Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?

Leela Gilday: I value many different qualities in my friends, including humour, openness, trustworthiness, compassion, willingness to take risks, honour, and candor. But the one quality my best friends hold in common is kindness. Having a kind heart is apparently what I value most in a friend.

W: What is it that really makes you mad?
L.G.: Injustice of all sorts—Environmental, personal and wartime, mostly.

WOLF SONGS & FIRE CHATS

I’ve come a long way in my understanding of Ojibway things. When I first returned to my people in 1978 I’d been lost in foster care and adoption for 24 years.

I knew nothing about my people or myself. But I desperately wanted to know and I asked questions all the time. When something huge is lost to you, getting a chance to reclaim it, to learn and comprehend it, becomes as vital as breathing.

THE URBANE INDIAN

Last month I talked about respect, one of the more important components of the Anishnawbe teachings known as ‘the Seven Grandfathers, all important for healthy, adult living.

And I am not just talking about Native lives. There’s enough truth here for everyone.

For those not in the know, these beliefs consist of wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility and truth, each with a special teaching behind it.

This month, I would like to talk about humility. In this case, my own.

Clement Chartier is worried that the inclusion of Métis leaders in the latest Truth and Reconciliation national event held in Saskatoon June 21 to June 24 delivers the wrong message.

Sitting next to federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan in the Circle of Reconciliation, which was comprised of representatives of the parties that signed the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, Chartier made it clear that the Métis people were neither included in that agreement nor in the apology delivered by Prime Minster Stephen Harper.

Walter Linklater choked up and wiped at his eyes as he thanked his wife Maria of 50 years for sticking with him “despite the harm I brought upon her when I was drinking.”

Linklater was taken away from his Fort Francis, Ont., home at the age of six to attend St. Margaret’s Residential School in that community. He was then carted across the county to finish his Grade 12 at Lebret Residential School in Saskatchewan.

Les Louttit, deputy grand chief of Nishinawbe Aski Nation (NAN), and Neskatanga Chief Peter Moonias aren’t holding their breath waiting for the province of Ontario to pay its tab.

On June 27, before he was elected as Ontario regional chief, NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy sent the Ontario government an invoice for $127million. The province was billed for benefits from natural resources extracted from NAN territories.

The amount was calculated over 100 years at today’s current values and represents only part of $3.2 billion owed.

It was another tough run for National Chief Shawn Atleo, who earned himself a second mandate from the chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations after three voting rounds on July 18 in Toronto.

The Atleo team was confident going into voting day, and their candidate was well ahead of the pack after the first ballot, garnering 284 votes out of 540; this compared to his next closest challenger Pam Palmater, who took 95 votes.

The result of the Assembly of First Nations election for national chief July 17 did not come as much of a surprise. Despite the manufactured drama whipped up by the media (at the urging of one particular candidate) about the deficiencies of Shawn Atleo, he received his second mandate to serve after three voting rounds.

Education Day in Saskatoon at the fourth national event hosted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission June 21 to June 24 had the largest number of youth in attendance yet.

The University of Saskatchewan has been awarded nearly $1.2 million to examine the practice of traditional First Nations culture as a healing force within substance abuse programs, and develop tools to better understand and measure the impact of these cultural practices. “While there is discussion that cultural interventions have a positive impact in helping people deal with their addictions, there is little empirical data,” said researcher Colleen Anne Dell, who holds the U of S research chair in substance abuse and will co-lead the team.