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Expect to see a very different National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show than what you've grown accustom to in the past.

Roman Bittman, the new executive producer of the gala show, to be held this year in Saskatoon on March 31, says the elaborate sets of years gone by are out, but that's not to say the audience can't expect something "quite spectacular" to replace them.

Bittman is in close collaboration with the current set designer of the Cirque du Soleil for this year's show and the thunderbird and dreamcatcher legends feature large.

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The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation has announced the recipients of this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, which will be handed out during a gala event in Saskatoon on March 31.

Two people with Saskatchewan connections are among this year's recipients-Dr. Eber Hampton and Dr. Gerald McMaster.

Hampton, Chickasaw Tribe, Oklahoma, will receive his award in the education category. Hampton became president of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, now First Nations University of Canada, in 1991.

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Saskatchewan Health has changed the way it keeps track of the use of prescription drugs in the province, expanding the scope of the monitoring system to include all prescriptions filled in the province regardless of who is footing the bill. That means prescriptions not covered under the province's drug plan, or those paid for by the federal government-including those filled for First Nation patients and veterans-will now be monitored.

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If Lawrence Joseph has his way, there could be another chief joining the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN)-the chief of police.

When the federation holds its legislative assembly in Regina at the end of this month creation of a First Nations police force will be on the agenda, said the FSIN vice-chief.

A desire to take more control of their own affairs, the changing needs of police service and dissatisfaction with the current state of the RCMP is behind the initiative, he said.

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When most of us take a sip of bottled water, we might give a little bit of thought to where the water we're drinking came from, but not many of us think about where the bottle came from.

If your water was bottled in Saskatchewan, there's a chance the bottle you're drinking out of was manufactured by CTK Plastics Ltd., a plastics manufacturing company based in Moose Jaw and owned by Carry the Kettle First Nation.

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When Kathy and Jeff Coleclough first started their company Kakwa (Cree for porcupine) in 1993, their goal was to create authentic Aboriginal jewelry-"Real bone and glass, none of that plastic stuff," Kathy said. Today, the company is known not only for its jewelry but also for its accurate reproductions of ancient Aboriginal artifacts and counts the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian and DreamWorks among its many clients.

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The latest figures from the Regional Longitudinal Health Survey (RHS) show that smoking rates among First Nations people in Canada is dropping, but by the end of 2005 researchers with RHS hope to be able to tell us why.

Statistics from the 2002-03 RHS put the rate of smoking among First Nations people age 20 and over at 57.6 per cent, down 4.4 per cent from survey figures for 1997 and 1991, when the rate was 62 per cent.

Jane Grey, national co-ordinator of the RHS is encouraged by those results.

"To me that is good news. Something is working."

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Smokers in Saskatchewan have found themselves out in the cold now that the Tobacco Control Amendment Act has come into effect. The act, which came into force on Jan. 1, prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places including bars, restaurants, bingo halls, casinos, taxis and private clubs.

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Marie Battiste is a professor of Education, co-ordinator of the Indian and Northern Education Program and co-ordinator of the Human Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). She is also the first female and first Aboriginal person to receive the university's Distinguished Researcher Award.

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A celebration of women took place in Yorkton on Dec. 17 as the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women's Circle Corporation (SAWCC) opened its doors.

An affiliate of the Native Women's Association of Canada, the Yorkton office will act as the provincial representative to the national organization.

A number of dignitaries took part in the official opening of the SAWCC office, including Minister of First Nations and Metis Relations Maynard Sonntag, Yorkton Mayor Phil De Vos, and President of the Native's Women's Association of Canada Beverley Jacobs.