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Despite limited preparation, Alberta's entries managed to turn in some respectable results at this year's National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

The tournament was held April 18 to 24 in Prince George, B.C. This was the third year of the national Aboriginal tournament. The first two events were both staged in Akwesasne, Ont.

This marked the first year, however, that Alberta sent teams to the nationals. The province was represented by both a girls' and a boys' club. The national tourney featured seven girls' and eight boys' squads.

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Buffalo, New York may still host the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), but it won't be next summer. The games have been delayed a year after the games' governing council ended its relationship with the group that had earned the rights to host the games in 2005.

The NAIG council was expected to re-open the bidding to potential hosts after a scheduled three-day meeting in Denver May 13 to 15.

Another group in Buffalo may be awarded the games or it could go to another city.

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This year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show held in Calgary April 4 cost an estimated $3 million, reports the foundation that puts together the gala awards night. That's down from last year, when the foundation held its 10th anniversary show in Ottawa at a cost of $4.5 million.

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This year's Miss Indian World first runner-up, named at the Gathering of Nations powwow, is none other than Calgary's Ivy Kim Scott.

The 25-year-old daughter of the Blackfoot Confederacy's Piikani First Nation came within two points of being crowned Miss Indian World. That award went to Delana Smith, Ojibwe, of Red Lake Nation, Minnesota.

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A powerful photography exhibit on display at the Provincial Museum of Alberta is offering more than just a look back at the residential school experience. Organizers are hoping that people who see the exhibit will leave with a better understanding of what the young people who attended the schools went through.

Where Are The Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools opened at the museum on May 7 and runs to Aug. 2. It is a travelling exhibit co-produced by the Legacy of Hope Foundation and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

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With six simple words on April 29, the Supreme Court of Canada ended a 12-year battle over the off-reserve, tax-exempt status of Treaty 8 people.

"Dismissed with costs to respondent" was the only direction from the Supreme Court to those seeking leave to argue Benoit versus the Crown before Canada's highest court.

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Kurt Ahenekew Gold lost his mother to the violence of downtown Edmonton before he was five years old.

"It's hard looking at a picture of your mother and not remembering her face," he said standing next to his younger brother Dallas, both choking back tears.

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More than half of all Aboriginal people in Canada are smokers-62 per cent, in fact, according to recent statistics.

Compare that number to the 23 per cent of smokers in the non-Aboriginal population and you can see why tobacco secession groups are beginning to take a closer look at the materials they are using to encourage Aboriginal people to butt out.

A recent poster contest run by the Alberta Native Friendship Centre Association set out to counteract the lack of culturally appropriate messaging that is used to target the Aboriginal population.

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It was a fun and educational time for the people who gathered at Portage College's McGrain Theatre in Lac La Biche on March 20 to watch Kikino Northern Lites Dancers perform the Red River Jig, the Duck Dance and the Square Dance.

The two-hour show, which included performances by singers Priscilla Morin and Northern Highway, gave the audience insight into how important the fiddle and dance were to Metis people of yesteryear.

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The Native Seniors Centre put the fun in fundraiser on March 26 when they hosted 200 people at the Polish Hall in Edmonton and treated them to the comedy stylings of the Saggy Bottom Boys and Winston Wutunee, and the music of the Jess Lee Band and Carl Quinn.

The evening included a luncheon, a silent auction and a dance.