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The Aboriginal leaders' hopes for an entrenchment of their 'inherent' right to self-government at the First Ministers Conference on Constitutional Matters vanished as the talks collapsed on the second day, March 27.

The political aspirations and hopes of the Native groups to have the 'inherent' right, rather than the 'contingent' right to self-government enshrined in the Constitution evaporated when the federal draft failed to gain support from the western premiers and Native groups.

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A National Film Board documentary about the life and times of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance walked away with six awards at this year's AMPIA awards ceremony.

Long Lance, portrayed by Indian actor Edmund Manybears of Edmonton, is the main character from a book of the same title which was written by Donald B. Smith, a University of Calgary professor.

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Although "Beyond the Bend of the River" did not win the Best Documentary Award at the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association (AMPIA) annual awards night, held in Edmonton, March 21, it was still an honor to see it win a most prestigious award-the Special Jury Award.

The "special jury award" is given when it is decided by the jury members that a certain movie is deserving (moving) of a special award.

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TANTOO SHINES!

Cardinal wins best actress in Alberta

It was the one night of the year when only the brightest of stars shine. It was March 21, a time when the brilliance of one particular star, Tantoo Cardinal, shone the brightest.

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Tantoo Martin Cardinal was recently awarded the "Best Actress Award" at the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association (AMPIA) presentations, held in Edmonton, March 21.

Tantoo acted in the movie "Loyalties" produced in Lac La Biche, Alberta, which also won the best drama over 30 minutes.

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Slash . . .squeeze . . .squirm. The title of a new song? Hardly.

The first two are what the province is doing to us. The squirming is what most of us will do since Provincial Treasurer Dick Johnson announced the new budget for Alberta. We are now fair game to be legally pick-pocketed.

Undoubtedly, many of you are already feeling the pinch. The first step was immediately brought into play on Friday midnight when the price of cigarettes was increased by 63 cents a pack. That is 23% more for those who used to pay $2.75 in the past.

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The aggressive actions of some women within the Women of the Metis Nation (WMN) are effectively "psychologically castrating" men says a delegate at the Metis Association of Alberta (MAA) assembly after a motion giving women representatives equal rights to attend all discussions at the First Ministers' Conference (FMC) in Ottawa was defeated.

In an interview after the controversial resolution was defeated, Joanne Abbot, from Local 83 in Zone 5, says she is part of the grassroots resistance to the MWN, said she "fears for the future of the Metis Nation."

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On March 20, Bella MCGilvery from the Saddle Lake reserve, battle with cancer came to an end. McGilvery died peacefully in her sleep at the Two Hills General Hospital.

Last month, McGilvery was the attention of the media when she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Athabasca University President Terry Morrison.

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An education policy that will affect about 23,000 Native children in Alberta's provincial schools has finally been announced. The announcement was made on March 25 by Education Minister Nancy Betkowski when she addressed the House of the Alberta legislature.

Betkowski said that, "in order to continue to build on the work we have begun in Native education, $4 million have now been retained . . . will be allocated to school boards which have significant numbers of Native students in their schools."

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Phil Bearshirt was on a fast from March 12 to 17, because the Edmonton Institution where he is a prisoner would not grant him permission to take part in a sweat.

His wife Lynne informed Windspeaker that he wanted to sweat in order to spiritually prepare himself for a coming court appearance. He wanted "to seek spiritual guidance," said Lynne.

When asked why the prison denied Bearshirt permission, his wife said that "the warden would not agree to it for security reasons, because it was too far away."