The chief executive officer of the Siksika Health Services will be among those taking part in a lengthy awareness raising walk with former National Hockey League star Theo Fleury.

CEO Tyler White is one of about 10 people from the Siksika Nation who will participate in the Victor Walk.

The event, which will be staged in Ontario from May 14-23, is being held to raise awareness of the issues surrounding childhood sexual abuse.

Edmonton’s downtown Bissell Centre is making a positive impact on the lives of many people with its FASD program.

The treatment strategy is helping to eliminate or lessen the occurrence of babies being born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. But it is also helping adults who have been diagnosed with the often-disabling disorder.

After pushing both the federal and provincial governments for years for funding to study health concerns in the Fort Chipewyan area, the Mikisew Cree First Nation is bowing out of the possibility of a provincially-funded study that will do just that.

The LYNX website launched in 2008 has proven to be a perfect solution to the difficulties corporations were having in recruiting Aboriginal post-secondary graduates for positions with their companies.

Mckenzie Oliver was in Grade 8 when a passing conversation with her father first revealed her Métis bloodline. Luc Gauthier, on the other hand, has grown up proudly embracing his Métis roots.
Both teens are among the 13 Albertans honoured in March at the 2013 Alberta Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards gala.

“It means a lot to me personally,” said Oliver who was both honoured and surprised to receive it.

One grandmother has supervised visits with her granddaughter; the other grandmother does not.

One grandmother is fighting for custody of her granddaughter; the other grandmother does not have that option.

“My heart is heavy,” said Amanda Smith (last name changed to protect the identity of the child). “I cry every night.”

There’s still plenty of work to be done and money to be raised.
Yet Brantt Myhres, the former National Hockey League player who is hoping to launch an academic/hockey academy in Edmonton, is encouraged by some recent meetings.

Myhres, who is Métis, is the CEO and president of the Greater Strides Hockey Academy, a Calgary-based company which offers training programs to hockey groups.

Myhres is hoping the academy, founded in 2011, will expand and become a private school, offering academic classes as well as hockey instruction to Aboriginal youth across the country.

Dancing was part of the celebrations for Aboriginal Awareness Week at the University of Calgary.

First Nations Student Association presents Aboriginal Awareness Week

Deloria Many Grey Horses Violich of the Kainai First Nation is one of 12 recipients of the inaugural Indigenous Educator Awards.

“I feel really honoured and blessed,” said Violich. “It is an exciting time for the Indian community, being provided the space to have your own culture.”

If there is one thread that runs through Violich’s work, it is the importance of maintaining ties to traditional culture.

“Remember where you come from. Hold onto culture while existing in mainstream culture,” she said.

Artist-in-residence shares gifts