Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Senator Thelma Chalifoux: There are many values in your friend that are special. George Bernard Shaw said that if you can count your true friends on one hand, then you can die a rich person. When my friend can accept me as I am with all my faults, my good points and my human failings, then I am truly blessed.

Somebody once asked me, after I told them many Native reserves look like a lot of small non-Native towns except people were a lot darker, how they could then tell if they were in a First Nations community?

There's an increasing burden of poverty that First Nations people struggle with every day because of the two per cent cap on growth the department of Indian Affairs has imposed on expenditures for education, housing and infrastructure, social and economic development, National Chief Phil Fontaine told a parliamentary committee last month.

The waves of support for the KI 6 were lapping at the shores of Vancouver Island April 14 when Malaspina University-College students gathered at a cedar welcome figure on campus to protest, pray and fast.
The students are part of the Bachelor of First Nations Studies program at Malaspina. At their year-end feast, they heard an impassioned plea from classmate Rachel Wuttunee, a member of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) in northern Ontario, who told them of the plight of the six leaders of the community, jailed for defending their lands against mining exploration.

Mohawk protestors blockade main street

The lack of safe water systems on reserves across Canada has long been a problem, and the federal government is hoping new measures and funding will help improve the delivery of clean drinking water in First Nations communities.

Many Aboriginal leaders are disappointed in the Conservative government's adamant refusal to support the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, despite a motion by opposition members of Parliament on April 8 calling for its endorsement in Canada.
The declaration was easily passed at a UN assembly last September with 143 member states voting in its favour, 11 states abstaining, and four states- Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States - voting against it.

They are the heart of an investigation, but their voices will never again be heard. That is how Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond framed the introduction of the report into the deaths of four northern British Columbia children, all with a history of involvement with the child welfare system in the province.

One of the most recognizable Native Americans of the 20th century was Floyd Red Crow Westerman who died at the age of 71 on Dec. 13, 2007. The musician, activist and actor was living in Los Angeles where he died of leukemia.
Most recently seen by Canadian television audiences as the traditionally dressed, sincere spokesperson for "Lakota" brand topical pain reliever, more indicative of his immense talent was his portrayal of 'Ten Bears' in the 1990 Kevin Costner movie Dances With Wolves.

Empowering at-risk youth through traditional teachings, music and sharing circles ensured the successful outcome of the ninth annual Aboriginal Youth Leadership Retreats, according to organizer, Raul Munoz of the Indigenous Peoples Program at the University of Saskatchewan.
"It was an opportunity for kids to come in there to listen," Munoz said. "It gave them basically a way of thinking about these issues that came from a non-academic, non-textbook way."
The two retreats were an initiative the Indigenous Peoples Program.