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There was a sense of anticipation in the air as more than 200 people gathered at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton March 17 for the announcement of a new major arts festival for Canada.

The Alberta Scene Festival will take place in Ottawa from April 28 to May 10, 2005 to showcase the talents of 600 of the province's finest visual artists, dancers, singers, writers, culinary artists and theatre people.

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It was a great night for Susan Aglukark on April 3. The Inuit singer won best Aboriginal recording of the year at the Juno celebration held in Edmonton April 2 to 4.

Aglukark's album Big Feeling was selected from a stellar group of nominees in the category-Sandy Scofield's Ketwam, Burnt's Burnt Project 1-The Avenue, Eagle & Hawk's Mother Earth and Whitefish Jrs.' In Honour of Percy Dreaver.

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One is a talented lacrosse player who has made his mark on the world scene. The other is a teenaged track star who has shone nationally and is hoping for glory outside of Canada some day.

Both share one thing in common. They were named the 2003 winners of the Tom Longboat Award.

Delby Powless and Deanna Sullivan were presented with their awards as the country's top Native athletes during the 31st annual Canadian Sports Awards. The event was staged March 23 in Toronto.

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The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation set up shop in Calgary April 4 to pay tribute to 14 accomplished members of the Native community in Canada.

The foundation's annual achievement awards gala was a lavish affair, bringing together a who's who of the Aboriginal elite and the corporate connected.

Playing host to the foundation's guests were legendary Tennessee singer Rita Coolidge and musician/actor Tom Jackson, a veteran of six of the 11 award shows the foundation has held.

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Health care worker encouraged youth

When people speak about Jean Goodwill, word like "trailblazer" and "role model" are bound to come up. Other words you are likely to hear are "dedicated", "courageous" and "healer."

Goodwill was born Jean Cuthand on Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan in 1928. Her mother died of tuberculosis shortly after Goodwill was born, and she was raised by her mother's sister Harriet Cuthand and her husband Jose.

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The sources used to build a story determine the perspective from which a story will be told. Here's a way to determine if your local newspaper or broadcast group is allowing the a wide range of voices to be heard in the work they present to the public.

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Canadian Classroom

Zahra Kazemi had made a career of taking photos that told stories, and that career brought her life to a brutal end.

The 54-year-old photo-journalist had traveled to Iran from Montreal in June 2003 to record for the world the plight of protestors, thrown in jail for taking part in student demonstrations. Kazemi was quickly arrested for doing her job. Iranian officials accused her of being a spy.

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The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) has launched a one-year campaign-Sisters in Spirit-to lobby the federal government to establish a $10-million fund for research and education related to violence against Aboriginal women.

The launch was part of Hate and Racism: Seeking Solutions, a four-day conference held March 20 to 23 and hosted by the Indigenous Bar Association (IBA) and Quebec Native Women in Montreal.

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It's not just a clash of culture, but also a clash of ideas.

That's the message Catherine Bell delivered in a speech on protection and repatriation of First Nation cultural property, given to about 100 people at Luther College's Rex Schneider Auditorium at the University of Regina on March 18.

Bell, a professor at the University of Alberta's law school in Edmonton who specializes in Aboriginal and intercultural issues, said one of the biggest flash points in Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations will be the reclamation of sacred objects.

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Buffalo Spirit

It is apparent that the radical right is getting ready to pounce on the recent success of gay and lesbian couples in the courts by launching a campaign to officially limit marriage to the bonding of a female with a male.

Of course, they plan to refer frequently to "the American heritage" and to "what the Bible tells us" in order to galvanize their followers.