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From the shade of the mighty pine tree I shall emerge with the gifts the Creator has given me.

The emergence of First Nations schools throughout Canada since 1973, with the acceptance of the policy entitled "Indian Control of Indian Education," created a situation where First Nations educators came face to face with some very harsh realities.

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Dear Editor:

The letter "Suicide is the fault of the parent" published in Windspeaker, December 1999 edition, really disturbed me.

I suppose it was the parents that told themselves to live in the most desolate and barren lands so they could create a reserve. These people were told to live there and make the best of it. The government made up these reserves. You do not see fresh water lakes, green trees, and fresh green grass here.

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Dear Editor: Boo-shoo!

I'm writing today to discuss your article "Solving the Indian problem" by Taiaiake Alfred published in Windspeaker, February 2000 edition. I have problems with what you are saying about developing our own membership. With your own community as an example, you put forward the question: "Is it wrong to tell your own people they must marry an Indigenous person?" and the other questions in the same line of thought.

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Dear Editor: Re: Obituary for Ed Burnstick, February 2000 issue, Windspeaker.

In May 1999, I invited Ed Burnstick to share his experiences with our class.

"No problem," he said without hesitation. On his way to Montana, he modified his itinerary and schedule to talk to Native media workers who came to Regina from various regions of Canada.

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Just who are these government officials that the Grand Council of Crees is calling treaty busters, and who are the big business cohorts that will be slapping each other on the back when every last tree is cut down in Quebec?

They're educated, but not too smart. Maybe when they run out of secluded places to build their summer mansions and all their docks sit six feet above the water line they'll see the light. When there's no more river to float their bateaux! Lawyers and forest products companies. And two levels of government as enablers.

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Tony Merchant sees a pattern in the actions of Department of Justice lawyers as they deal with residential school damage claims and, if the Regina lawyer's charges are accurate, school survivors should know they're under attack.

Published reports in mid-February revealed that the RCMP has been forced to go to court to regain or keep control of records of criminal investigations conducted in response to complaints filed by residential school victims.

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An Ontario member of parliament says he will call for the disbanding of the provincial natural resources Lake Huron unit if a fisheries co-management agreement with two local Native bands isn't reached shortly.

"People are getting very angry about the situation. We need to find a solution, and find one soon," said Bruce-Grey Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch.

Since a 1993 court decision upheld the fishing rights of the Bruce Peninsula's two Ojibway bands, the province and the two First Nations have been unable to reach an agreement on jurisdiction.

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Dan Ennis is a 60-year-old, self-described traditionalist member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick who sees Indian Act- implemented, elected band councils as an extension of colonialist rule.

He and an indefinite number of other members of various Maliseet and Mi'kmaq communities formed a break-away group in 1996 that they call the Wulustuk Grand Council and which Ennis says is a return to the consensus-style government Indians had before European contact.

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Lawyers working for the Assembly of First Nations are in the process of analyzing proposed changes to the Indian Act. The changes are addressed in Bill C-23, the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, which received first reading in Parliament on Feb.11. The Bill is now being fast-tracked through the legislative process.