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Recommendations will be presented by the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women at the Connie and Ty Jacobs fatality inquiry. The IAAW has gained standing at the inquiry and will base its presentation on the recently released report called Violence against Aboriginal Women.

"We have to get attention to the problems and the situations that Aboriginal women are facing, but we also want to focus on solutions," said Muriel Stanley-Venne, president of IAAW.

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It's been almost a year since a community relations group was formed in the neighboring towns of Pincher Creek and Brocket in southwestern Alberta to combat racial tensions.

The groups wants to bridge a gap that was intensified when two Native men were charged in the beating death of an elderly non-Native Pincher Creek resident. The two communities are gaining a better understanding of each others' concerns.

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The family and friends of a mother and child killed by an RCMP shotgun blast during a botched child welfare seizure are hoping that an inquiry will result in changes to the way First Nations governments and the RCMP deal with Aboriginal people.

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On Jan. 29 to 31, a distant northeastern Alberta community of about 1,500 people hosted the Fort Chipewyan Gospel Revival. The inter-denominational gathering was a first for the area. The event attracted visitors from Alberta's Aboriginal communities as far south as the Siksika and Tsuu T'ina reserves and as far north as Atikameg, Gift Lake, Fort Smith and even a few visitors from Saskatchewan, including Shell Lake and Saskatoon.

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Excitement filled the air as this year's organizers gathered to plan the Cree Nation Confederacy's fourth annual Cree Nation Gathering. The meeting, held at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre on June 9, was attended by a group of elders, organizers and guests of the confederacy.

The gathering is scheduled for July 26 to 29 and will take place at the Muskwachees Cultural and Powwow Grounds at the Erminskin reserve in Hobbema.

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The Siksika First Nation hosted the National Youth Adolescence Conference '99 entitled Wake Up Call in Calgary on June 10 to 13.

The conference, was host to more than 430 delegates, who came from as far away as British Columbia to Nova Scotia. William Sharphead Jr., one of the facilitators, traveled from his Navajo Reserve home in the United States to talk about how he dealt with his addiction to alcohol and drugs.

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Students from two First Nations schools in northeastern Alberta received an informative and educational lesson in gambling addiction at the end of May.

Students from Beaver Lake First Nation's Amisk School attended an Alberta Alcohol and Drug Commission play called King for a Day.

Performed by Calgary's Quest Theatre group, the performance has been played out 138 times to students in Grade 4 to 6 from March 1 to June 9.

The play focuses on the relationship between a brother and sister and their new friend during summer break after Grade 5.

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A symbolic run on two levels is how the two communities of Pincher Creek and Brocket celebrated National Aboriginal Day on June 21.

It was the first time since the day was declared in 1996 that Pincher Creek and the Peigan Nation have marked it together.

"As a community, we value your friendship. We value you as a community," said Pincher Creek mayor Art Bonertz, during the opening ceremonies.

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She likes to make their eyes light up.

Whether she's making a medicine bag for a Jackie Chan movie or weaving a sweetgrass basket for an Elder, Ojibway artist Lee Hillman enjoys striking a personal cord with the people who buy her handiwork.

While she does makes a living selling Aboriginal artwork, artifacts and crafts, there is often a spiritual aspect involved that is not for sale at any price, says Hillman.

Dreamcatchers are a good example.

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Talk to the Feather

There are many who wander in this world searching for the rightful place and the truth of who we are as Aboriginal people. It is these people that are spoken to by the Chief and the psuedo warriors of the people when they point to the hundreds of lives destroyed by the hungry diseases that took lives and swallowed up families. Our families, even though they were sick and thrown off the path of their own people, are still our families and our link to survival here.