Though thousands of athletes will be converging in his city soon for a multi-sport competition that he is spearheading, Mel Mercredi has a rather cool demeanour these days.

Mercredi is the manager of the Saskatchewan First Nations Winter Games, to be held in Prince Albert Apro; 20 to 25. About 4,000 athletes and support staff (coaches, managers, trainers) will participate. Competitors will be on 13 tribal council teams, representing the 74 First Nations in the province.

The four Saskatchewan women who brought the protest movement back to the grassroots through Idle No More have been recognized by an American magazine as part of its “Top 100 Global Thinkers.”

Foreign Policy’s annual list acknowledges Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, Sheelah McLean, and Nina Wilson “for demanding that Canada not leave its First Nations behind.”

The Muskowekwan First Nation is in talks to sell potash to the government of India. The First Nation sits on 25,000 hectares of land where mines are already being operated by fertilizer producers. Owning the land could make it easier for the First Nation to build the mine and give them an advantage over other entrepreneurs hoping to get into the fertilizer business as demand increases from growing economies in Asia. However, Muskowekwan First Nation must secure $3 billion in financing before the project can proceed.

(From left) Parkland College Business and Training Representative Ed Hourd looks on as Keeseekoose First Nation Chief Leonard Keshane and Parkland College Director of Training and Business Development Michael Cameron sign a Memorandum of Understanding that builds on the college’s commitment to partnering with First Nations in East Central Saskatchewan. The five-year MOU lays out terms and directives by which both parties will work to secure training allowances for students learning on-reserve.