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In spite of the relative silence over the last few weeks, plans for an organization

to represent eastern treaty nations at the national level are alive and well, says leaders of provincial organizations.

But what form the organizations will take and what will be its members is still up in the air.

"It's not clear yet so we are going to see what happened in that discussion," said Phil Fontaine, head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, referred to a treaty chief's meeting scheduled for January in Calgary.

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Elders councils should preside over criminal trials in first nations communities, a Quebec Algonquin judge told the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"That could be of practical assistance and it could be implemented very quickly in remote communities," Quebec Superior Court Justice Rejean. Paul told the committee conducting a three-year investigation into the treatment of Native people.

Paul said the Criminal Code should be amended to allow communities the choice between trying residents by the proposed councils or by the judges.

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Elders councils should preside over criminal trials in first nations communities, a Quebec Algonquin judge told the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"That could be of practical assistance and it could be implemented very quickly in remote communities," Quebec Superior Court Justice Rejean. Paul told the committee conducting a three-year investigation into the treatment of Native people.

Paul said the Criminal Code should be amended to allow communities the choice between trying residents by the proposed councils or by the judges.

Page 2

Elders councils should preside over criminal trials in first nations communities, a Quebec Algonquin judge told the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"That could be of practical assistance and it could be implemented very quickly in remote communities," Quebec Superior Court Justice Rejean. Paul told the committee conducting a three-year investigation into the treatment of Native people.

Paul said the Criminal Code should be amended to allow communities the choice between trying residents by the proposed councils or by the judges.

Page 2

Elders councils should preside over criminal trials in first nations communities, a Quebec Algonquin judge told the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"That could be of practical assistance and it could be implemented very quickly in remote communities," Quebec Superior Court Justice Rejean. Paul told the committee conducting a three-year investigation into the treatment of Native people.

Paul said the Criminal Code should be amended to allow communities the choice between trying residents by the proposed councils or by the judges.

Page 2

Most of the work now handled by the Indian Affairs department will be administered by first nations governments by the end of the decade, Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon said.

And Native communities will be responsible for setting the course of the devolution of powers in a set of complex self-government negotiations that will likely flow from the failed constitutional process.

"In terms of what we call machinery of government, I think there is an end in sight to the department as we know it," Siddon said.

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Self-government will have to be achieved by co-operation with the government and people of Canada rather than through declarations of sovereignty, Ovide Mercredi said.

"When I say I believe in Indian sovereignty...I don't say I believe in absolute sovereignty," the grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations said.

"There is no nation state that is absolutely sovereign. We live in a time of inter-dependence. We have to lift ourselves up and reach out to other Canadians and their governments.

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On the eve of the first North American Indigenous Games, co-organizer Charles Woods sat in his downtown Edmonton office. He was shuffling through the pages of a speech he was to deliver during the next day's opening ceremonies at the University of Alberta Butterdome. It was hard for him to concentrate.

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On the eve of the first North American Indigenous Games, co-organizer Charles Woods sat in his downtown Edmonton office. He was shuffling through the pages of a speech he was to deliver during the next day's opening ceremonies at the University of Alberta Butterdome. It was hard for him to concentrate.

Page 31

On the eve of the first North American Indigenous Games, co-organizer Charles Woods sat in his downtown Edmonton office. He was shuffling through the pages of a speech he was to deliver during the next day's opening ceremonies at the University of Alberta Butterdome. It was hard for him to concentrate.