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For the first time in band history, Sturgeon Lake has elected a woman to be their chief.

Darlene Desjarlais received 126 votes to defeat former chief Ron Sunshine and five others vying for the position. Desjarlais is believed to be only the third woman in Alberta to become chief of a band.

Her election was not without controversy. About 160 people attended a protest meeting at Sturgeon Lake, about 90 km southeast of Grande Prairie. Their concern was that Desjarlais is non-treaty, does not live on the reserve and is not a band member, according to the group.

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For the first time in band history, Sturgeon Lake has elected a woman to be their chief.

Darlene Desjarlais received 126 votes to defeat former chief Ron Sunshine and five others vying for the position. Desjarlais is believed to be only the third woman in Alberta to become chief of a band.

Her election was not without controversy. About 160 people attended a protest meeting at Sturgeon Lake, about 90 km southeast of Grande Prairie. Their concern was that Desjarlais is non-treaty, does not live on the reserve and is not a band member, according to the group.

Page 3

The land is the culture. That's the message behind Fred Fraser's symbolic land claim here in the foothills outside Calgary.

Fraser's been here in a make-shift cabin since last July. As head of a group called the Sarcee Bill C-32 Indian Band, he's hoping to force the government to deal with the rights of Bill C-31 people - people Fraser says the government created and is solely responsible for.

"They created the problem in 1984 and they need to resolve it now," he said while sitting in the fresh mountain morning outside his cabin/tent.

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The land is the culture. That's the message behind Fred Fraser's symbolic land claim here in the foothills outside Calgary.

Fraser's been here in a make-shift cabin since last July. As head of a group called the Sarcee Bill C-32 Indian Band, he's hoping to force the government to deal with the rights of Bill C-31 people - people Fraser says the government created and is solely responsible for.

"They created the problem in 1984 and they need to resolve it now," he said while sitting in the fresh mountain morning outside his cabin/tent.

Page 2

The Native Women's Association came out swinging against the report of the Assembly of First Nations' Circle on the Constitution, saying it is not a true reflection

of the Native community's grassroots.

In an association media release, circle commissioner Sharon McIvor slams To the Source for misrepresenting community attitudes towards Quebec, the treaties and the Charter of Rights.

Page 2

The Native Women's Association came out swinging against the report of the Assembly of First Nations' Circle on the Constitution, saying it is not a true reflection

of the Native community's grassroots.

In an association media release, circle commissioner Sharon McIvor slams To the Source for misrepresenting community attitudes towards Quebec, the treaties and the Charter of Rights.

Page 2

The creation of an Inuit homeland in the eastern Arctic is a step closer to reality after 54 per cent of voters approved a boundary to divide the Northwest Territories.

The east saw a record 73 per cent of voters turned out. They supported a boundary for a third Canadian territory to be called Nunavut, meaning "our land" in Inuktitut, by a nine-to-one margin.

Page 2

The creation of an Inuit homeland in the eastern Arctic is a step closer to reality after 54 per cent of voters approved a boundary to divide the Northwest Territories.

The east saw a record 73 per cent of voters turned out. They supported a boundary for a third Canadian territory to be called Nunavut, meaning "our land" in Inuktitut, by a nine-to-one margin.

Page 2

It could happen in Atlanta in 1996: Native athletes from across America competing in the world's largest sporting event as their own team.

That's the dream of Matt Spencer, a former sportswriter from Bedford, Mass., who set up an organization called Union with Native Athletes from across the U.S. to achieve the goal.

"A symbolic Olympic nation would be a great inspiration to many American Indians," said Spencer, who plans to start lobbying the International Olympic Committee at the end of the summer.

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It could happen in Atlanta in 1996: Native athletes from across America competing in the world's largest sporting event as their own team.

That's the dream of Matt Spencer, a former sportswriter from Bedford, Mass., who set up an organization called Union with Native Athletes from across the U.S. to achieve the goal.

"A symbolic Olympic nation would be a great inspiration to many American Indians," said Spencer, who plans to start lobbying the International Olympic Committee at the end of the summer.