When we think about the Department of Fisheries and Oceans we picture that scene in King Kong when the big gorilla makes his way to the top of the Empire State Building and swats around at the attacking airplanes like they were swarming black flies around a hitchhiker in Wawa, Ont. Pesky little buggers, capable of taking a chuck out of a guy, but not likely to kill you, right?

It was election time in wonderful downtown Curve Lake again, and the dust has finally settled. We have another two more years of calm once more. This is democracy as laid out and instructed through the section on Indian Band Election Regulations, pages 119-128 of the Annotated Indian Act. And yes, it’s as exciting a read as it sounds.

Part II of Culture, cross or not

MIKE METATAWABIN OF THE

If you want to help Aboriginal youth to stay in school and out of trouble, you can’t forget about the needs of their parents and grandparents, said the executive director of the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA).

Lynda Gray manages 21 youth-centered programs at the not-for-profit organization in downtown Vancouver, however, she said the insufficient funding for programs to help victims of Indian residential schools is gravely affecting younger generations.

Indigenous activist groups kept their cool and stayed focused on the messages they wanted to convey at the G20 protests that took place on the streets of downtown Toronto in the last weekend of June.

One Native organization said their strategy was to maintain open communication with police and keep the peace.

Harrison Friesen, founder of Red Power United, a self-described Native rights movement, said he made it clear to Toronto police that his group of 150 protesters would be carrying drums, banners, and sacred items so there would be no surprises.

The federal government will be repealing sections of the Indian Act that allow Indian residential schools to operate.

The announcement was made by Indian and Northern Affairs minister Chuck Strahl to applause and cheers at the first national event for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, held mid-June in Winnipeg.

Ninoon Dawah handed out turkey, ham and cheese sandwiches on June 16, the first day of the inaugural event hosted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Winnipeg.

The young man from Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba said in a soft voice that his grandmother and mother had both attended residential schools.

“It was so hard for them,” said Dawah. “My grandmother got hit when she tried to speak her language. My mother got hit as well for speaking her language.”

Perhaps that was what drove Dawah’s mother to teach him to speak Ojibway.

THE SASKATCHEWAN INDIAN GAMING ASSOCIATION (SIGA)

A box crafted with the pain that one grandmother suffered while attending residential school sat in the centre of the first sharing circle hosted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the TRC’s inaugural national event in Winnipeg June 16 to 19.