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York University economics professor Fred Lazar believes the idea of creating financial institutions for First Nations is an approach designed to get the federal government off the hook for unpaid debts.

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York University economics professor Fred Lazar believes the idea of creating financial institutions for First Nations is an approach designed to get the federal government off the hook for unpaid debts.

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Young people belonging to Treaty 8 nations are fighting with Treaty 11 members in the streets of Yellowknife, because of a boundary dispute and rights issues raised by the signing of a major self-government agreement.

The Tlicho Agreement was initialled Sept. 4 by the chief negotiators of the Dogrib Treaty 11 council, the government of the Northwest Territories and the government of Canada.

It is the first combined land claim and self-government agreement in the N.W.T.

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Representatives of 13 Toronto Native organizations held a press conference in September to call attention to allegations of police brutality against a Native man and what they believe is the subsequent police cover-up.

An open letter to Toronto Police Service Chief Julian Fantino, signed by the 13 members of the Aboriginal Peoples Council of Toronto (APCT), was released at the press conference. The letter refers to the "assault of Ramsey Whitefish."

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Grant MacEwan Community College city centre campus will once again play host to one of the largest Aboriginal youth gatherings in the world when the tenth annual Dreamcatcher Youth Conference is held Oct. 18 to 20.

With the theme "Celebrating Past, Present and Future Dreams," the conference will host more than 2,000 youth, presenters, chaperones and volunteers from across Canada.

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Non-profit organizations or treaty groups are encouraged to apply for community grants from the Alberta/N,W,T, chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) for up to $50,000 per year for up to two years.

Efforts such as the CIBC Run for the Cure that takes place in many Canadian cities on Oct. 6 helps raise funds for both community projects and research to find a cure for a disease that takes the lives of 15 Canadians per day. Of the money raised by the run in Alberta, 75 per cent stays in Alberta to fund local research and community projects.

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Morning pipe ceremonies, sweatlodge ceremonies, healing circles and prayer each made up a part of the second annual Releasing and Reclaiming the Spirits of Residential School gathering at the Nechi Institute and Poundmakers Lodge held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.

The goal of the gathering was to honor former students of the Edmonton Indian Residential School many of whom were from northern British Columbia and northern Alberta.

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Morning pipe ceremonies, sweatlodge ceremonies, healing circles and prayer each made up a part of the second annual Releasing and Reclaiming the Spirits of Residential School gathering at the Nechi Institute and Poundmakers Lodge held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.

The goal of the gathering was to honor former students of the Edmonton Indian Residential School many of whom were from northern British Columbia and northern Alberta.

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It was a nail-biting experience for the Alberta's Metis people as numbers from 57 polling stations across Alberta started to roll in during the late evening of Sept. 3.

The 2002 general election for the Metis Nation of Alberta had voters across the province cast their ballots. Unofficial results provided by the Metis Nation saw incumbent Audrey Poitras of Elk Point return to the post of president for the third consecutive time. The provincial vice-president is Trevor Gladue.

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Audrey Poitras, the newly re-elected president of the Alberta Metis Association (MNA), grew up in northeastern Alberta in the community of Elk Point in a family of eight with a school teacher mother and a father who was a farmer.

Married for 36-years, (she has one son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren) she credits her husband for her decision to run for a third straight term for the MNA.