The walls shook with their stomping feet, reads a message from Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children & Youth. Irwin Elman was writing about his experience at a Feathers of Hope Forum last March, where more than 100 youth from 62 northern First Nations communities had gathered to share their experiences of hopelessness and poverty and talk about the issues affecting their lives.

Dear Editor:
Wow, what a day it must have been. We had clowns coming from the four directions. Some were dressed up in Kainai traditional attire, some came to see the buffoonery and the chicanery, while others thought maybe some candy apples, or cotton candy would be served.

Band councillor loved life on the land

When the long-awaited Elders’ care centre in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., opens this spring, the Mikisew Cree First Nation will dedicate it in memory of Willie Courtoreille.

The facility’s family room will be named after the long-time band councillor, who talked about his community needing the facility for the past three decades.

Updated: Feb 23, 2014

Team Canada's Carey Price defeats the USA and Sweden with shutouts in the last two games to backstop them to gold in Sochi! Congratulations Carey!

Related: NHL's Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan (from Garden River First Nation) is the head coach of the 2014 Men's Latvian Olympic hocky team.

Latvia has upset the Swiss team to now face Team Canada in the quarter finals on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

“The Air We Breathe” video has been released by the Cumulative Environmental Management Association in the Dene and Cree languages. The videos have been distributed to high schools in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to be used to educate youth about regional air issues and as a language tool for those students studying Dene and Cree. Copies have also been distributed to all the First Nations and Métis locals in the lower Athabasca Region. “When CEMA visits Aboriginal communities a main concern is the air.

Round two of Fort McMoney, an interactive documentary game developed by TOXA and the National Film Board of Canada, launched on Jan. 27. The game allows participants to take control of Fort McMurray and decide the virtual fate of the world’s largest energy project. The second round of the game features new missions and exclusive, previously unseen content. Feedback from players who participated in the first round has also been incorporated into the game. As the game unfolds, players make decisions related to the economy, politics, the environment and social issues.

A joint British Columbia-Alberta government working group says improving energy literacy, developing a First Nations engagement model and continuing talks on world class spill prevention systems are needed to spur more energy transportation between the two provinces.  The report was prepared for Premiers Alison Redford and Christy Clark and released in January. Among its recommendations is the creation of a set of principles to engage First Nations about new energy projects. However, the document speaks mostly in broad terms, providing few specifics.

Paul First Nation and Focus Equities Inc. intend to move forward with connecting the proposed 1,000 MW Great Spirit Power Project to the Alberta grid. The new combined cycle, clean burning natural gas-fired power plant is proposed for the Paul First Nation’s industrial park, with construction of the facility to be completed in 2017. Paul First Nation and Focus Equities signed a memorandum of understanding last November to jointly develop the project.

The joint venture operations between Cold Lake First Nation and Golconda Resources Ltd. is moving ahead with well licences issued for the next three wells of the 10-well program on Cold Lake First Nation lands. All three wells are to  be drilled by mid-February. The 12-31 well continues to produce approximately 65 barrels of oil per day. Sales of produced oil, as first announced on Oct. 16, 2013, continue in the normal course of operations. The 11-30 well is shut-in pending further evaluations due to limited and inconsistent production rates.

Since Jan. 29, Northland School Division has been bussing students from Gift Lake to Atikameg school. NSD shut down Gift Lake school on Jan. 14 because of air quality concerns. Gift Lake students had continued their work at home for two weeks. On Jan. 21, school division officials hosted a community meeting to discuss air quality test results and invited Alberta Health Services and Golder Associates to address questions and concerns. The long-term plan for Gift Lake students has already begun.