Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.

Raven's Eye

BC Raven's Eye logo

Launched in 1997. A news publication specifically designed for the Indigenous people of British Columbia and Yukon.

  • February 19, 2005
  • Deirdre Tombs, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Page 10

The Vancouver School Board is celebrating the beginning of a process to reach an Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement designed to increase the success of Aboriginal students.

An enhancement agreement is a commitment between a school district, the local Aboriginal communities and B.C.'s Ministry of Education that highlights the importance of academic performance and the…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Deirdre Tombs, Raven's Eye Writer, North Vancouver

Page 9

On Jan. 17, Canada announced that $7.8 million will be spent over the next four years to deliver training and skills development for Aboriginal people in the Vancouver construction industry.

Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport), Stephen Owen, made the announcement at the Squamish Nation Recreation Centre on behalf of Human Resources…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Debora Steel, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Page 8

The thing about being on band council is you're expected to be an expert in everything.

Solve the housing problems on reserve, the health problems, find everybody a job, create wealth for the community.

A development proposal comes across the desk. Somebody wants to build a shopping mall, a heritage centre, a casino, and they want the band's land to do it. The…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Robert Prince, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Page 7

Most people are on the run from something in the past, something they wish could have been different. Few, however, are trying to escape their very being.

It's a tough concept for most people to comprehend, but Harold Eustache knows the anguish all too well. He spent more than 50 of his 67 years trying to deny who he was, but in the end he finally accepted his reality and…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Cheryl Petten, Raven's Eye Writer, Regina

Page 6

Saskatchewan Health has changed the way it keeps track of the use of prescription drugs in the province, expanding the scope of the monitoring system to include all prescriptions filled in the province regardless of who is footing the bill.

That means prescriptions not covered under the province's drug plan, or those paid for by the federal government-including those…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Raven's Eye Staff

Page 6

One of the unique programs that will be featured at this year's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) national conference to be held in Victoria from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26 is a camping program called Whitecrow Village, headquartered in Burns Lake.

Founded by Kee Warner, Whitecrow Village brings together families coping with FASD to share stories with professionals who attend…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Debora Steel, Sweetgrass Writer, Victoria

Page 6

The 2005 FASD National Conference, to be held in Victoria from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26, will focus on equality of access to health care, education, social services and justice for those people afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, caused in the fetus by exposure to alcohol before birth.

Since 1996, the bi-annual conference, sponsored by Interprofessional Continuing…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Debora Steel, Raven's Eye Writer, Edmonton

Page 4

Legal council for Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council says Alberta's draft consultation policy on land management and resource development was developed in a high-handed and arrogant manner and is entirely unconstitutional.

Jeff Rath says the draft policy doesn't meet the standards set out in the recent Supreme Court of Canada Haida and Taku decisions.

The…

  • February 19, 2005
  • David Wiwchar, Raven's Eye Writer, Anacla, Vancouver Island

Page 3

It was 305 years ago on Jan. 26, 1700 that the West Coast of Vancouver Island was rocked by an earthquake. As night descended on the Nuu-chah-nulth communities, deep within the ocean a few miles offshore, the entire Cascadia fault exploded with such force that boats were sunk and sailors were killed by a tsunami thousands of miles across the Pacific ocean in Japan.

In the…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Debora Steel, Raven's Eye Writer, Toronto

Page 2

Expect to see a very different National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show than what you've grown accustom to in the past.

Roman Bittman, the new executive producer of the gala show, to be held this year in Saskatoon on March 31, says the elaborate sets of years gone by are out, but that's not to say the audience can't expect something "quite spectacular."

Bittman…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Debora Steel, Raven's Eye Writer, Toronto

Page 1

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation has announced the recipients of this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and only one has a connection with British Columbia.

Brenda Chambers is the recipient of this year's media and communications award. Material provided by the foundation reports she was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal Film and Television…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Deirdre Tombs, Raven's Eye Writer, Campbell River

Page 1

With an interim injunction, the British Colombia Supreme Court ordered Marine Harvest Canada to remove its Atlantic salmon smolts from its fish farm on Homalco territory in the Bute Inlet.

Justice Ian Pitfield made his ruling Dec. 24, using the recent Supreme Court of Canada Haida decision, stating that there is precedent for Homalco to argue the community was not properly…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Deirdre Tombs, Raven's Eye Writer, Calgary

Page 11

Can you tickle people's funny bones? FunnyFest, the second largest comedy festival in Canada, is looking for Aboriginal stand-up comics.

The Calgary-based festival, which runs from April 28 to May 14, is holding a talent search every Saturday from Feb. 5 to March 26 at the Sheraton Suites Eau Claire. The festival, in its fifth year, draws comedians from around the world…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Cheryl Petten, Raven's Eye Writer, Ottawa

Page 10

The latest figures from the Regional Longitudinal Health Survey show that smoking rates among First Nations people in Canada are dropping, but we'll have to wait until the end of 2005 for researchers to tell us why.

Statistics from the 2002-03 survey put the rate of smoking among First Nations people age 20 and over at 57.6 per cent, down 4.4 per cent from survey figures…

  • February 19, 2005
  • Sheri Trapp, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver

Page 10

Youth today face many obstacles and tough decisions in their day-to-day lives. Lee Robert Mason, who is with Youth Warrior Programs based in Vancouver, knows the price to be paid when the choices made are the wrong ones.

"I lived the life I talk to the kids about. Drugs, alcohol, crime, gangs, I did it all."

Not everyone who lives the kind of life Mason did manages…