The annual Dreamspeakers International Aboriginal Film and Television Festival is set to take place from June 4 to 7 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Edmonton.
A broad range of screenings by filmmakers from across Canada, the USA, and other parts of the world are scheduled for this year. Canadian screenings include the Opening Night World Premiere of Alberta's Gerald Auger's 'Honour Thy Father' and the Canadian Premiere of Georgina Lightening's 'Older Than America'.

"Exhilarating."
That's how She'ee'lum, the chief of the Lake Cowichan First Nation, described the experience of sliding the big slick across the surface of the western red cedar, watching as a paper-thin slice of history curled at the end of the carver's tool and floated to the floor.
"I just can't explain it," said the chief, known by the English name Cyril Livingstone. "When you have that tool in your hand and you blow the chips away, it blew me away; to have that moment with the carver, I just can't explain it. It was so exciting."

The first Métis Cultural Centre in Canada opened in 1984. Its founder, Dr. Anne Anderson, taught Cree classes to the community from the new and improved location in west Edmonton, which also contained a library and other artifacts of the Métis history. She had already written about 40 books aimed at perpetuating the Cree language, and at the time of her death in 1997 when she was 90 years old, that number exceeded 100. This also included a history book about the Métis people and a Cree dictionary.

With a trove of traditional treasures of the Tsimshian people together in its entirety for the last time, members of various communities gathered to hear one artist's response to the deep-rooted issues surrounding the artifacts and to share their own opinions on the samematter.
Vancouver-based performing artist Skeena Reece debuted an original work entitled "We Are All One" on May 8 at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology (MOA).

Housing for Aboriginal people in Canadian cities is in need of much improvement, and governments need to do more to address the crisis, according to a new study.
Ryan Walker, an assistant professor of planning and geography at the University of Saskatchewan, outlines the problem in his report, "Social Housing and the Role of Aboriginal Organizations in Canadian Cities," released in May as part of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) Aboriginal Quality of Life series.

Early this spring, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) became the first full-service urban Aboriginal child and family service agency in British Columbia and is believed to be the largest in Canada.
On April 1, the Aboriginal child protection function for Vancouver and Richmond was "transferred to VACFSS for the purpose of augmenting cultural support in child welfare service provision to urban Aboriginal children and families," according to an official statement.

A three-day conference sponsored by the organization responsible for Aboriginal child and family services in the region sought to bring about dialogue, sharing, connecting and learning on how to best work with children and youth.
The Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) conference, entitled "Honouring Our Children and Youth" opened May 14 with song, prayer and ceremonies following the protocols of the people of the land, attended by dozens of First Nations and non-First Nations delegates.

Whitefish Lake could sue Ontario for $550-billion

Mohawk protestors occupying a quarry in Deseronto, ON are not giving up, although in recent weeks, police have dismantled several road blockades and arrested approximately 14 individuals.

The federal government will enforce a new strategy to deal with contraband tobacco ­ the 2008 RCMP Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Strategy ­ with a focus on what government officials claim to be tobacco illegally manufactured and sold on First Nations land.