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Keiko Miki, president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC), attended a ceremony in Winnipeg on April 14 to call on the government of Canada to compensate former residential school students for loss of language and culture.

It was 16 years to the day after some 500 Japanese-Canadians and their supporters had rallied on Parliament Hill in 1988 to call for redress for people of Japanese heritage who had been denied basic human and citizenship rights by Canada during and after the Second World War.

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Stories about Raven and the myth of creation will soon be seen in 3D form, thanks to the first all-Aboriginal/Canadian animation team. Headed by art director Simon James, a member of the Kwakwakuwakw Nation, and his co-producers Chris Kientz and Colin Curwen, Raven Tales follows the comic misadventures of the title character, his brother Eagle and their mischievous friend Frog at the beginning of the world. The stories are based on myths from West Coast communities such as the Haida, Kwakwakuwakw, Salish and Nisga'a Nations.

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The Kla-how-eya Aboriginal Centre has its roots firmly planted in a soil rich with culture and language. And that is thanks in part to the success of the centre's second annual Gala Feast, held May 29 at the Sheraton Guilford in Surrey.

The event, themed Strengthening Our Roots, is the largest fundraiser organized by the Kla-how-eya Aboriginal Centre of the Surrey Aboriginal Cultural Society. It was a huge success, according to Lisa Battley, who is in charge of fundraising and communications at the centre, although Battley would not say how much money was raised.

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Although the smoke has cleared from the Chilko Lake fire that raged near Brittany Triangle last summer, members of the Tsilhqot'in National Government (TNG) are still fuming over what they allege are the racist hiring practices of the Caribou Fire Centre. During one of the biggest fires in the Interior last year, TNG said outside crews were brought in to battle the blaze while hundreds of qualified Tsilhqot'ins were denied fire-fighting jobs.

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At the launch of the federal election campaign on May 23, Prime Minister Paul Martin said "British Columbia is incredibly important to me. To run a national government without a strong voice from British Columbia at the national table is just not my concept of what good governance is about in this country."

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A study just completed by nine researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU) concludes that offshore oil and gas development in British Columbia comes with some significant risks and a great number of unknowns.

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More than 2,000 Aboriginal people from all over British Columbia who are tired of having their rights ignored marched up to the B.C. legislature and held a rally on May 20.

Participants protested changes to provincial forest legislation and agreements that are being offered by the government to the First Nations, agreements they say would compromise Aboriginal peoples' rights in exchange for limited economic benefits.

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The adoptive father of a teenage girl found dead recently on the Prince Rupert waterfront-one of three shocking incidents involving Aboriginal youth in one week-is hopeful that the efforts of a new local committee will help prevent further such incidents in the community.

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Devin Gambler, a Nicola Valley Institute of Technology first-year administrative studies student who used to struggle with math, is the first full-time student to win a B.C. Innovation Award in Education Technology. Usually the award goes to full-time, post-secondary institutional staff or faculty. Gambler, 26, was nominated by NVIT's faculty.

"I didn't really know about it until I actually won it," said Gambler. "So it was a surprise."

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Herb George is out of politics now and into governance.

The former Assembly of First Nations British Columbia vice chief who retired from politics late in 2003 is working to establish the First Nations Governance Centre.

"It will be designed to assist in the further development of our day-to-day government operations, and it will support us as we seek to implement the inherent rights of self-government," George wrote in a discussion paper that has been used during the consultation sessions.