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New Brunswick's chief provincial court judge has handed conditional discharges to the participants in last October's anti-Native lobster fishing protest which took place in the waters off the Burnt Church First Nation's pier.

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There have been several significant developments in the Leonard Peltier saga this month.

The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee sent out an urgent bulletin on the afternoon of March 20 saying Peltier was missing from his cell at Leavenworth Federal Prison. Inquiries revealed that the man who is serving two life sentences after being convicted - human rights organizations all over the planet say wrongfully - of murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 had been transferred to a correctional facility in Minnesota.

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After investing many years and millions of dollars in the British Columbia Treaty Process and getting farther in the process than any of the 50 First Nations involved, the Sechelt First Nation decided on May 31 that the process just won't get them a fair and reasonable treaty.

After seven years of allowing the treaty process to unfold, the Sechelt leadership gave up hope that it will be a vehicle they can ride towards a just treaty where they are recognized as equals.

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Although the Cheam band is no longer part of the treaty process in British Columbia, the band members will be watching ongoing negotiations closely.

The Cheam band had been involved in treaty negotiations as a member of the Sto:Lo Nation, but was dropped in May.

According to Sto:Lo Nation chief negotiator Clarence Pennier, the decision to remove the Cheam band from negotiations was done to respect the wishes of the band, while allowing other members of the Sto:Lo Nation to continue in the treaty process.

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Pacheedaht/Ditidaht and Snuneymuxw, the only Vancouver Island First Nations to receive formal treaty offers, continue to negotiate towards agreements-in-principle despite Sechelt's recent withdrawal from the process and decision to go to court. Sechelt's choice gives Ditidaht and Pacheedaht, which swiftly rejected a treaty offer last October, hope that new life will be breathed into the treaty process, said Jim Christakos, Ditidaht/Pacheedaht technical negotiator.

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May 25 was an historic day for First Nations in British Columbia when three provincial Aboriginal political groups came together in unity.

The Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council organized a rally that included a march to the steps of the legislative buildings in the capital city. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit and the Alliance of Interior Chiefs were represented with much support from its members, including Elders.

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The future of the treaty process in British Columbia is in question, following a move by the Sechelt band to pull out of negotiations and instead have their claims decided in court.

The Sechelt band is the first and only First Nation in the BC Treaty Process to reach stage five, during which a final agreement is negotiated. The band completed stage four with the signing of an agreement-in-principle (AIP) in April 1999.

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The Native Education Centre in Vancouver is a private post-secondary Aboriginal college. From the beginning of a one-room school in 1967 the school is now taught in a West Coast longhouse that holds up to 250 students.

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"Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another."

- George Eliot

How many times have you been told how wonderful, unique or talented you are? How many times have you complimented a loved one with these words? Probably if you're like most people, not that often, if ever.

Yet these are exactly the words we need to hear, and thoughts that we need to believe about ourselves.

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Hiring of Aboriginal employees within the federal public service should see an increase in the future, with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) keeping a watchful eye on the government's employment equity initiatives.