First Nations recently announced they will be undertaking a campaign in opposition to Coalspur’s Vista project southeast of Hinton, which could become the largest thermal coal mine in Canada.

The Fort McKay First Nation has filed for permission to the Court of Appeal of Alberta  to appeal the approval granted by the Alberta Energy Regulator to Athabasca Oil Corp.’s Dover Commercial Project. At issue, in particular, is Fort McKay’s desire for a 20-km buffer zone around traditional territory, which would include Moose Lake reserve, Gardiner Lake and Namur Lake. The AER rejected that argument, ruling that excluding reserves as part of a buffer zone would hinder economic progress for the province and municipality and was not in the public interest.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre was the site early August of uniquely artistic kites. The Flying Buffalo Project featured kites made of canvases painted by 12 First Nations artists in Canada and the United States. Organized by SkyWindWorld, the Flying Buffalo Project is visiting numerous North American sites in its quest to highlight the historical importance of the buffalo and First Nations art. Organizers plan to see another dozen artists’ work take to the skies in 2014. Special activities continue at Head-Smashed-In with the site hosting Buffalo Harvest Days from Sept.

At the heart of the Native friendship centres movement are Aboriginal youth, the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population.

“The Friendship Centre Movement has honestly changed my life,” said Jessie Johnson, Alberta representative on the National Aboriginal Youth Council. “My life is so different — I have a place where I belong all the time, I have so much more knowledge, I have Elders to talk to and I have so many people that are just rooting for me and rooting for all the youth in Canada.”

Sitting in the bleachers in front of his grandsons waiting for the closing ceremonies of the latest Alberta Indigenous Games, Wilton Littlechild is pleased with his grandsons’ determination to choose sports and proud of what the AIG stands for. And that is why he wants to donate a complete set of his AIG medals to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, in Red Deer, where he has been inducted in the “builder” category.

“The original ideal of sport was sports and culture and this medal outlines all of that in a real good way,” he said.

A key finding in the Calgary Chamber’s Building the Workforce of Tomorrow: Employment and Career Directions for the Métis report is that Métis organizations can fill the role of solidifying relationships with government and education.

“Métis organizations seem to be the hub,” said Ben Brunnen, former director of policy and government affairs for the Chamber. “The key is to find groups providing employment support and recognizing them as the conduit … (and) they should be training arms that legitimately represent Métis people and not political objectives.”

When musician Sean Hogan heard Leonard Bearshirt from the Siksika First Nation speak about the devastation and loss people on the reserve were suffering as a result of the flooding of the Bow River in Southern Alberta, he wanted to do something.
“I felt overwhelmed and wondered what I could do to help,” he said. “I decided to do what I do best. Write a song.”

Boy raises money for children in need

Brooklin Jacobs, a 13-year-old resident of the Tsuu T’ina First Nation, recently gave $1,500 to Christian Children’s Fund of Canada and Make a Wish Foundation. The youngster raised the money by performing his Michael Jackson dance moves in front of an eager crowd at Sarcee Seven Chiefs Sportsplex. Brooklin and his family chose Christian Children’s Fund of Canada as a recipient organization because of its worldwide reach.

Stoney Nakoda First Nations recovering from flood

Singing about Creation and connections

The Iskwew Singers, (from left)  Fara Palmer is a Cree singer, Sandy Scofield is Métis from the Saulteaux and Cree Nations, and Krystle Pederson is also Métis and Cree, from British Columbia, performed a full concert and at several sessions during the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. The trio sang in the plains tradition about the connections between the earth, Creator, and each other. The Edmonton Folk Music Festival was held Aug. 8-11 in Gallagher Park.