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M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island has become the first Native community in Canada to receive a safe community designation from the Safe Communities Foundation (SCF).

Members of the M'Chigeeng community action safety team celebrated their achievement Nov. 18.

"We have the ability to work, play, live, learn and raise our children in a safe, healthy and secure environment," team member Peggy Simon told those gathered to mark the occasion. "We have a lot to be proud of already. We just need to enhance what we have."

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"I'm every woman," sings one of the characters in Marie Clement's play, The Unnatural and Accidental Women. The play, which opened in Toronto Nov. 18 and ran until Dec. 5, is based on a true story and takes place in Vancouver's downtown east side.

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Accompanied by the beat of a hand drum, the unfaltering voice of Karen Manitowabi filled the halls of Wasse-abin high school Nov. 17. The Odawa poet from Manitoulin Island allowed the drum and her song to convey a personal journey to forgiveness and self-acceptance.

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It may have been the rock groups that scooped up the lion's share of the awards going at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards show Nov. 26 in Toronto, but it was the traditional group performances that rocked the audience that evening.

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December 1 was a time to celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal entrepreneurs and organizations during the 14th annual Nishnawbe Aski Nation Business Awards handed out in Timmins.

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More than 200 people packed the lobby of the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts on Nov. 13 as four inductees including Six Nations actor, publisher and philanthropist Gary Farmer were added to the prestigious list of names gracing the Brantford Walk of Fame. Farmer was recognized along with former elite hockey player Wayne Gretzky; film producer, director and writer Linda Schuyler; and internationally known journalist Allen Pizzey.

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In an announcement by Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott, the National Aboriginal Veterans Association will receive $100,000.

Of the funding, $50,000 will go towards the completion of the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument in Ottawa. Four bronze panels depicting the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War and peacekeeping will be set into the monument granite base.

Originally announced in 1996, the monument was unveiled June 21, 2001, National Aboriginal Day, but it wasn't complete.

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Just under 16 per cent of Canadian children-more than one million-live in poverty. Among Aboriginal children living off-reserve, that percentage jumps to 40 per cent. These staggering figures are only part of the story told by a recent report by Campaign 2000, a non-partisan organization formed in 1991 to build public awareness and support in the fight to eliminate child poverty and to remind all elected officials of their responsibility in that fight.

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While ruling that a lawsuit launched by former Ontario residential school students could proceed as a class action, a panel of three Ontario appellate court judges vehemently discarded arguments that the federal government's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process would be a better way to settle the dispute.

Justice Stephen Goudge, a former lecturer in both labour law and Native rights at the University of Toronto law school, wrote the unanimous decision which was released on Dec. 3. Justices Michael J. Moldaver and Marvin Catzman agreed with his reasons.

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The Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) has voted to approve a multi-million dollar deal with the Vancouver Port Authority that will make way for participation in the port's megaport expansion.

"Almost 90 per cent voted in favour of the agreement," Chief Kim Baird said the morning after the Nov. 29 vote. About 85 per cent of the band's 330 members voted. "It was a pretty clear approval, that's for sure."