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PRO BONO

Dear Tuma:

I am just wondering if this practice is allowed: There will be elections for chief and councillors soon on our reserve. The receptionist is the chief's daughter and she is making campaign posters and letters for her father from the band office where she works. She is also handing them out to the public, not to mention the fact that she is using the band office supplies to work on the campaign. Another thing she is doing is handing out his re-elect pins to the public from the front desk. I don't think this is right.

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MEDIUM RARE

A few years ago, a journalist at CBC Radio asked in private if I had ever, personally, experienced racial profiling. I blinked. I pointed out the reason that I was being interviewed by CBC Radio at that time was precisely because I was an Aboriginal person and I would be asked to comment about only Aboriginal issues.

Page 16

Joshua Fraser

-Vice-president, Youth

Aboriginal Peoples' Commission

Recommends:

History of the Ojibway People

by William W. Warren

Minnesota Historical Society Press-1885

I first read History of the Ojibway People as research for a paper I was writing on Ojibway people for a college senior-level Indigenous anthropology course. As I am part Anishinabe (Ojibway), I felt it was important to have a firmly rounded grasp of the history of my people.

Page 16

Without Reservation:

Indigenous Erotica

Edited by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm

Kegedonce Press

213 pages (sc)

$24.50

Page 15

Album-

Ain't No Turnin' Back

Song-I'm A Lucky One

Label-Independent

Producer-

Jonathan Garlow

Rap group Tru Rez Crew had a good night in Toronto on Nov. 28, performing as part of the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, and then going home with awards in both of the categories in which they were nominated. The new TRC CD Ain't No Turnin' Back was named the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album, and their song I'm A Lucky One was selected Best Song/Single.

Page 14

Lucie Idlout could not think of a more appropriate person to anoint her as the new queen of Canadian Aboriginal music.

Idlout was presented with her award for best female artist at this year's Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards by Leela Gilday, who won in that category last year. Idlout and Gilday hail from the North, Idlout from Nunavut and Gilday from Yellowknife.

"I couldn't think of a better person to sort of pass the torch on to me," said Idlout, who has been living in Toronto for the past year.

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The 10th annual Canadian Aboriginal Festival was staged Nov. 28 to 30 in Toronto at SkyDome, and was arguably the best to date.

The festival is considered North America's largest Aboriginal multi-disciplined arts event, with a powwow featuring about 1,000 dancers in the grand entry alone. About 35,000 people attending the three-day event.

Page 12

Jani Lauzon has brought life to puppets on a long list of children's shows from Mr. Dressup to Tales from the Longhouse. She recently won a Gemini for her role as the puppet Seeka in Wumpa's World in the Best Performance in a Pre-School Program or Series category, the first time a Metis professional puppeteer has won the award.

Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?

Jani Lauzon: The ability to listen-unconditionally.

W: What is it that really makes you mad?

Page 11

It was approaching 5 p.m. on Day 2 of the three-day confederacy scheduled by the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa Dec. 9 to 11. The chiefs had begun plowing through a backlog of unfinished business, much of it put on the backburner for the last year or so to allow the organization to focus on the battle against the First Nations governance legislation.

Page 11

Just a few months after he was appointed chief of staff of the Assembly of First Nations, Manny Jules resigned.

He was conspicuously absent from the chiefs' meeting on Dec. 9, the opening day of the Confederacy of Nations in Ottawa. It turned out there was very good reason for his absence.