Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.
Community focused with a grassroots appeal. Established in 1993 to serve the needs of the Indigenous people of Alberta.
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A bill that would force guidelines to govern their communities upon First Nations is creating an uproar across Canada. On May 7, Aboriginal people from Edmonton, Alexis, Tsuu T'ina, Saddle Lake and Drift Pile braved the cool wind and light drizzle to participate in the First Nations governance act rally, a protest against Bill C-7, Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's proposed…
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A TSO TSII KA KIMAN is a one-year program offered to Siksika members to help deal with the issues surrounding welfare dependency.
The program is offered by Siksika Family Services out of their office in Calgary and focuses on education and employment.
The program is offered in three phases.
The first phase focuses on personal development, where students…
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Since 1999, when Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, proclaimed the first Friday of May as National Aboriginal Diabetes Awareness Day, people in communities across Alberta have been walking or running their way to good health and a growing awareness of how debilitating a disease diabetes can be.
Thanks to the organizing efforts of…
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A one-year program at the Royal Alexandra Hospital under the supervision of Robert Cardinal will give one person the tools to help other people weather the storms of personal tragedy.
The hospital's Aboriginal Cultural Helper program, run through pastoral care, is looking for a special someone to train from September this year to August next year.
The program was…
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This month I visited the communities of Ermineskin, Alexander and Alexis, meeting people who are making positive changes in their communities while maintaining their traditional values and spirituality.
This column is really exciting to write and I hope it demonstrates to Sweetgrass readers that there are hundreds of people in Native communities who want to see a healthy…
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Whatever the future holds for Alan Spoonhunter, he knows it will be brighter than his past.
"Everyone told me that I couldn't do what I did, but five years later I'm almost finished my degree. It wasn't until I was almost counted out that I decided to change and prove that it is possible."
Spoonhunter recently completed his basketball career as a player at the…
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Skip Renee Sonnenberg and the Alberta rink curled their way to a second consecutive victory at the National Aboriginal Curling Championship held April 17 to 21 in Saskatoon.
Sonnenberg stole six in the eighth end against a Loon Lake rink sponsored by Makwa Sahgaiehcan, ending the game with a score of 12-3. Throwing the final stones for Makwa was Jennifer Regnier, who was…
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Kirk Buffalo believes that success begins at home with a firm set of values, a healthy respect for others and a well-developed sense of humor. He believes the home is where it all begins for the family, and, by extension, for the community at large.
Everyone is taught values as children. We need to be reminded of these values when we become adults, said the 46-year-old…
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On April 25, more than 100 people gathered at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton to honor 25 graduates of Grant MacEwan's Mental Health Diploma Program (Aboriginal Connections 2003). The graduation ceremony included a feast, cultural entertainment, a rites of passage ceremony and speeches.
Ruth Suvee is chair of the two-year diploma program. She said she…
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Carrying signs, an eagle staff, and a talking stick, a group of people who began a walk to Ottawa in Nanaimo, B.C. on April 1 arrived in Hobbema on April 24. The 10 people taking part in the Youth Suicide Prevention walk are hoping to create awareness on the topic of suicide in Aboriginal communities across Canada.
They met with chief and council at the Ermineskin band…
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The arrival of mosquitoes has never been anybody's favorite sign that the long winter is over, but since the arrival of the West Nile virus in Canada, these tiny creatures are not just an annual annoyance any more.
To deal with this threat to the Canadian public, Health Canada will be working closely with First Nations, to help prevent the spread of the virus within Native…
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To the amazement of visiting local Grade 3 students, a five-metre high tipi was erected in the main courtyard of the Vermilion campus of Lakeland College.
This activity kicked off the inaugural two-day celebration of Aboriginal Awareness Days on March 20, which followed on the heels of a larger five-day program staged a week earlier at the Lloydminster campus.
In…
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According to Health Canada, more than two million people have diabetes. The disease is responsible for the deaths of more than 5,000 people each year.
Whenever a meal is consumed, the body changes the sugars and starches in the food to energy (glucose). In order to do this, insulin, a hormone that is produced by the pancreas, is needed.
Insulin tells the body how…
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There's a balance that needs to be found between the sharing of traditional knowledge and the keeping of generational secrets. That was the message delivered by Lois Frank, a Native American Studies professor at the University of Lethbridge.
Frank, a member of the Kainai Nation, teamed up with Don Yellow Kidney of the Blackfeet in Browning, Montana, to present a workshop…
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When she was eight years old, Gerri Many Fingers sewed her first dress. It required buttons or a zipper and unable to do that, she used safety pins creatively.
Fasteners, gleaned from garage sales and flea markets, are now a trademark of Many Fingers' work.
In April, Many Fingers returned to the University of Lethbridge to oversee a fashion show of her designs as…