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The Sumas Indian Band has won a battle with Indian Affairs over a parcel of land they lost 68 years ago.

An independent commission ruled the federal department illegally sold about 11 hectares of land from the middle of the reserve east of Vancouver in 1927.

The land was part of a tract of 17 hectares expropriated in 1910 for a railway.

The railway was abandoned in 1927, and non-Native landholders whose lands also were expropriated were able to buy them back for $1.

Only about one-third of the land was returned to the Sumas First Nation.

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Recently Windspeaker had the opportunity to have an interview via Internet e-mail with Gary Trujillo, the originator of NativeNet. NativeNet is considered one of the most innovate electronic mailing list areas on the Internet for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.

I asked a few questions that hopefully will be of interest to our readers.

Q) What types of educational opportunities are there for Aboriginal administered schools on the Internet

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Northern Transportation Company Limited won 1994's Northwest Territories Business of the Year Award given by the N.W.T. Chamber of Commerce for the company's outstanding contribution to the communities and economy of the N.W.T. over the last 60 years.

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Aboriginal youth will get private-sector job experience through a partnership between Human Resources Development Canada and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), announced Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Training and Youth.

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Three years ago their office was the trunk of a car.

Today, the demand for First Nations clothing is coming from all over North America and as far away as Europe.

Lorissa Muth and Diane Semenchuk founded the company and designed the line of modern clothing with Native motifs and designs. The line includes leather jackets, sweat shirts, T-shirts, jeans wear, sports wear, jewelry, accessories and a line of pewter and bronze statues.

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Anyone who's attended major events like the Commonwealth Games, Arctic Winter Games or North American Indigenous Games, knows only too well that they incorporate a sizable cultural program.

The recent Canada (Winter) Games in Grande Prairie were no different. The cultural component theme, called Iskoteo, a Cree word for fire, symbolized the north: "fire in the sky...spirit of the people...power of the land." Indeed, the presence and power of Native culture permeated the Feb. 19 - March 3 extravaganza on a daily basis.

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Like most brothers, Dana Laframboise used to fight with his little brother when they were younger

Unlike most brothers, however, that sibling rivalry paved the way to Grande Prairie and a gold medal for Saskatchewan in the Canada Games' 46-kilogram boxing final. Laframboise defeated Alberta's Kristopher Andrews 19-12 on points in the final.

"When they were about six, seven or eight, they were always into competing and scrapping with one another," recounted Team Saskatchewan coach Les Laframboise, who got both his boys involved in the sport.

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It was Friday, March 3. As athletes and coaches stood around excitedly speculating just who from Alberta might win the prestigious Quest for Excellence Unisys award, one of those in the crowd chatting with friends happened to be a 15-year-old Metis, Cody Kelly.

"Me and a friend were talking about others who might get it," explained Kelly. When the announcement finally drifted over the air, it came as a shock to the Drayton Valley lad. "Big time!" exclaimed the surprised and jubilant Kelly, who was the chosen one.

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When B.C.'s huge multinational lumber companies began to run short of wood last year, the price of newly cut trees more than doubled. The effects were felt quickly in Alberta, as anybody with enough acreage to justify the name landowner rushed to cash in. Conservationists, and many with a long-term stake in the Alberta forestry industry, expressed their outrage and concern.

"You drive through B.C. and all you see is clear-cuts," said Frank Gauchier, president of the board of directors of the Metis-owned Peavine Lumber Company Ltd. of High Prairie.

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Late last month, artists who paint, write poetry, sing or "put on performing pieces" gathered in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park and at the Sawridge Hotel in Slave Lake to do their bit for the boreal forest.

Organized by the three-year-old Alberta branch of the Western Wilderness Committee, based in Vancouver, the retreat is the third annual.