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Three First Nations communities will be receiving funding for programs aimed at encouraging youth not to smoke, thanks to an anti-smoking project being funded by two tobacco companies.

The First Nations youth anti-smoking project has received $225,000 from Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco Ltd. Through the project, scheduled to begin in 2001, three First Nations communities will each receive $75,000 to fund anti-smoking exercises, activities and projects on reserve.

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When Constable Stephen Gloade observed the violence and injury to residents in two Mi'kmaq communities near his detachment because of widespread misuse of prescription drugs, and the pills that were making their way into the schools and into the hands of young children, he knew drastic action was needed immediately.

Gloade and Aboriginal community health nurse Margie Pelletier both felt the problem did not need to be contained. It needed to be wiped out.

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The story comes out slowly, but even so, it's chilling. Her granddaughter hanged herself just before her 15th birthday. The grandmother had seen no warning.

The granddaughter was a bright girl, popular in school. Everyone loved her, particularly the grandmother who was raising her and who now misses her so much it's a struggle to go on with her own life.

The big question after a suicide is always "why?" The grandmother questions. "What is happening with our young people? Does life have no value for them?"

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I walked off the plane at the Chibougamau airport in northern Quebec and heard Paul Dixon's familiar greeting: "Welcome to James Bay!"

But waiting in his truck was an unfamiliar sight... a turtle! The Dixons, a trapping family from the Cree community of Waswanipi, had found the critter hitchhiking on Highway 113, about 100 kilometres away from their community.

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People across the country will be celebrating addiction-free living Nov. 12 to 18, during the 13th annual National Addictions Awareness Week.

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The efforts of a Winnipeg woman to help Aboriginal people with disabilities access training, education and employment were officially recognized at an awards ceremony held Oct. 13

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A new program sponsored by Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) Urban First Nations is giving Aboriginal youth in Saskatoon's inner city a chance to get involved in track and field.

The Crossing Bridges: Bridge City Track Program was started earlier this year, thanks to funding from the Community Mobilization Program, part of the government of Canada's national strategy on community safety and crime prevention.

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More than 250 residents of Denver, Colorado came out to celebrate the opening of HuupuKwanum - Tupaat: Treasures of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Within the sunlit atrium of the museum, the assembled crowd witnessed the colorful display of local Kiowa, Shoshone, and Lakota singers drummers and dancers, before Ditidaht dancers Brian Tate and Ralph Edgar performed a thunderbird dance.

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The American Native Press Archives based in Little Rock aims to raise the profile of tribal writers and storytellers and promote their work. Since it started up in 1983, the organization has been the official archives of the Native American Journalists Association collection. It maintains 12 categories of records from NAJA alone, dating back to 1984. Most American and many Canadian Native publishers and journalists belong to NAJA.

Page 14

Aboriginal artists looking for help in developing their craft and promoting their work can find what they're seeking in the heart of Winnipeg at Urban Shaman Inc., Manitoba's only Aboriginal artist-run centre.

The centre, established in 1996, supports contemporary Aboriginal artists working in all mediums, offering professional development, education and training, as well as providing a forum for their art to be displayed and promoted.