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Review

In Search of April Raintree

By Beatrice Culleton

Pemmican Publications

Winnipeg, Manitoba

The heart-rending pain and tragedy of BEING an adopted child, specifically a Native child, has never been painted as vividly as it has in Beatrice Culleton's work of fiction IN Search of April Raintree.

People can read news reports, watch television documentaries or listen to radio features on the often tragic lives of adopted Native children, but the tragedies aren't as clearly illustrated as they are in Culleton's work.

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The 20th annual meeting of Native Counseling Services of Alberta (NCSA) ended as more of a promising look to the future than a celebration of the past.

The rapidly-changing trends and attitudes in Alberta's diverse Native COMMUNITIES will dictate the focus of the agency in the coming decades, said organization president Wilson Goodstriker.

"We have to slow down and reflect on things we haven't done so we can grow stronger," he told more than 80 staff workers on the last day of the annual conference held at Edmonton's Regency Hotel June 19-22.

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Year after year the crowd at the Fort McMurray Winter Carnival cheered on home-town favorite Katie Sanderson. And for eight consecutive years she never disappointed her many admirers.

>From 1964 to 1971 Katie was crowned Queen of the North at the Fort McMurray winter carnival.

Before she retired from competition in 1985, she won the crown on two more occasions making her the most successful queen the carnival's 25-year history.

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It is, in the end, the story of one man and one feather.

The man is there for history to measure. He has a name, an age and an address: Elijah Harper, 41, of Red Sucker Lake, Northern Manitoba. He has a voice to speak for himself, a past that can be traced and on Friday (June 22) he took action on a matter for which he will be forever judged.

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Hurrah Elijah! Bravo to the Manitoba chiefs and all who stood firm beside them! Your tactics brought excitement and hope. We're awed by your resolve, impressed with your determination and amused by the irony aboriginal people once again did constitutional battle in Manitoba.

In blocking discussion of the Meech Lake accord in the provincial legislature, Elijah Harper MLA and former chief, won the hearts of many Canadians of all races and political stripes. He has done much for recognition of the nation's aboriginal people.

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These are heady times for Native people and politicians across Canada.

But Native people will have to keep on the ground and their heads out of the clouds and there's every indication they will.

There's many miles to go before they will be equal participants in the Canadian political system.

In Edmonton this week where chiefs from across Canada met to discuss their many common concerns, Chief Jerome Morin of Enoch Cree Nation threw down the gauntlet, serving notice Native people will not let up their fight for justice.

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More than 300 chiefs from across Canada gathered in Edmonton this week for an historic conference to address Native rights from the Indian perspective.

Chiefs' Summit '90, the first meeting of its kind, was held at the Edmonton Inn July 2-5 to help iron out problems facing the country's aboriginal people.

Summit delegated piled into workshops and meeting rooms to air their hostilities and to help provide solutions to the growing resentment they have for the Canadian government.

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Only one legislative step is left before the $310 million dollar Metis settlements self-government deal becomes law. As it nears the end of the law-making process, the legislative process is surrounded by a flurry of activity.

The four bills have now been given royal assent and are awaiting proclamation, which is the moment at which they become law. Metis MLA Pearl Calahasen expects proclamation to take place around mid-July.

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