Wayne Pamajewon is unhappy right now with his community’s custom election and Elders tribunal processes.

Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Jacob Pratt: I just appreciate friends that you, even if you don’t need them, they would be there if you ever needed them. Somebody who is trustworthy and loyal. A real friend is more like a sister or a brother, not just a friend.

W: What is it that really makes you mad?
J.P.: Many things can make people mad but like other First Nation/Native American people racism and blind ignorance really bothers me.

Sacobie joins hall

Despite getting injured mere minutes before her gold-medal match, Daley Forbes was able to persevere and win yet another Canadian wrestling championship.
Forbes, an 18-year-old who lives in Port Alberni, B.C., captured the gold medal in the juvenile girls’ 75-kilogram category at the nationals, which concluded April 14 in Fredericton, N.B. For Forbes, a member of the Hesquiaht First Nation, this marked the third straight year she won a Canadian title.

“Over reaction” followed by the federal government’s refusal to meet with chief and council has forced Attawapiskat First Nation to continue with court action it initiated in January.

“What was done to us was the wrong way of recognizing our kind of emergency,” said Chief Theresa Spence.

Most people who survive a heart attack change their diets and cut back on strenuous activities; after surgery, they are almost as good as new.

But not Don Patrick Martin, a classically trained musician from the Mohawk First Nation of Kahnawake. After suffering from a heart attack last summer, he can’t do the simple things most of us take for granted.

David Chartrand, vice-president of the Métis National Council, said the federal government is finally listening to the concerns of the three major national Aboriginal organizations in cutting all funding to the National Aboriginal Health Organization.

In the 2012 federal budget, NAHO lost its full funding of $4.4 million.

Dr. Carrie Bourassa, associate professor of Indigenous health studies at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), was one of 28 leaders invited to share their views on how to improve health at the Building on Strengths Roundtable Dialogue on Aboriginal health which took place at Rideau Hall on March 27.

The chief of the northwestern Ontario community Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (K.I.) is pleased to win another battle in the world of mining. It’s the second fight for the community west of Thunder Bay which wishes to keep mining and exploration companies out of its traditional territories in their bid to protect the environment and sacred sites.

Kitsumkalum chief strategized cultural and political renewal

Former Kitsumkalum Chief Clifford Bolton was a master carver, known for gallery and museum-quality art. His 1987 event to amalgamate his people and thwart government interference was politically creative.