Alberta Sweetgrass

Jingle dress dancer Vanessa Stiffarm,25, from Kainai Nation, has been crowned Calgary Stampede Treaty 7 2016 Indian Princess. She beat out Alicia Maguire and Savanna Sparvier of Siksika Nation; Jasmine Crowchief from Siksika and Piikani Nations; and Shay-Lynn Strikes With A Gun from Piikani Nation. The competitors were judged in a number of categories, including speaking, horsemanship, dancing…

Former NHL player and sexual abuse victim Sheldon Kennedy recently met with Alberta’s new mental health review board to promote the all-inclusive approach used in the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary.

It has allowed 85 workers from various disciplines to discuss each child and family case, bringing waiting times for care down to one month from eight months, and saving…

The Calgary City Police Service has launched a new tool to help in emergencies. The Vulnerable Person Self-Registry allows people with a physical, mental or medical condition that may require special attention in an emergency to voluntarily submit personal information, including name, date of birth, physical description, contact information, methods of approach or communication, photo and…

Two women have been charged in an investigation by the Blood Tribe Police Service which netted over $60,000 in street value of Oxy 80s and crack cocaine along with close to $12,000 in cash. Facing a variety of possession of drugs, trafficking, and possession of weapon charges are Brooke Shadow Creighton, 22, of Standoff, and Kayla Marie Kirton, 24, of no fixed address. Netted from a search of…

Blackstone, produced by the Edmonton-based company Prairie Dog Film + Television, is entering its fifth and final season. “We’ve had an incredible run with Blackstone on APTN, and together we have taken the show to places where we could have only dreamed of when we started,” said Ron E. Scott, executive producer, writer, and director. “The series’ final season is once again…

Reconciling Edmonton is an archival project that will be unveiled at City Hall on Nov. 25. The project uses three different media of art to tell the story of how Aboriginal peoples and settlers lived together. It is the combined work of Edmonton’s historian laureate Danielle Metcalfe-Chanail, former poet laureate Anna-Marie Soule, artist in residence Jen Yvette and Miranda Jimmy, Aboriginal…

The annual Vital Signs report, conducted by Edmonton’s Community Foundation and Social Planning council, shows significant changes within the Aboriginal community. The report identifies a number of new strengths. The graduation rate from high school saw an increase of 27 per cent in 2013 from 22 per cent 2009 in Edmonton Public schools and 50 per cent from 26 per cent in Edmonton Catholic…

The Edmonton Police Service hosted a three-day conference on exploring the challenges and finding the solutions on how to interact with and help families, who have loved ones that are murdered or missing. A number of sessions targeted working with Indigenous communities and the families of murdered and missing Indigenous women. “This is an issue that touches communities across Canada, so it’s…

Ashley Callingbull-Burnham was one of a number of guest speakers at the Sisters in Spirit Gathering held in Edmonton Sept. 28-30. The gathering continued the ongoing dialogue for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. †The vision behind the gathering was to bring families of victims, resource and service leaders, experts in various criminology and violence…

Aaron Paquette’s Lightfinder is one of three books to make the cut for this year’s Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature. Paquette’s placement in the top three will be announced on Oct. 22 at an awards ceremony hosted in partnership with the University of British Columbia. Prizes are $12,000 for first, $8,000 for second and $5,000 for third. Other…

The Keepers of the Athabasca are calling into question the province’s decision to lift a water ban that had been temporarily put in place on the Athabasca River. Due to low water levels, on July 24, the province restricted all restricted all tar sands operators on the Athabasca River from withdrawing water, except for Shell, Suncor and Syncrude. That ban was lifted Sept. 16. Jesse Cardinal,…

Four Winds Tobacco Products Inc., a company registered on Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve in Quebec, appeared before Newell County council last month to discuss setting up a cigarette manufacturing plant in Brooks. Tom O’Connell, a company consultant, said Four Winds wants to produce cigarettes for export and for three wholesalers in Ontario. The company is looking at Alberta because Quebec has…

Primco Dene Group of Companies, wholly own by Cold Lake First Nations, is expanding again.

Primco Commercial LP purchased its second Jiffylube franchise, which is located in Bonnyville. Primco is currently in the process of completing construction of a third Jiffylube franchise and carwash in the City of Cold Lake, which will open in November 2015. The award-winning company provides…

In the face of concerning studies predicting an impending water crisis in the Athabasca River Basin, the Natural Resources Defense Council is calling for the Alberta government to re-evaluate the water use licenses granted to the tar sands industry. As the government examines how best to do this, several initial steps are necessary, say NRDC staff Joshua Axelrod and

Roxane RÈgis in a…

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair highlighted the Assembly of First Nation’s open forum held at the River Cree on Enoch Cree Nation on Oct. 7. The NDP unveiled its billions of dollars’ worth of promises for its Aboriginal agenda, which included removing the two per cent funding cap; increase in funding and committed annual funding for education; funding to revitalize Indigenous languages; and funding…