Led by Commissioner Edna Elias of Nunavut, this past May, five courageous women set out on a 224-km trek from Bay Chimo to Cambridge Bay to raise money for the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton.

 “It was in my bucket list to someday do a long distance walk,” said Elias.

When she lost a younger sister to breast cancer, Elias was inspired. Her sister had been treated at the Cross Cancer Institute.

The Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre is moving into the second phase of its Legacy of Our Elders project.

Wil Belcourt, the centre’s executive director, is one of the first to admit that even amongst today’s adult population, there are many who have not heard the stories, legends or their own cultural heritage from their predecessors.

How can you portray the tragedy of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in a 60-second film? That is the challenge facing co-directors Jesse Gouchey and Xstine Cook.

A vision, support from Alberta First Nations, and blueprints for a ceremonial lodge are all reasons why it is time for the Manitou Stone to be repatriated.

“Somebody had a vision last winter and they asked me if they could go for it and I said yes, sure … take another run at getting the rock out of that museum,” said Vincent Steinhauer, president of the Blue Quills First Nation College.

Bluebird Chloe Mustooch, 20, of Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation, with two of her four panels which will be displayed at intersections along 111 street in south Edmonton between the Southgate and Century Park LRT stations. Artists Aaron Paquette and Jason Carter joined Mustooch in creating 15 panels for display. The $50,000 project was the result of a partnership between the Edmonton Arts Council and City of Edmonton Transportation Department.

The findings of a study looking at the social determinants of health for Aboriginal families residing in Edmonton reflect similar circumstances for Aboriginal families living in other urban centres in Alberta.

“This being a trend in Edmonton, we would expect the same barriers in Calgary, for example, and partially because we also see it in our non-Aboriginal population,” said Dr. Laura Templeton, with the University of Alberta and one of three lead authors of the Families First Edmonton study, a community-university partnership.

April Tuccaro’s son will only get to know his mother through stories told by her family and friends. The boy was 14 months old when Tuccaro went missing two years ago. On Sept. 1, Tuccaro’s remains were found in a field by horseback riders 12 km east of Leduc.  Her death has been deemed suspicious. She was 20.

Tuccaro was reported missing Aug. 20, 2010, two days after she accepted a ride with an unknown man. Her destination was Edmonton.  She was last seen in the early evening hours on Aug. 18 in Leduc county.

A “heads-up” from the provincial government to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation about the pending announcement of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan was a telephone conference call the day prior to the release of the final version.

Chief Allan Adam and council were “very disappointed” with the treatment, which included little discussion and no advanced copy of the plan, says Eriel Deranger, spokesperson for Adam.