Limiting the collection of data to those who resided in Fort Chipewyan has skewed the findings of Alberta Health Services' report on cancer cases in the community 600 km northeast of Edmonton. And with that claim, the Nunee Health Board is insisting that its name be removed from the final report.
"We did not endorse the study. We were not an active partner in it," said Claudia Simpson, health director of the Nunee Health Board.
The report indicated that there are 30 per cent more cases of cancer in Fort Chipewyan than cancer officials had expected.

Occasionally we walk into museums or stores and come across an example of the cedar bark weaving common to the Pacific Coast peoples, and we get a glimpse of their magnificent civilizations.
Kerri-Lynne Emily Dick, 26, is a master weaver in the tradition of the Haida, Kwaguilth, Tlingit, and Kootenay peoples.
To her, cedar weaving comes to her as naturally as breathing.
"That's basically 26 years spent immersed in the Haida and Kwaguilth culture," she said. "I personally would never call it a cultural revival. It still existed because of strong families and strong lineages."

The presentation was made during the Gathering Our Voices 2009 youth conference hosted in Kelowna by the B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. The conference, held annually, brings together young people ages 14 to 24 to explore traditional language, culture, leadership initiatives, and employment opportunities. Kwu Sukwna'qinx is a youth leadership group from the Penticton Indian Band. The group was created by youth for youth in the hopes of inspiring other young First Nations people to tackle challenges and overcome personal obstacles.

The Little NHL Tournament seems to be a hit, regardless of where it is held.
The annual Aboriginal youth hockey event, which is organized by the Little Native Hockey League (LNHL) and has been running for 38 years, is for the most part usually held in either Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie.
But this year's tournament, which ran from March 16 to March 19, was hosted for the first time by Sarnia's Aamjiwnaan First Nation.
It was also the first time in more than a decade that the tournament had been staged in southern Ontario.

The 16th annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (NAAA) gala took place on March 6 at the Centennial Concert Hall in downtown Winnipeg and this year's theme was "spirit."
Both the Cree and Ojibway people of the Winnipeg area use that to describe Manitoba. The Ojibway refer to Manitoba as Manitou­the embodiment of spirit. The Cree say Manitou Ah Beh­where the spirit lives.
The awards night was hosted by Aboriginal television and movie stars Adam Beach and Tina Keeper, and had a wide array of other guests, including local favorite Eagle and Hawk.

Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Robyn Goodwin: The quality I value most in a friend is trust. I believe, in this day and age, for young women you have to be strong and have a firm belief in humanity to be able to possess this quality. I also think that trust works both ways and that you also have to be trustworthy.

W: What is it that really makes you mad?
R.G.: Failure. To leave something unaccomplished or unfinished always leaves a void and raises the question, what if?

A pair of teenagers from the same Thunder Bay high school were named as the top Aboriginal athletes in Ontario for 2008.
Eric Slipperjack, a football player at Sir Winston Churchill High School, was chosen as the best male athlete.
And Nancy Indian, a five-sport athlete at the school who specializes in volleyball, was picked as the top female athlete.
Both Slipperjack and Indian are 17. And both were named winners of a regional (Ontario) Tom Longboat Award for their athletic accomplishments this past year.

Portage College students receive MNA funding

Photo: Lyndia Peters

Street Speaks mural at City Hall

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy’s newest proposal “is a call for Indigenous leaders to engage with community and the government” on discussions for relocating “non-viable” First Nations communities closer to urban centres.

FCPP, an independent non-profit organization, is not suggesting that the federal government force First Nations to move, stressed Joe Quesnel, author of the report, but is broaching the topic as a “conversation starter for First Nations.”