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Album-Simple Steps

Song-Enough Room

Label-Independent

Producer-Robert Walsh

New direction for Metis singer

Andrea Menard gained many fans and garnered a lot of attention when she released her first album, The Velvet Devil, in 2002. The CD featured songs from her one-woman play of the same name and helped establish her as one of Canada's finest jazz singers.

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The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards gala was held in Vancouver on Jan. 27 with local performers dominating the stage show that served to honor 14 Inuit, Metis or First Nations people who have excelled in a variety of areas and categories.

Comic performer Skeena Reece of Prince Rupert brought the house down with her unique take on the story of contact with the European "discoverers" of North America.

The Sto:lo Nation's CarrieLynn Victor and Theresa Point, known together as Rapsure Risin', gave an enthusiastic demonstration of their hip-hop talent.

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The 2006 All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert, B.C. was one of the most thrilling in its 47-year history, as all four division finals weren't decided until the final minute of each game. And the best was saved for last, as Hydaburg, Alaska made a tremendous comeback to hold on to its senior men's crown, their sixth consecutive, tying the record held by Kitamaat, B.C.

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During a conference call with Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine on Feb. 7, Windspeaker asked if he would be seeking re-election this July in Vancouver. The national chief gave a very indirect response, saying he had every intention of seeing the Kelowna agreements hammered out at the first ministers meeting last year, and the residential school compensation agreement announced only days prior to Kelowna, through to a conclusion.

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Assembly of First Nations National Chief (AFN) Phil Fontaine's talking points on the day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his new cabinet were all about reassuring First Nations citizens that there was no reason to panic about the new Conservative government.

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A racist comment in a Ric Dolphin story in the Western Standard about the leadership race for the ruling Alberta Conservative Party has caused his employer some headaches.

Aboriginal community leaders in Edmonton, who call themselves the Aboriginal Human Rights Commission, called a press conference at City Hall on Feb. 15. They were outraged by the following reference to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein's Metis wife in the story:

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Ryerson University journalism Professor John Miller surprised himself when he began to look at how the mainstream media reported the occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park in 1995.

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Throughout the almost two years of hearings at the Ipperwash inquiry into the fatal police shooting of Dudley George, the occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park by First Nation protesters has been called a clear case of trespass on provincial property.

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Former Ontario premier Mike Harris maintains he did nothing wrong and played no role in the death of Dudley George.

During the last minutes of Harris' four-day appearance on the witness stand at the Ipperwash inquiry on Feb. 20, lawyer Julian Falconer, acting for Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, called him a liar.

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Dear Editor:

An official inside the federal government once told me that the suicide cirsis in the First Nations communities of Nishnawbe Aski Nation was "the greatest failure of public policy in our lifetime." It was an apt description. During the past 10 years, our communities have been plunged into the worst crisis in our history, with hundreds of young people dead through suicide and no prospect of an end to the tragedy in sight.