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Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.
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Metis self-government and self-sufficiency is a step closer to reality with the second reading of legislative bills aimed at giving Alberta's eight northern Metis homelands greater autonomy and a 17-year funding package.
Once becoming law the four bills will provide a special form of Metis local government, a finance package worth $310 million and protection of Metis lands…
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Siksika Nation has passed a Band Council Resolution to withdraw from participating in the visit of Queen Elizabeth 2 to Calgary.
The band said Indians were relegated to a token position for the June 29 royal visit.
Kathleen McHugh, portfolio holder of communications for Siksika, said the Indians hadn't been invited to any functions. Their participation was limited…
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Tears flowed and angry words erupted at the Provincial Museum of Alberta as Blackfeet Indians accused Robert Scriver of selling them out.
Scriver sold his collection of Blackfoot artifacts to the museum for $1.1 million (U.S.). The exhibit opened June 4.
Over 40 delegates from Indian bands in southern Alberta and Browning, Montana met with museum officials to demand…
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Furious Blackfeet Indians stormed out of the Provincial Museum of Alberta Wednesday vowing to return with their lawyers after a brief struggle with security guards over sacred Indian bundles brought recently from a Montana collector.
During an unplanned ceremony to "smudge" one of the medicine pipe bundles on display at the Scriver exhibit, museum director Phil Stepney got…
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The first Alberta Native to test positive for the virus which often leads to AIDS is spearheading a national campaign to educate aboriginal people about the deadly disease. He's just praying he'll be around to see it through.
Ken Ward, an Enoch reserve Indian who gained national attention after revealing in March he had tested HIV-positive is helping set up the Feather of…
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An $873-million government plan to help create business opportunities and employment for Canada's Native people was put into action with the recent appointment of three aboriginal economic development boards across the country.
Tom Hockin, minister of state for small business and tourism, said the Canadian Aboriginal Economic Development (CAED) strategy will strengthen…
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Where else but the Native perspective's annual Good Times Jamboree could you get three full days of great entertainment for only $40!
A host of bands could be enjoyed at the fourth annual jamboree held in Lac la Biche May 18-20.
Entertainers included the Weekend Warriors from Valleyview, six-time western Canadian fiddling champ Reg Bouvette, Freddy Pelletier and…
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The oldest member of the Peigan Nation celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by family and friends.
More than 300 people from the Blood, Peigan, Blackfoot and Stoney Tribes attended the feast and powwow held June 2 in honor of elder Jim Morning Bull.
About 11 drum groups and 75 dancers participated in the traditional powwow held at the Peigan Community Center.…
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Much debate has raged about whether medicine bundles should be returned to Indian people or kept in museums and put on public display. The debate was highlighted during the Calgary Glenbow Museum's 1988 Spirit of the Rainboe display which featured sacred Blackfoot ceremonial masks.
A Native spiritualist originally from Wabasca feels museums are not a place to store or…
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The Drumheller Native Brotherhood met May 10 with the Task Force on the Criminal Justice System and its impact on Native people of Alberta. The Fifth Estate was well represented and we got credible media coverage. Our statements about what we considered important received adequate attention and coverage. Now all that remains to be seen is the priority the government will place on…
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In two recent rulings the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld aboriginal rights under centuries-old treaties, even when they clash with federal and provincial laws.
The rulings will help Canada's 500,000 status Indians in their chronic struggles over land claims, affecting such projects as the James Bay hydroelectric dam in Quebec and logging plans in the Temagami area of…
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Alberta's Native elders don't want idle promises and false hopes from their people who are forced to bend to Canadian laws. As judicial revelations have unfolded across the nation, their greatest fears have become a reality.
The names of Donald Marshall, Helen Betty Osborne and J.J. Harper all surfaced during the opening day session of the aboriginal policing services…
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Publicly Blackfoot Indian leaders praise the efforts of the Alberta government to help preserve a part of their heritage lost when Native spirituality was taboo to early North American settlers.
But privately they fear the meaning of their sacred treasures will be lost if they remain hidden behind museum glass.
The unveiling Thursday of the largest Blackfoot…
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Plagued with a constitutional crisis, the 47th annual assembly of the Indian Association of Alberta got off to a slow start. Board members met behind closed doors to iron out their legal obligations to proceed despite the president's objections.
After a three-hour delay, assembly co-chairman Eugene Creighton announced the meeting would be held according to the schedule set…
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An historic Supreme Court of Canada decision to recognize aboriginal hunting and fishing rights will push traditional lifestyle before commercial gains and will give Indian bands the edge in negotiating future land claims with the federal government, says the nation's top Native leader.
George Erasmus, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa, said the…