History making all over again

Page 5

Terrying around

Tansi!

If ya weren't there, ya missed being part of history. I'm speaking, of course, about the Treaty 8 Commemorative that transpired June 17-21 at Grouard and Sucker Creek Reserve. It was a wonderful occasion for many who took the opportunity to make their way to this, the last treaty that was signed in the 19th century and, believe you me, you'll have to wait another hundred years for such a festivity to happen again. Well, not quite. They'll likely have a big celebration to mark the 150th anniversary.

A couple of competitions one might want to consider is the annual Peace Hills Art Contest, their 17th annual contest. The deadline for submissions is September 10.

The other contest is for a logo for the Red Road Healing Society (780-471-3220) in Edmonton. Deadline for this competition closes on July 31.

There have been a few more elections recently. Up at Ft. Chipewyan, there was a bit of an upset June 28 with young George Poitras getting in as the new chief. He garnered 151 votes to out-distance his nearest rival, Steve Courtoreille, with 135. Next closest was Alice Martin with 125 votes, followed by Margaret Whiteknife with 91.

New council members are; Alec Courtoreille, Vitaline Jenner, Matthew Lepine, Roxanne (Simpson) Marcel, Charles W. Simpson and Theresa Tuccaro. All terms are for three years.

Poitras said he felt "pretty confident" about the elections, especially since a lot of the band members had told him they supported him. One of his main priorities falls in the area of education and training. "A lot of our people, he explained, "don't have the skills" to compete for jobs. He'd like to see that picture change.

Poitras, for those who don't know, used to live in Edmonton where he was the executive director for the Feather of Hope Society.

July 26 to 29 are the dates for the 4th Annual Cree Nation Gathering at the Ermineskin Reserve at Hobbema. As well, they have their powwow on July 31-August 1.

At a recent meeting on the Enoch Reserve, the Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta formed a special sub-committee that will look into the potential of establishing an annual provincial winter and/or summer games for the province's Aboriginal population. These might possibly serve as a replacement for the usual qualifiers to the North American Indigenous Games. The council welcomes ideas and suggestions from any of the Metis or Indian communities around the province. They also welcome nominations for their sports Hall of Fame.

Canadian cruiserweight boxing champion Willard Lewis was named the Canadian Boxer of the Year by the Canadian Professional Boxing Federation. The unanimous decision saw Lewis, who lives at Hobbema, beat out such highly rated individuals as Olympic silver medalist David Defiagbon and Fitzroy Vanderpool. If you want to see young Lewis in action, he'll be the headliner on the August 14 fight card in Slave Lake at which he will be duly acknowledged for being named Canadian Boxer of the Year.

Yet another congratulations goes to Tom Ghostkeeper and his wife Martha. The couple just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at Muir Lake Community hall and a fun time it was with relatives coming in from all over the province as well as from British Columbia.

The happy couple renewed their marriage vows and folks danced up a storm. Tom is the former assistant to MLA Mike Cardinal and is now Senior Appeals Advisor/Tribunal Secretary for the Metis Settlements Appeal Tribunal.