A new program that uses the traditional sharing circle and involves Elders is aiming to improve the attendance of Edmonton-area Aboriginal students who are truant.
The Aboriginal Attendance Circle program combines restorative justice and a sharing circle model to raise school attendance, lower drop-out rates and encourage high achievement among truant students, according to Charlene Hay, executive director for the Centre for Race and Culture (CRC).

A 21-year-old from southern Alberta’s Piikani First Nation is one of seven young women who have been awarded a Rose Nolan Memorial Scholarship.

The monetary contribution will enable Abby Morning Bull to concentrate on her studies in her Bachelor of Arts program at the University of Lethbridge, where she is majoring in Native American Studies.

“I was completely in awe and couldn’t believe that I’d won,” said Morning Bull. “I’ve seen the winners from past years and figured there was no way I’d win it.”

As if winning second runner-up in June’s Miss Universe Canada competition wasn’t enough excitement for Ashley Callingbull, the 20-year-old Cree beauty from Enoch has just returned from competing in the Miss Friendship International Pageant in Hubei, China.

Callingbull said she was picked by the MUC director to attend the international pageant. “You never win Miss Universe the first time around. The director sends you to international pageants to gain more experience and training, so you can come back and compete again.”

Habitat for Humanity and the First Nations Technical Services Advisory Group have struck a significant partnership that will see 10 homes built for First Nations people in Edmonton over the next few years.

Habitat has for a long time encouraged First Nations to become Habitat home owners, explained Alfred Nikolai, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, Edmonton.
“Habitat has a wonderful brand name and good relationship with corporate sponsors who see the need for First Nations housing,” said Nikolai.

The Guardian Angels have been patrolling Edmonton for the past three years, but four months ago the group was joined by a new member who brings a unique quality to their work.

Jason Peters is the only First Nations member of the Edmonton Chapter of the Guardian Angels. The volunteer safety patrol conducts walks in several neighbourhoods of the city, rides the LRT during football and hockey games, and is nearby any time events are held in and around Rexall Place. Members move around in groups of three to six.

Eleven years ago, Xstine Cook envisioned a painted mural that would honour the life of Blood woman Gloria Black Plume. Black Plume’s body was found in an alley way within the southeast Ramsey neighbourhood in Calgary in 1999. Black Plume was a mother, grandmother, aunty, and cousin who had been brutally beaten. Two men responsible for her death were acquitted of charges, with one of the men serving three years of a 10-year sentence before he was re-tried and let off.

The day after the municipal elections, Edmonton’s only Aboriginal candidate was tired and disappointed.

“The electorate are really having a difficult time with who they voted in (previously but) . . . they’re going with what they know,” said Duane Good Striker, who placed a distant fifth on a slate of five candidates in Ward 8. Incumbent Ben Henderson was returned by a margin of almost two to one over his closest competitor.

“That’s democracy,” said Good Striker. “The voters aren’t ready for any kind of real change.”

Calgary university recruits students

Katie Hope, Aboriginal and Multicultural admissions officer for the University of Calgary offers advice to students during the Blueprint For The Future career fair held on Oct. 26 in Edmonton. The event, hosted by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, is Canada’s largest Aboriginal career fair. It takes place twice a year and travels to different cities across Canada.

Amero includes city in tour

An exciting new exhibit at the University of Alberta Museums highlights the Inuit dolls created by the women of Taloyoak, a tiny hamlet in Nunavut Territory. Each doll wears an amauti, a parka common to the north where a child fits snugly in a pouch.

In Mother’s Hood: Inuit Packing Dolls of Taloyoak is an example of carrying on a culture that’s 4,000 years old, said Frannie Blondheim, associate director at the U of A Museums. The women in the area started a cooperative so they could combine their sewing skills with their livelihood.