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COLD LAKE - Anger, shock, and cries of "foul" are the aftermath of a recent by-election at cold Lake First Nations Reserve which resulted in a white woman gaining the position of chief of the reserve.

Elaine Janvier won the hotly-consented seat by one vote. The by-election was called following the surprise resignation of the chief, Maynard Metchewais, and four of six council members.

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The Native Economic Developent Program (NEDP) has come under a stinging attack from one of its own board members, who says the program is riddled with problems.

Charging that the program's processing rate for business proposals has been"nothing less than scandalous" and that many proposals go into a "black hole," NEDP board member Muriel Stanley-Venne says there has to be a lot of changes made in the program.

"There is a possibility of a mass resignation of the advisory board," she warns, if some of these changes are not implemented soon.

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Bands in Alberta are joining forces to fight the 1985 amendment to the Indian act, known as Bill C-31, and have already filed a statement of claim against the federal government.

The suit, brought by the Sawridge, Sarcee, Blackfoot, Ermineskin and Sturgeon Lake Bands, who in turn each represent a treaty area in Alberta, was filed Feb. 15.

However, Chief Walter Twinn of the Sawridge band, who is co-ordinating the joint action, says he is not ready to comment on it.

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Death - the result of a drinking party March 10 in the isolated northern community of Peerless Lake. Five people are dead, one is clinging to life, and two seem to be recovering after drinking photocopier fluid containing lethal methyl hydrate.

Dr. E. G. King, director of the University Hospital's general systems intensive care unit, said that doctors could not predict what shape any survivors might be in if they recovered. "Only time will tell about the quality of their recovery," he said.

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Four Aboriginal people are happy to be the recipients of the Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts awards because it will help them to further their work.

The Fleck Fellowship is offered by Alberta's Banff Centre and the talented four are among 15 recipients who will enjoy a creative residency at the centre, exploring and researching in their respective areas of endeavor.

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First Nations youth are being invited to star in their own version of Survivor this summer, spending a week living off the land in the northern Manitoba wilderness.

Each week throughout the summer, two six person teams from different First Nations will be transported to Waywayseecappo First Nation, where each team will be given a small amount of food, materials to build a shelter, and little else.

Unlike the Survivor television series, however, the aim of this Survivor experience isn't survival of the fittest, but learning how to survive as a team.

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Through her company Muskwa Designs, Adele Pete creates graduation gowns that have a little Native flair, incorporating appliques of feathers, eagles, bears, and buffalo into the design.

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A group of Elders, health and justice workers, and victims of abuse gathered at N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre on April 17 to send a warning about the existence of a man operating in the Sudbury area as a healer, who, they say, has sexually abused his clients.

The open forum allowed community members to share their stories and generate ideas on how to protect the community through a system that would validate the credentials of those who advertise themselves as spiritual advisors.

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Seven hundred delegates participated in the eighth annual Ojibwe language conference held in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on March 27 to April 1.

The yearly assembly was first organized by language instructors as a forum for networking and sharing of resources, said Sam Senecal, conference planner and co-ordinator. A conscious effort is now made to involve a broader range of people, including youth and Elders, in the sessions. Workshops involve teachers, students and the general public.

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For 47-year-old Irene Flett-Redwood, going back to school as an adult was not easy, but she graduated from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina in May 2001 with a bachelor's degree in education.

A mother of five and a proud grandmother of 10, Flett-Redwood has come a long way from a life without self-confidence and direction.

"I was afraid to try anything. I never really thought that I could do anything; mainly because of the low self-esteem that I had in myself."

Others recognized her abilities.