When Georgina Lightning was growing up on the Samson First Nation, the house in which she lived was merely a two-room shack. Today, the Cree filmmaker’s name can be used synonymously with the more opulent White House. Or, more specifically, the White House Project’s EPIC Emerging Artist Award, which Lightning won in April on the strength of her 2006 full-length motion picture, Older Than America. It was the first time the award was presented. “It was great,” said Lightning about winning the title. “I was surprised that I was the first woman ever, anywhere in the world, to win that.

Kevin Seesequasis has traveled around the world and he wants to see other Aboriginal youth have that opportunity as well. Seesequasis is commanding officer of a local Army Cadet Corps in Edmonton. “The cadet experience is the best experience a youth can be part of. I have traveled around the world as part of the corps, and now as a commanding officer. You have to put in a certain amount of years into the corps, but all the travelling I have done has been fully funded. As with anything in life, you get back what you put in,” said Seesequasis.

The Olympics and Paralympics were not the only successful multi-sport games held in western Canada this winter. Another event that received rave reviews was the Arctic Winter Games, which ran Mar. 6-13 in Grande Prairie. The AWG, which are held every two years, featured about 2,000 athletes competing in 21 sports.

The first group of Aboriginal students has graduated from the Syncrude Aboriginal Trades Preparation Program. This influential community-based trades program started because of a need and commitment of Syncrude Canada to hire and attract Aboriginal employees. “The Aboriginal workforce is continuously growing and the need for organizations to look at Aboriginal people as valuable employees is needed.

First Nations girls part of runway success One of 10 runway shows at the Fashion Has No Borders Fashion & Accessory Expose in mid-March featured Aboriginal designer clothing modeled by First Nations teens. The girls were part of the Stardale Women’s Group Inc. Foundation. “They’re all heights and all weights,” said Helen McPhaden, executive director with Stardale. “It’s important that they know it’s about inner beauty.” The girls were among 200 models, most of whom were not professional, to take part in the day’s events.

A proposal by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce calls for tackling a looming labour shortfall by facilitating more Aboriginal economic opportunities.

The organization’s Aboriginal Workforce Initiative, outlined in a research paper dubbed Completing the Circle, and released March 26, makes the case for solving the upcoming labour shortage by recognizing opportunities that will not only diversify the workplace but curb the employment challenges faced by the province’s Aboriginal population.

Elder honoured at university Elder Theresa (Minde) Wildcat of the Ermineskin Cree Nation is the newest recipient of the Alumni Association Citation Award for outstanding contributions to the development of the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus in Camrose by a member of the community. Wildcat was born in Hobbema and was the first member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation to graduate from high school in 1951 and received a teaching diploma from the University of Alberta in 1953. After working as the first Aboriginal teacher in Cardston and Gleichen, she returned to Hobbema to teach.

An oil sands site in Northern Alberta is only months away from being preserved as a historical site after more than one million artifacts from Canada’s First People were found. Spear points, knives and stone flakes were all remnants from thousands of years ago, that archaeologists have found in an area 75 km north of Fort McMurray. The location is also referred to as The Quarry of the Ancestors. “We are pretty much at the finalization stage. It shouldn’t be long now,” said Darryl Bereziuk, northern archaeologist for the province of Alberta.

The Entrepreneurial Leadership Awards is the Métis Nation of Alberta Region 3’s way to recognize that leadership is critical. The awards have been running since 1998 and are an acknowledgement of businesses, organizations and individuals, who have succeeded and made contributions to the Métis community. At the 12th annual gala affair, held April 16 at Calgary’s Coast Plaza Hotel, Region 3 paid tribute to nine such contributors. “It’s to honour the Métis businesses in our region,” said Marlene Lanz, the awards show organizer.

As a child growing up in Enoch First Nation, Ashley Callingbull used to watch beauty pageants on television. Life has now come full circle for the 21-year-old woman who is competing for the title of Miss Universe Canada on June 14 in Toronto. Even though she submitted the pageant application herself, Callingbull was surprised when she found out that she had been selected as one of the competitors. “I thought because it was my first time, I wouldn’t get picked. I thought I was going in there for experience - just to see how the training was,” she said.