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Dear Editor:

Tansi. Hi, my name is Don Piche. Brothers and sisters, happy New Year and the best wishes of the New Year to all of you for the year of 1999.

Wasn't it great to start off the New Year of 1999 by watching the movie Big Bear on Jan. 3 and 4. I would like to thank the producers and actors who have made the movie Big Bear - Hi Hi, thank you.

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Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent misleading articles, written in newspapers throughout Canada, about Aboriginal peoples' fiscal responsibility.

As the Grand Chief of the Anishinabek Nation, I feel I can discuss the issue with authority. The articles tend to paint Aboriginal communities with the same brush. Our communities are as diverse as Canada from the east to the west. It is impossible to assume that all communities handle their fiscal matters in the same way.

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Dear Editor:

I am writing in regards to an article in your Dec. 1998 paper, "Aboriginal cowboys prove tough in rodeo finals."

This is the second article written in December that made the mistake of calling my brother Ben Louis a Shuswap Native!

He is very much Okanagan and proud of it. Our family is very proud of our Okanagan culture and we would greatly appreciate it very much if you could correct this mistake in the next issue.

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How many dead birds does it take to win a traditional dance championship? Or to be more specific, how many eagle feathers are needed to make a double bustle? And what about a triple bustle complete with a stuffed eagle's head stuck in the centre, or if you're a 'Real Brave', a mega-bustle all decked out with holograms and flashing red Christmas lights.

The ancestors must be rolling over in their graves, because an eagle feather is supposed to be a sacred object, isn't it, something to be earned?

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When you talk to party researchers and other political types in Ottawa for what reporters call background discussions, that is, under the condition they won't be quoted, you hear a lot of interesting things.

Some of the things you hear are pure (to use a polite word) nonsense, designed to lead gullible reporters into places that will be of help to the group or party to which the person involved belongs.

But when you hear over and over again from a variety of informed sources that something's going to happen, you have to start to take it seriously.

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To build the future, you need: a foundation - education; building material - knowledge; and tools - information.

All the necessary ingredients for the "Blueprint for the Future" were available as Saskatchewan hosted the National Achievement Foundation's Aboriginal Youth Career Fair at the Centre of the Arts in Regina on Jan. 21.

One thousand students streamed past more than 50 tradeshow displays.

The kids came from Regina high schools and around the province.

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A retired veteran must justify why he should keep his status to the very same Indian Affairs department that restored it only eight years ago.

After living most of his life without Indian status, Sam Sinclair received the benefits he said he's entitled to when he was reinstated under Bill C-31. But the 72-year-old Aboriginal veterans' rights leader was served with notice from the Indian Registrar that said his name will be deleted from the general list. That is, unless he can come up with evidence to prove he is an Indian as defined under the Indian Act.

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It's on to the highest court in the land for the parties involved in the Mitchell case.

The federal government has twice failed to convince a court that Canada's border should be a barrier to Indigenous people who carry on small scale trade for personal or community use.

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Montreal's Native Women's shelter seeks financial support . The board of directors wishes to raise the public's awareness about obstacles that face shelters Aboriginal women and children use because of government budget cutbacks .

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A section of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is internationally lauded as especially enlightened in its treatment of minority groups is going to be put under the microscope when the Supreme Court of Canada hears a case about cross-cultural adoptions.

The two sides of a child custody case that originated in Vancouver will appear in Canada's court of last resort on Feb. 16.

The case involves a cross-cultural adoption and will force the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on a British Columbia statute that seeks to limit such adoptions.