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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."

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The largest Indian band in Canada is the Six Nations Band in southern Ontario-at last count it had more than 11,000 members. The smallest band in the country is the New Westminster Band of British Columbia. It has just two (2) members. It so happens that I come from the Six Nations and that makes me a very small frog in a very big pond. Perhaps for that reason, I have always been fascinated by a band with just two members.

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A Treaty 6 delegation, headed by Chief Eugene Houle made a presentation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission hearing on Indigenous peoples, on February 27 at Geneva, Switzerland.

A tape of the oral presentation by Chief Houle of Saddle Lake, was recently obtained by Windspeaker.

Chief Houle alleged that Canada violated the human rights of Indian people, in hope that the U.N. Commission will pressure Canada into recognizing and respecting the rights of Indian people in Canada.

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Talks split on self-government

"I see that a few of the premiers are making valued efforts to reach a solution and we applaud them for this," said Georges Erasmus, representing the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), while making his opening remarks at the First Ministers' Conference in Ottawa, March 26.

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The matter of outright ownership of 1.3 million acres of land which constitute the eight Metis settlements of Alberta has again surfaced in the Alberta legislature.

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Intervention is a method used to raise the BOTTOM for the Alcoholic. The addicted person is confronted by people who are important to him/her in their life about their drinking and drug abuse, and how the drinking affects those close to him/her.

Due to the Faulty Memory System and the Defence Mechanisms-through which the alcoholic denies his/her drinking, the alcoholic cannot see the relationship between the problems the drinking is creating and alcohol.

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The Metis Association of Alberta (MAA) President Sam Sinclair's opening remarks urged Metis people from all over the province to work together over the next two days, to insure that the MAA's 58th annual assembly, held March 14 and 15 in Edmonton, would be successful.

"This is a business meeting and is part of our political process. I would like to see meaningful things discussed that will benefit the Metis Association and its members. I do not want to see valuable time wated on bickering and personality attacks on anybody," said Sinclair.

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A special resolution to have a review of the Metis Association of Alberta (MAA) President's position was soundly defeated by assembly delegates who attended the 58th Annual MAA Assembly in Edmonton, March 14 and 15.

The resolution introduced by Ron Larocque, candidate in the upcoming MAA Zone Directors elections stated, "the president of the association shall be subject to a review of his or her leadership at each annual assembly of the association."

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First Nations hold rally

Native leaders urged Aboriginal Canadians to shun a Conservative party that has ignored their views, short changed them on agreements, and kept them economically disadvantaged at a rally here last Wednesday.

The rally on Parliament Hill by nearly a thousand people closed two days of deliberation on how the Assembly of First Nations will be dealing with the feds and provinces at next week's First Ministers' Conference (FMC).

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Zero hour is fast closing in on the coming First Ministers' Conference (FMC) in Ottawa. As Canada's four major Native groups prepare to sit down at the tables, it remains anybody's guess as to what the outcome of those discussions will be.

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) President, Georges Erasmus, has been providing all Native communications groups with updates, this one being the second prior to negotiations that are to transpire in Ottawa March 26-27.