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OTTAWA - The signing of the final agreement reached in the settlement of the Fond du Lac Band's outstanding treaty land entitlement has been announced by Indian Affairs minister David Crombie.

The band voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting some 30,000 acres of Crown land that were made available by the Province of Saskatchewan as fulfillment of the band's treaty right to the land.

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VANCOUVER - Native entertainers from the Northwest Territories will be displaying their talents to the world when Expo '86 in Vancouver opens May 2.

May 2 to October 13, performers and demonstrators from every region in the NWT, will be featured in music presentation and arts and crafts, as artists, and story-telling as each of the four district performing areas.

According to NWT Pavilion Commissioner George Braden, the cultural corporate partners and sponsors has enhanced the program.

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A preliminary report revealed that the government's failure to deliver services effectively in isolated communities contributed to the fatal drinking party in Peerless

Lake March 10 that claimed the lives of six Natives.

Milt Pahl, minister of Native Affairs, received the preliminary report on April 4, and said the province will be seeking solutions although he doesn't see the problem of ineffective support in isolated communities being totally eliminated.

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Views on Native suicides can be put into two general camps: a group which sees them as symptoms of a major problem in the community, and a group which remains skeptical about just how bad the problem is.

In some villages, there are rather startling suicided clusters; eight or ten dead by their own knife in a community of 200 in a one-year period. Clusters and groups of suicides are common within Indian families and villages, especially in isolated areas where little support exists. Overall, how many Indians actually commit suicide?

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HEART LAKE RESERVE - The former chief of this reserve, Eugene Monias has suffered pain and has deep concerns for the well-being of his people.

"I have been chief of Heart Lake Reserve for 22 years. These were 22 long years of great pain and great joy for me, both as chief and as a person. So many things have happened during this time. But what remains is that today we have done things to be thankful for and to be proud of.

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THE GAMBLER

Say, was that you I saw at the racetrack last weekend or at the bingo the other night? No, eh. Well, someone was wearing your clothes and trying to pretend it wasn't you and walked by me at the casino.

At every bingo and every racetrack I've been at a significant number of intent brown faces have been there, too. Now, are you absolutely sure that wasn't you? Hmmmmm...

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Journalists are supposed to be constantly in search of the truth. Sometimes it is difficult to tell what the truth is...and even more difficult to determine who's telling the truth.

When we encounter a situation in which the parties involved make settlements which are directly conflicting with each other we must, of course, present both sides.

But our responsibility doesn't end there, however, we must also do our own independent research to find out what the truth really is.

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The Chief of the Fort McMurray Cree Band at Gregoire Lake, 60 km south of McMurray, is hopeful that construction of a rehabilitation treatment centre will take place there in the near future.

In a letter to the Indian Medical Health Services Commission, Chief Robert Cree and his council stated that a needs assessment study has identified that alcohol and drug abuse has taken its toll amongst "our peoples lives, physically, mentally and spiritually which has resulted in more problems related to education, family well being and employment.

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COLD LAKE - Recent drastic cuts in the world price of oil has caused a shake-up at the Cold Lake Esso Resources of Canada plants.

In an effort to reduce costs, the Calgary head office has issued a voluntary early retirement package to employees. Aimed at two separate groups, the program offers pension benefits to those employees 55 years old or over and who have a minimum of 10 years continuous employment with the company. This Pension Enhancement Program, says Esso external affairs spokesman Cassandra Milne, will affect perhaps 4 or 5 people only.

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The Stoney people of the Alexis community recently lost Peter Alexis, one of their foremost spiritual Elders, who died suddenly on February 28, 1986.

Alexis Indian Reserve is located about 50 miles north-east of Edmonton.

Peter Alexis, who previously had heart trouble, passed away at 77 years old during a religious ceremony. He was singing a traditional drum song at a seasonal prayer gather-ing held at Buck Lake, Alberta.