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The federal government has proposed expending hundreds of millions of new dollars to improve the health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Prime Minister Paul Martin says another $700 million should be spent in addition to the $1.7 billion already expended with funds targeted to improving inefficiencies in the system, prevention initiatives and increasing the number of Aboriginal health care professionals working in the field.

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The first certificate program in Aboriginal health care administration offered by the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Institute for Aboriginal Health was so successful it is being offered again, starting this month.

Twenty-one of 23 students successfully completed the first 10-month program, which is mostly run by distance education. Their graduation was held at the UBC First Nations Longhouse July 11.

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A brand new program at Victoria's Camosun College is creating a lot of excitement among First Nation communities. Starting in January 2005, and extending over 37 weeks, students in the First Nations Home Support program will learn the skills needed to work as care providers for Elders at home or in long-term assisted living facilities.

Janice Simcoe, department chair of First Nations Education and Services for the past 14 years, said the program was designed to meet the shortage of certified workers in long-term care facilities, both on- and off-reserve.

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When the Navaho visitors piled out of the van, the temperatures were warm and sunny. As quickly as they converged at the river's edge, the calm weather changed.

Blue skies became cloudy and the stillness was transformed with a sudden wind. This apparent environmental volatility was not just coincidence, the group's leader pointed out, but a sign from Mother Earth.

Clayton Long, from Utah, dipped his hands in the White River and washed his hands and wrists with grey silt and sand. This planned visit to the river represented a return to Long's ancestral roots.

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Since 1993, the Royal Bank of Canada has been operating an Aboriginal Stay in School Program to support the education of Aboriginal youth and provide them with summer employment.

More than 500 students have participated so far.

This year alone, 26 students were placed in Royal Bank branches across British Columbia.

Judging by what three told Raven's Eye, the bank can consider its program a success.

Chantell Hill, 15, worked at the branch in Prince Rupert this summer.

Jack Hendry, 16, worked in North Vancouver.

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Take one moose, add one-third tonne of potatoes, garnish with 20 kilograms of onions to taste, and stir. Serve with 5,000 pieces of bannock.

That is the recipe that fed 1,500 Yukoners who attended this year's four-day Moosehide Gathering, which celebrated its seventh anniversary on July 29 and is becoming renowned for its free feasts.

Tr'ondeck Hwech'in First Nation started the festival in 1993 as an annual affair, but the magnitude of food preparations for a huge crowd caused organizers to scale back their celebration to every two years.

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In preparation for next year's 10th anniversary of the Kispiox Rediscovery program, a contingent from the Gitxsan Nation traveled to Calgary on the Labour Day weekend to take part in the Ghost River Rediscovery program's 10th anniversary celebrations. Doreen Angus, the co-ordinator of the Kispiox program, wanted to see how others in the Rediscovery family commemorated the momentous milestone.

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The Shuswap Nation took another step toward unifying their 17 communities last month and made a public statement about it on Aug. 17.

Band representatives signed two declarations a few days earlier, committing to work together to overcome the legacy of colonialism that weakened them in the past by separating them from their land, language and traditions.

The signing occurred at the twentieth annual Secwepemc Gathering hosted by the Little Shuswap Indian Band on Aug. 13 and 14 at Squilax.

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The Metis Provincial Council of British Columbia (MPCBC) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) say they have come up with a plan to give thousands of Metis a chance at education and training opportunities that have passed them by.

On Sept. 2, MPCBC Vice-president Bruce Dumont, along with Executive Director Keith Henry and NAIT President Dr. Sam Shaw, signed an agreement that will bring Metis access to more than 190 educational and apprenticeship programs. The ceremony took place at MPCBC offices in Vancouver.