A box crafted with the pain that one grandmother suffered while attending residential school sat in the centre of the first sharing circle hosted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the TRC’s inaugural national event in Winnipeg June 16 to 19.

Paul Daniels sat by himself, the Assiniboine River his backdrop at the Forks National Park, as he ate a bagged lunch courtesy of the churches.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but if it’s clearly in need of repair, roll up your sleeves and ‘get ‘er done.’ And what is clearly broke is the hosting model being employed by the North American Indigenous Games Council.

Every year that the games are to be hosted in the United States we brace ourselves for the inevitable announcement that the event has been cancelled.

After a half dozen years of being a competitive swimmer, Jessie Lilly decided to branch out.

And the 17-year-old is rather thrilled that she did. For her triathlon performances, Lilly received a Tom Longboat regional award. She was picked as Alberta’s top Aboriginal amateur female athlete for 2009 after only her first year of competing in triathlons.

Lilly, who lives in Edson, won four out of the five races she entered in her home province last year. In her only out-of-province event, held in Kelowna, she placed second.

Surprising accomplishments just keep coming for Ammon Crowfoot.
The 17-year-old, who lives in Dewinton, was recently caught off guard when he was announced as the national male recipient of the Tom Longboat Award for 2009, recognized as the country’s top Aboriginal amateur male athlete.

“I was pretty overwhelmed and shocked,” said Crowfoot, a Grade 11 student at Calgary’s Western Canada High School. “It’s a pretty amazing honour.”

Crowfoot had attended a high school in Okotoks for two years before transferring to Western Canada.

During his career and as chief of Dene Tha’ First Nation, James Ahnassay has been a strong promoter of education and on June 1, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology presented him with the Alumni Award of Distinction.

Expert researchers in Canadian resources law are encouraging Aboriginal Albertans to take a closer look at the issues surrounding one of the most valuable resources in our province.

Increasing industrial development and issues with water scarcity and decreased water quality on reserves were some of the concerns brought to the forefront on June 10 and 11, as the Canadian Institute of Resources Law hosted the “Aboriginal Peoples and the Future of Water Management in Alberta”  conference in Edmonton.

Members of the Aboriginal Health Group at the University of Alberta are hoping that $137,740 in funding from Health Canada will allow them to reach more elementary and junior high aged students in northern Alberta this fall and convince them to stay away from tobacco.

The message they’re spreading is a cultural adaptation of the original Butt Out campaign that made its way through schools in Edmonton. In 2007, the Aboriginal liaison officers with both the Edmonton public and Catholic school districts approached the Aboriginal Health Group.

The Dreamspeakers Film Festival has evolved into an attraction that draws in movie buffs from all walks of life.  In the 15th year of the event, careful selection of film screenings resonates with residents outside of the Aboriginal community.

“We are starting to get more recognition, because we are bringing more thought-provoking films to the audiences and we are starting to tap into the non-Aboriginal community,” said Dreamspeakers board member Robb Campre.

A new program at Lethbridge College is designed to educate students from all walks of life who are interested in becoming experts at helping their communities manage trust funds.

The National Aboriginal Trustee Accreditation Program is a 60-hour course that offers students the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to enhance Aboriginal fund management step-by-step.