bands by Windspeaker, spokes-persons for the bands note that the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) up until late June, had been arbitrarily reinstating members to band lists. The members have not been added by bands, but by government.

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The Indian Association of Alberta (IAA) is faced with tough challenges in the face of substantial cutbacks by Indian Affairs.

For the second straight year, the IAA has received funding cuts to its average annual operating budget. Last year the organization had its budget cut by nearly $150,000. This year financial cutbacks have exceeded that figure by more than $50,000.

The IAA had operated on a budget of $950, 750, which is now reduced to $750,000 and core funding received from the federal Secretary of State has been decreased as well.

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Francis Bad Eagle walked the streets and alleys of Edmonton's "skid road" in the mid '70s searching for people who needed shelter for the night when he worked for the Poundmaker Lodge "street patrol" program.

He would take these people, who often had alcohol and drug problems, to AADAC shelters or 'flop houses' for the night.

"I believe there's quite a few people right now who forget their culture because of drinking," says Bad Eagle, 46, who was born on the Peigan reserve.