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Recently retired Yorkton Tribal Council (YTC) chief Tony Cote was honored by his community with a "toast and roast" banquet held Nov. 16. Seen as both a great leader and an outstanding role model in the First Nations community, Cote was recognized for the many programs and initiatives he began during his six year term, which ended this past October.

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Standing Buffalo Dakota First Nation members, as well as friends and associates from across the province and the Sioux nations, gathered at the school gymnasium Nov. 26 to say their last goodbyes to a father, a friend, and a chief.

Mel Isnana, the chief of the First Nation for the past two decades, died suddenly Nov. 20, four days after his 48th birthday and five days after he was re-elected in the band's most recent trip to the polls.

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The children sat and giggled in the band hall's waiting room Nov. 19.

They were waiting for the first in a series of workshops hosted by the Muscowpetung First Nation.

When people passed through the doors, some saw children. Others, such as Phil, Bob and Vivian Anaquod, saw the leaders of tomorrow. And, they saw children who are going to need a lot of care, discipline and learning to be ready to become those leaders.

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The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) is putting its support behind a report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding Bill C-7, the proposed new Youth Criminal Justice act. If passed, the bill would replace the Young Offenders Act, which has been in effect since 1982.

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The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the provincial Justice department have joined forces to form a new commission to look at reforming the justice system to better serve First Nations and Metis people.

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A dream of weaving the youth of today with traditions of the past has become knotted, as the Alberta government announced cutbacks to school programs.

Partnerships formed to develop the spiritual and cultural traditions in Aboriginal students have found themselves without funding, which has left administration at several schools in the Edmonton public and separate school divisions scrambling.

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Reading was always a priority for Leona Makokis. "I would take books into the outhouse and read for hours and hours," she divulged to a capacity crowd at the Aboriginal Role Models of Alberta ceremony in Edmonton Nov. 9.

"I went to faraway places in those books, and it didn't matter what it smelled like."

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The crowd came to their feet in honor of the Ben Calf Robe Children's Choir as they sang Circle of Life to kick off National Addictions Awareness Week (NAAW).

About 400 people rallied at Edmonton's City Hall on Nov. 19 for the 13th annual Join the Circle Walk.

It started with a ceremony and then the participants took to the street with smiling faces and flapping banners. The 10-block walk ended at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre where the celebration concluded with some snacks, prizes and good times.

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The Edmonton Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee hosted its third annual Aboriginal Youth Award ceremony Nov. 13 at city hall. The award recognizes the self-development of four young people in grades eight to 10 who have demonstrated their abilities or achievement in leadership, sports and recreation, academics, volunteerism, cultural activities, dance/art, theatre/music, environment/science or computer technology. It also recognizes that some recipients may have overcome considerable adversity to achieve their goals.

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If there was a murderer loose in Canada who was killing five people every single day, year after year, the public would be outraged and terrified.

Many people, however, are still failing to take impaired driving seriously, despite the fact that it kills 4.5 people and seriously injures about 125 people each day in this country, according to statistics compiled by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada.