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Windspeaker Publication

Windspeaker Publication

Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.

  • November 5, 2004
  • Deirdre Tombs, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Edmonton

Page 22

The two conventional approaches used to fight obesity just don't work well, said Noreen Willows, an assistant professor of community nutrition at the University of Alberta (U of A).

"Well, it's easy, you just get off the couch and exercise, right? So you just tell your children to stop watching TV, don't play video games and play. It's easy, easy, easy. The other one is…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Deirdre Tombs, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Fredericton

Page 21

Aboriginal children are not just overweight they are becoming obese. That's a trend Chief Harold Sappier Memorial Elementary School in New Brunswick wants to end.

This fall the St. Mary's First Nation school discouraged students from bringing pop and chips in their lunches, effectively eliminating junk food from the school. The school then introduced a new physical…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Zebedee Nungak, Windspeaker Columnist

Page 18

NASIVVIK

Among the catalogue of present-day problems that confront the Arctic, garbage has bullied itself onto the list as one of the monumental ones. Inuit all over are now living in surroundings marked by great quantities of garbage. This applies not only in the towns, but also "out on the land." Modern garbage is everywhere and is made of long-lasting, almost…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Tuma Young, Windspeaker Columnist

Page 18

PRO BONO

Dear Tuma:

In your last column, you wrote about custom adoptions. What is a custom adoption and how is it done?

Looking To Adopt

Dear Looking:

A custom adoption is an adoption of a child. It is usually done in the traditional manner, following the traditional law, rules or guidelines of the tribe or band. It is seen as an informal…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Drew Hayden Taylor, Windspeaker Columnist

Page 18

THE URBANE INDIAN

Surprisingly, Toronto and Washington, D.C. have much in common. Both have muddy, dirty rivers-ours is the Don and theirs the Potomac. Each has its own large phallic symbol looking down benignly over the city-the CN Tower and the Washington Monument. (Ours is bigger, not that it matters, I'm told.)

But Washington has something we don't have. It now…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Joan Taillon, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Nashville TN

Page 17

Jill Paquette's self-titled debut album garnered awards for Outstanding Christian Recording and for Outstanding Aboriginal Recording at the 2004 Western Canadian Music Awards on Oct. 3.

The emerging artist beat out the likes of Burnt (Project 1-The Avenue); Kimberly Dawn (I'm Going Home); Eagle & Hawk (Mother Earth); and Wayne Lavallee (Green Dress) in the Outstanding…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Windspeaker Staff

Page 15

Artist-Santee Smith

Album-Kaha:wi

Song-Konnoronhkwa

Label-Independent

Producer-Bob Doidge and Santee Smith

Kaha:wi is a traditional Mohawk name that translates as She Carries. It was the name of Santee Smith's grandmother Rita Vyse and was passed on to Smith's daughter. It is also the name Smith chose for the dance production she created and…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Joan Taillon, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Toronto

Page 14

Big business is solidly behind a new initiative to include Aboriginal and visible minority suppliers in their materials procurement chain, because it makes good business sense to do so, according to one of two Aboriginal board members of the newly launched Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC).

CAMSC, based on an American supplier council model, was…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Debora Steel, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Enoch Nation, Alta.

Page 13

It was a day to celebrate hard work, persistence and struggle for members of the Enoch Cree First Nation as the sod was turned on a multi-million gaming and entertainment project to be located on the eastern edge of Enoch territory on the fringes of west Edmonton.

There was much talk of hope and promise on Oct. 7 as Chief Ron Morin welcomed leaders of industry, government…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Sam Laskaris, Windspeaker Contributor, Uncasville Conn.

Page 13

First Denver, Colorado in 2006, then Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island in 2008. That's the line-up for the next North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).

British Columbia officials are thrilled Cowichan Valley, with a population of 75,000 people found in 11 small communities, has been selected to host. The official announcement was made Oct. 22 following a NAIG council…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Cheryl Petten, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Saskatoon

Page 11

The Metis Nation-Saskatchewan (MNS) has put its recent election problems behind it and is ready to move on, but the provincial and federal governments aren't quite ready to follow suit.

Both levels of government are continuing to withhold funding to the provincial Metis organization, and that isn't likely to change until a final report on whether its May 26 election was…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Forest Ont.

Page 10

The decision has been made to keep an audiotape described as "explosive" from the public just a little while longer.

That was the result of a long, closed session involving Chief Commissioner Sidney Linden and about two dozen lawyers who represent various parties with standing at the Ipperwash inquiry into the death of Anthony (Dudley) George. Lawyers cannot discuss…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer

Page 10

Councillor Dave General, who gained national notoriety when he accused National Chief Phil Fontaine of "grovelling" before then-Indian Affairs minister Andy Mitchell at this year's spring confederacy of the Assembly of First Nation, is seen as the heir apparent to Chief Roberta Jamieson in the top job on Six Nations of the Grand River territory in Ontario.

While community…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Six Nations of the Grand River Ont.

Page 10

Canada's most populous First Nation will have a new chief on Nov. 20. Chief Roberta Jamieson announced in early October she will not seek a second term as chief of Six Nations.

The former Ontario ombudsman and the first Native woman in Canada to earn a law degree ran second to Phil Fontaine in the July 2003 campaign for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN…

  • November 5, 2004
  • Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Saskatoon

Page 9

Just as the 14th anniversary of Neil Stonechild's death was approaching, the report from the inquiry into his suspicious death was released and spells out plainly that police activities in the final hours of the 17-year-old's life were highly questionable.

Stonechild's frozen body was found on the outskirts of Saskatoon in an industrial area on Nov. 29, 1990. Inquiry chief…