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A totem pole raising ceremony will be held in Vancouver Island's Courtenay on April 27.

The poles are replicas of two long-standing totem poles that are more than 50 years old and symbols of the Comox First Nations. The original totem poles were called the Lewis Park Poles because of the park in which they once stood. The original poles are being replaced because their appearance has declined.

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The second annual Aboriginal Governance In Urban Settings conference will be held March 7 to 9 in Vancouver.

As many as 350 people are expected to attend the three-day conference that will spotlight the success of Aboriginal organizations and groups in regards to Aboriginal governance in urban settings.

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On Feb. 3, the St. Mary's Band council met with a large gathering of their members to discuss the recent posting that all hunting privileges on the reserve had been revoked, effective immediately.

The council's decision was in response to allegations of over-hunting and abuse of rights. Although the council could not legally revoke the hunting rights, they certainly stirred up an hornet's nest.

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Supporters of Indigenous education came together for four hours the evening of Jan. 31 to celebrate Athabasca University's success in partnering with Aboriginal people in educational advancements and to announce bold expansion plans. They were there for the launch of a new, Aboriginal-driven initiative that will deliver superior post-secondary education in a cultural framework honoring the vision, needs and aims of the Aboriginal community.

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It took 50 years, but the government of Canada finally took notice that Gordon Russell is doing a lot to help youth, especially youth without a lot of other supports.

On Jan. 14, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson appointed him a Member of the Order of Canada, to come in effect from last Oct. 18. The honor bestowed on this selfless promoter of young people and their dreams over the last half century is in the category of sport.

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The concern that HIV and AIDS hold in the Aboriginal community is evidenced by two health conferences that will be held at the end of this month at both ends of the province.

Lethbridge will play host to its First Aboriginal Conference of Southern Alberta on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and Harm Reduction, Feb. 27 and 28, while the Eighth Annual Health and Healing Conference will take place in Fort Chipewyan from Feb. 25 to 27.

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Declaring the time for studies over and identifying a looming crisis, John Kim Bell, president and founder of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) brought 200 corporate, government and Aboriginal leaders together in Calgary on Feb. 6 to discuss ways of increasing Aboriginal employment.

Citing demographic trends including an aging mainstream population and 920,000 Aboriginal youth predicted to enter the labor market over the next five years, Bell stressed the need to develop solutions quickly.

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"Alberta's Most Enterprising Employee," is written on Eva Stang's Customer Service - External Award memento presented to her by Alberta Venture magazine in Calgary.

Stang, Aboriginal liaison co-ordinator at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, received the recognition for her phenomenal work of three years on Jan. 31.

The E-Awards is a province-wide employee recognition program. It honors individuals who build prosperous organizations through their personal effort, energy and enthusiasm and who go an extra mile.

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Ben Cardinal and the other 11 members of the Northern Cree Drum Group will be rubbing elbows with the music world's biggest names on Feb. 26. Twenty-four hours later, they'll find out if they are this year's winners of the Grammy award for best Native American music album.

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Major energy company TransCanada PipeLines Limited has received an award from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology that recognizes 14 years of support for Aboriginal education at NAIT and an annual $3,500 scholarship.

On Feb. 8, members of the Aboriginal Student Club presented the third annual Senator Chalifoux Award to TransCanada during the college's celebration of Aboriginal Awareness Day at the main campus. The senator was on hand to witness the presentation.