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The ongoing conflict over Sun Peaks ski resort's land use and occupancy of territory claimed by the Neskonlith band of British Columbia reached a new phase in December with the destruction of Native property, an impending lawsuit and bitter accusations against the province's Liberal government and, in particular, the province's attorney general, Geoff Plant, the minister responsible for treaty negotiations.

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Samson Chef Victor Buffalo says Indian people across the country have entered an era of difficult times since the police assault on a Mohawk blockade July 11 in Quebec.

Indian people now face painful steps ahead but that may be for the better, he said in an address to a group of students and business and government officials at an Indian Management Assistance Program conference in Edmonton last week.

"It seems the only time politicians hear us is when Native people show their frustration," Buffalo said.

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Tallcree Chief Bernard Meneen says it's about time the federal government made a commitment to long-term funding for the Indian Management Assistance Program (IMAP).

IMAP has for too long relied on short-term funding commitments which prevents better programs from being introduced, he said. Meneen said he'd like Ottawa to make a three to five year commitment of funds to IMAP to ensure excellent programs for its students.

IMAP, which began about 1985, matches students - primarily graduate - for summer work with Native bands and organizations across Alberta.

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Every problem facing aboriginal people today can be traced back to the boarding schools and the attempts of government and society to assimilate Native people, says the head of the National Aboriginal Communications' Society (NACS).

The government, the churches, the police and society felt the best thing that could happen to aboriginal people was to be absorbed into the system. As a result the school systems in this country have nothing to offend our young aboriginal students," said Fox, president and chief executive officer of NACS>

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The standoffs in Quebec dominated a forum Tuesday in Edmonton for Metis Nation presidential candidates.

It was suggested the association send a declaration to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney asking him to remove Canadian armed forces from surrounding Mohawk lands and to call a meeting with ministers and aboriginal leaders to entrench important aboriginal issues into the Constitution.

Does anyone remember Anna Mae?

Anna Mae Pictou Aquash was a Micmac Indian from Shubenacadie, N.S. Her dream was to assemble an entire cultural history of the Indian people. By the time her life ended on a bleak winter night in Feb. 1976, she had touched the lives of hundreds of people with her dedication to the culture, tradition and spiritual survival of the Indian nations. She had been married during the stormy occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973.

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Just as the search for a peaceful resolution to the standoffs in Quebec appeared to have failed, Mohawk and Canadian soldiers began dismantling barricades at Chateauguay and Kahnawake.

They put aside their weapons and took up bulldozers.

What a sight!

But then if the Berlin Wall could come down in Eastern Europe, anything was possible.

But we came so close, oh so close, to a shoot-out before negotiation between Canadian and Mohawk soldiers and Canadian and Mohawk leaders got us off that slippery slope.

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A non-Native group which organized a rally Wednesday outside Canada Place in downtown Edmonton says support is growing for Canada's Native people.

According to Leo Campos, a member of the newly-formed group Citizens Against Genocide, issues which affect Native people also affect non-Natives.

"It's time for everyone in this country to sit down, listen and then respond," said Campos. Indian problems have been ignored for years and the white society really knows little about the problems facing Indian people today, he said.

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Mohawk Indians in Quebec are preparing a report detailing allegations Surete du Quebec (SQ) police officers beat and tortured Indians during the standoffs in Quebec.

In the most recent incident about seven Kanesatake Indians were taken to a barn last week, where they were beaten and tortured, charged Don Martin of Kahnawake in an interview from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) office in Ottawa.

The allegations were earlier raised by Georges Erasmus, national AFN chief. He said some Indians were tortured with lit cigarettes.

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An Alberta AFN leader has appealed to the media, the Canadian public and religious denominations to lend a sympathetic ear to the grievances of Native people.

Speaking on behalf of Alberta chiefs at a news conference in Edmonton on Thursday, Lawrence Courtielle, vice-president of the Assembly of First Nations, appealed to Native people to remain calm "despite the racial tolerance against our people that is taking place."

The stand offs in Quebec have seen Native people harassed and attacked sending ripples across the nation.