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M'Chigeeng First Nation Chief Glen Hare is no longer alone in his battle for recognition. Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief, Matthew Coon Come, travelled to Manitoulin Island recently to pledge his support.

M'Chigeeng is taking the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) to court in a dispute over the legitimacy of the September 2001 band election.

Since the federal bureaucrats refuse to recognize Chief Hare and the elected council members, capital projects in the community are at a standstill.

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Thanks in part to the Squire brothers, the Toronto Rock is once again the National Lacrosse League champion.

Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation members Kim (Kid Rock) and Rodd (Moose) Squire, who live on the reserve in Ohsweken, Ont., are members of the pro squad that won this year's NLL title. The Squires and their teammates edged the host Albany Attack 13-12 in the league championship final staged on April 13.

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The former head coach of the Buffalo Sabres-and one of the candidates for the vacant head coaching job for the New York Rangers-was a guest of honor April 27 at Peepeekisis Pesakastew School for a fundraising dinner.

Nolan, the hockey man, is itching for an opportunity to get back behind the bench. Nolan, the Ojibwe man from the Garden River First Nation, has a lot of things to do for Aboriginal people in the meantime.

In a speech to about 150 people at the fundraiser, Nolan told the audience that hockey has helped put his life into perspective.

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Hockey, the quintessential pastime for Canadians, has a new tournament featuring some of Canada's best young Native hockey players. The first National Aboriginal Hockey Championships were held from April 21 to 27 in shared venues of the Akwesasne A'nowara'ko:wa Arena and Cornwall's Civic Centre.

Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario, Eastern Doorway and the North, plus Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia came to compete. In the end only two teams could take home gold. They were the Ontario South girls and the Manitoba boys.

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Ontario squads fared extremely well at the inaugural National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

The province had four representatives at the tournament, which concluded in Akwesasne on Apr. 27. Matches were also held in neighboring Cornwall.

At the event, which primarily featured bantam- and midget-aged (1984-87) players, there were Ontario South and Ontario North entries in both the girls' and boys' divisions. Female squads were allowed to include a maximum of five over-age players, born between 1980-83. Both events featured six participating clubs.

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Homeless Aboriginal men in the city of Timmins will have access to a shelter this summer. Monica Lafontaine, executive director of the Timmins Native Friendship Centre, says the government will provide $160,000 in funds to get the shelter up and running this year.

The main service for the men will be to provide a supportive, nurturing environment, in order for them to gain self-sufficiency. The length of stay will be one week, but if necessary a longer stay could be provided, as determined by an assessment.

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In February this year, the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre learned that it would benefit from a $168,000 provincial investment that would allow it to undertake a three-year study of whitefish stocks and population trends in lakes Huron and Superior. The study, titled the "Assessment of Lake Whitefish Stocks in Support of a Stable, Sustainable First Nation Commercial Fisheries in Lake Huron and Lake Superior," commenced in March.

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On April 4, the federal government and the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) agreed on a strategy to help the homeless.

They will apply $2,051,200 in funding they obtain through the National Homelessness Initiative program to address urban Aboriginal homelessness in small centres in Ontario, stated Peter Jacobs, the urban Aboriginal homelessness strategy co-ordinator with the OFIFC.

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May turned out to be a tumultuous month for Manitoulin film maker Shirley Cheechoo. Amid all the excitement of premiering a new film at an American festival, she learned that she has been accepted into the Canadian Film Centre established by Norman Jewison.

"I am the first Aboriginal director to be accepted," she revealed. "I tried once before but it didn't happen. Then suddenly the program director called and now I will be living in Toronto from July to December."

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Dear Editor:

I am writing to your newspaper in the hope that some of your readers may be able to pass on to me their opinions and feelings on the growing number of non-Native people in my country who continue to exploit Native Canadian culture.