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Eric Shirt and Associates, a consulting firm in the area of health and nutrition, is hosting a conference entitled Nutritional Pathways to Health & Healing: Canadian National Conference. It will take place in this city from April 27 to 30.

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Ed Lavallee is the co-ordinator of the newly formed Cree Speaking Club at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre.

When he realized he was slowly losing his language, he started the club that meets every Monday from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

The idea for the club began to percolate when many of his fellow Cree-speaking friends complained they were losing their ability to speak Cree as well.

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The Alberta Aboriginal Networking Forum on Tobacco will be held March 29 to 31 at the Amiskwaciy Academy in Edmonton. Forum co-ordinator Jessica Daniels said she is expecting 120 people to attend the three-day forum presented by the Nechi Training, Research and Health Promotions Institute in partnership with the Metis Nation of Alberta, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission and Health Canada.

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Former prime minister Jean Chretien, looking fit, tanned and rested, arrived in the Federal Court of Canada Feb. 23 to testify in the Samson Cree Nation trust monies case.

He sat quietly near the Crown lawyers until he was summoned to the witness stand, exchanging waves and silent greetings with many of the observers in the crowded public gallery.

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Lifetime devoted to women's work

Monik Sioui may not be a household name, but for those fortunate enough to have known her, this woman who dedicated much of her time and energy to improving the lives of Aboriginal women and children won't soon be forgotten.

Sioui was born in Huron Village, now Wendake, Que., in 1951. Her father was Huron and her mother was Abenaki, and she grew up in the Abenaki community of Odanak.

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Dr. Ron Martin likes being his own boss. In fact, that was one of reasons why he chose a career in dentistry.

"When you're your own boss, you can set your own hours, you can work when you want to, hire who you want to. There's a lot of flexibility. If there's certain events or things happening, you can schedule around it," said Martin.

A member of the Fond-Du-Lac Denesuline First Nation, Martin was the first First Nations student to graduate from the University in Saskatchewan. That was in 1990.

Martin did not always set his sights on dentistry.

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The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) celebrated a milestone in February. It was their 20th anniversary of developing business partnerships.

"What we do really is build bridges between the Aboriginal community and the corporate sector. We develop tools and resources that can be used to engage that market place and broker relationships, whether it's between individuals, communities of Aboriginal people, or specific businesses, but that's what we do," said Jocelyne Soulodre, president and CEO of CCAB.

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The Aboriginal Police Studies certificate program offered by Grant MacEwan College can be qualified as a great success, except for the fact that nobody knows too much about it.

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Editor's note: March 7th begins International Women's Week and a celebration of the contributions that women have made around the world. Windspeaker uses the Canadian Classroom page this month for a quiz that will remind readers of the remarkable Aboriginal women who have shaped our societies with their achievements over the years. Their stories provide encouragement to all-men and women, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike.

1. Who was the first Aboriginal woman elected to the House of Commons in Canada?

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We acknowledge through the use of tobacco, incense-cedar, sage-many of these things we use to appease the spirits. It isn't the object itself. It's what they bring.

Spirits are very much attracted to smell, very much attracted to smell. Each has a different form of spirit ... We use, especially when we talk about our warriors, we use tobacco. That's the most sacred of all our herbs and medicines. We use it to appease the spirits and, in all ceremonies when we talk about the spirit world, we'll always foremost use tobacco in our strong way.