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Although they have been closed for some time, the legacy of the church-run residential schools continues to be debated in First Nations communities.

A symposium staged at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) in M'Chigeeng on Feb. 16 illustrated the complexity of the issues surrounding the infamous institutions.

Alan Corbiere, co-ordinator of the school photography exhibit and symposia, said the purpose of the forum was to discuss "how our communities were affected." The theme of a series of lectures is "remembrance, reflection and rejuvenation."

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Only a few short years ago, the James Bay coast was the last place most people thought of as a tourist destination. But the industry and creativity of the Omushkegowuk, the Cree people of the James and Hudson Bay lowlands, is ensuring they get to capitalize on a spectacular upsurge in interest in their remote communities.

Europeans, especially, want to experience a pristine wilderness environment. But eco-tourism is starting to catch on at home too.

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On Feb. 23 Tomson Highway's children's book Caribou Song was joined with music performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and premiered as a staged theatrical production at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.

Caribou Song was 18 minutes long, and comprised the middle part of the one-hour Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance of Kids Klassics Oh Canada, a production of orchestral music and comedic opera aimed at families and especially children aged five and up.

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If the walls of the Woodland Cultural Centre museum could talk, they would relay the conversations of women quilting in a bee, chatting with one another about important issues like family, community and culture.

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The Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.'s 11th annual convention will be held this year on March 1 to 3 at their fur warehouse in North Bay. The theme of this year's convention is Winter Beaver Trapping. Once again this year there will be live entertainment, fur handling (skinning) demonstrations and seminars, as well as the favorite pelt handling contests. The convention is open to the public and is usually well attended, giving trappers the opportunity to better educate the general public on the history and current need for humane trapping of fur bearing animals.

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The National Aboriginal Forestry Association wants more Aboriginal people working in high-skilled forestry careers.

With only 32 Aboriginal professional foresters in Canada, compared to 12,000 non-Aboriginals, Natives face formidable barriers to full participation in forestry's economic spin-offs, insiders say. If they expect to make resource development decisions and get their fair share of the profits from forestry operations, they'd better get the education and training that will put them on a level playing field with the ones who are benefiting now.

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A unique 19th century man who embodied social change while adhering to the status quo amid the strictures of a class-ridden social pecking order in Eastern Canada, used his influence to challenge the limits of conventional Victorian values to an extent that was viewed as exceptional well into the 20th century.

His life is the focus of a living history exhibit that will open at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on March 2 and will run until Aug. 2.

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"I am so glad to be speaking my language in this place," said Amos Key Jr., executive director of the Woodland Cultural Centre. Key spoke the Ohen:ton Karihweatehkwen (Thanksgiving Address) in the Cayuga language on Jan. 26 preceding a performance of One Voice, Many Stories, a series of sketches portraying life inside the walls of residential school performed by the Six Nations Community Youth Outreach (SNYCO) drama troupe.

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The words of four Iroquois Elders have been captured on film by Mohawk film-maker and activist Danny Beaton in hopes that their words of wisdom about mother earth will reach people and move them to action.

The Iroquois Speak Out For Mother Earth is the latest project created by Beaton, who has spent the last dozen or so years capturing the teachings of First Nations Elders on film.

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People from communities in the central Ontario region-in the area that includes North Bay to Manitoulin Island-ended 2001 with the annual traditional New Year's Eve powwow in Sagamok First Nation and brought in 2002 with the annual traditional New Year's Day powwow in M'Chigeeng (West Bay) on Manitoulin Island.