Award winners announced
The Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council has announced its top Aboriginal athletes and coaches for 2013.
Christie Lavallee, who won her share of medals at archery events, was chosen as the top female athlete. Braeden Boschman, a talented volleyball and hockey player, was selected as the top male athlete.

Also, Trisha Wilson and Farron Cochrane were named as the top female and male coaches, respectively.

Honouring Indigenous Women: Hearts of Nations, Vol. 2 was launched Feb. 12 at the Toronto Birth Centre in the city’s Regent Park. The book is a celebration of Indigenous womanhood – the joy and strength, the pain and sadness, and the challenges. The launch was presented by Muskrat Magazine, the Toronto & York Region Metis Council, and The Sound of My Heart Collective.

Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould admits the Liberals still carry some unfortunate baggage in Indian Country — particularly a bitter taste from Jean Chretien’s White Paper in 1969, when he was Indian Affairs Minister — but she maintains that a crucial way to change the system is still from the inside.

About 500 people attended the Feb. 14 Strawberry Ceremony held in Toronto to honour the more than 600 Aboriginal women who are missing or have died violent deaths, and to seek justice for the women with calls for a national inquiry.

UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, James Anaya, who toured Canada last year, said the federal government should set up a national inquiry into the “disturbing phenomenon” of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. The Harper government has so far not heeded the call.

The First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act, announced Feb. 7, has not received a better reception than its predecessor, the First Nations Education Act, proposed last October.

Even before Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled the new proposal at the Kainai High School, Treaty 7 grand chief and chief of the Kainai First Nation Charles Weaselhead was distancing himself from the announcement.

“We agreed to host this national announcement, but in no way endorse the proposed legislation in its present form,” said Weaselhead in a communique to Kainai members.

The 2014 federal budget is a good start for Aboriginal peoples, but it’s not enough.

“First Nations have been working to lift the two per cent cap since it was brought in back in 1996 and it’s not just education, it’s across the full spectrum,” said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo.

Some friendship centres still have Native or Indian in their titles, but they have been serving the entire Aboriginal population in urban centres for decades.

And with a new agreement signed between the federal government and the National Friendship Association of Canada, that overall commitment has been stepped up with significant federal funding, said NAFC executive director Jeff Cyr.

Nearly 50 years after the collapse of B.C.’s roe herring fishery, five First Nations on the West Coast of Vancouver Island have scored a major court victory after they discovered the federal government was set to end an eight-year closure to the commercial harvest.

A TV show that was born at a backyard wiener roast in Saskatchewan is in the process of busting out.

“I never expected it to go big like this. I think the sky’s the limit for this program. I see this as a national show,” said Wade Peterson, community programming manager for Access Communications. A second season is already in the works.

“The Four,” which has almost reached its midpoint for shows aired, features long-time friends Shauneen Pete, Bevann Fox, Robyn Morin and Shannon Fayant, tackling a wide-range of topics. The women are all Aboriginal.

Ahneen, sago, tansi… Namaste!?!?

By the time you read this I will be very far away, deep in India – an Indian amongst Indians you could say– once again spreading the gospel of Native culture.  Perhaps I shall be explaining why wild rice is better than basmati rice. Why bannock is better than naan. Why I prefer a Big Mac instead of a McAlootika burger. 
(NOTE: Evidently it’s difficult to slaughter and cook beef in a country where the cow is sacred, so you get a spiced potato patty at the golden arches instead).