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Interest in the Lubicon Lake land claim issue is growing on the University of Alberta campus.

In the past few weeks the chief of the landless band has met with U of A students and has been invited into the classrooms of Native Studies and sociology. Teachers taking their practicums have also asked for information about the band.

A student support group at the university organized a protest during the Olympic torch relay run and also held a public forum which was attended by Chief Ominayak.

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Somewhere, there's a little five-year-old girl who's angry, sad and confused.

She's wandering why she's been taken from her foster parents. She's worried about what's going to happen next because her life has been topsy-turvy for some time now.

Alkali Lake Band, British Columbia

Lack of economic opportunities is just an excuse for widespread alcoholism, says Charlene Belleau, former chief of the Alkali Lake band in British Columbia.

"Most places I travel to, our leaders still blame high unemployment, poor housing, low education as the reason why their people drink," said Belleau, urging that Natives accept responsibility for drinking problems.

The band, once 95 per cent alcoholic, is now 95 per cent sober and has an objective of a dry Indian nation by the year 2000.

Ottawa, Ontario

An Ottawa think tank says those with the strongest claim to self-government are the people in the Far North whose ties to the land go back thousands of years.

"Canadian will be judged for the condition of Inuit society-and judged harshly if that previously vigorous and self-reliant society disintegrates under the weight of social problems arising from the impact of the industrial world," said a report from the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Institute on International Affairs released March 21.

Cornwall, Ontario

Mohawk Chief Mike Mitchell was arrested and charged with violating the Customs Act as he drove his pickup truck, loaded with blankets, groceries, clothes and a washing machine, into Canada without paying customs duties.

"Sorry, I ain't gonna pay the taxes and the duties," Mitchell told a customs officer at the border station on the band's St. Regis reserve.

Many Natives say that under Jay's Treaty of 1794 between United States and Britain, they are exempt from paying duty on certain goods carried across the border.

Northwest Territories

Former N.W.T. cabinet minister Tagak Curley was found in good condition by an RCMP search party who feared he may have died in a two-day blizzard which separated him from a hunting party last March 17.

Curley survived the Arctic white-out and four days in the tundra. He was found near his base camp on the northwest shore of the Hudson Bay.

An Anglican minister at a nearby community said everyone knew Curley would survive.

Curley, 44, turned down a helicopter ride back to his home-he wanted to ride on his snowmobile.

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Bernard Meneen is the new chief of the Tall Cree band for the next five years.

Two councilors, Eugene Kotash and Ronald Loonskin were also voted in for five year terms at the March 7 election.

Meneen was voted in with a total of 61 votes out of 119.

North and South Tall Cree has a combined population of 424 band members and is located about 800 km north of Edmonton.

Bernard Meneen could not be reached for comment.

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Feasting, traditional dress, mourning songs mark beginning of new land claim hearings

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A society has been formed to right the wrongs in history books about Aboriginal culture and language.

The Multi-Indigenous Studies Program (MISPA) includes board members from Alberta and other parts of North America, says acting director Buff Parry, who adds that an advisory council is also being formed.

"We have signed the papers with the lawyers and right now we will be organizing a general meeting to select the executive."

The current board of directors are: Brian Wildcat, Nelbert Little Moustache, Dr. Anne Anderson, Ernestine Gibot and Buff Parry.

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Barbara Laboucan, 23 and a single mother, is trading in her janitor's job for a typewriter.

She is one of 15 students enrolled in a basic job readiness program, instituted by the Whitefish Lake band. Her past jobs have involved janitorial work and cooking but her new goal is to work in an office after completing a secretarial arts program.

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The film Foster Child, by Edmonton Metis Gil Cardinal, was honoured with a special jury award for excellence at this year's AMPIA (Alberta Motion Pictures Industry Association) awards.

Directed by Gil Cardinal, who was the main subject of the film which was a high caliber competitor in its category. Along with Shooting Stars, the winning film, and Frozen in Time: The Franklin Mystery, the judges had difficulty selecting a winner. The films were close, said Jerry Krepakevich, the producer of Shooting Stars and also a co-producer of Foster Child.