“Take the road less traveled, follow your dreams,” said Joseph Sanchez at the New Sun Conference held at Blue Quills First Nations College at the end of May.
Sanchez is one of the Indian Group of Seven, which was honoured as part of the cultural camp, an annual weeklong celebration of Native culture, tradition, language, art and ceremony.

“Take the road less traveled, follow your dreams,” said Joseph Sanchez at the New Sun Conference held at Blue Quills First Nations College at the end of May.
Sanchez is one of the Indian Group of Seven, which was honoured as part of the cultural camp, an annual weeklong celebration of Native culture, tradition, language, art and ceremony.

An Edmonton arts festival is doing everything it can to create more opportunities for Aboriginal artists, while showcasing authentic stories that have mass appeal.
The second annual Rubaboo Arts Festival took place June 2 to 5 at the Yellow Head Brewery. Presented by the Alberta Aboriginal Arts, the event featured a variety of plays that revealed a contemporary side to First Nations expressions.

The first ever Treaty 8 Traditional Games (Kayas Nehiyaw Metawewina) was hosted by Oski Pasikoniwew Kamik School from Wabasca-Desmarais.

Joining host OPK in the June 12 events were teams from Sucker Creek, Driftpile, Atikameg, Swan River, Sister Gloria, John Baptiste Sewepegaham, and John D’Or Prairie. The “Spirit Award” went to Driftpile School.

 “We hosted a Traditional Games workshop at OPK school to learn the games and how to make the playing equipment used to play these games,” said organizer Christine Gullion.

First Nations representation at Calgary Stampede

An “important link with Blackfoot history and culture” has made the trip from the United Kingdom to Lethbridge.
Five Blackfoot shirts will be on display at the Galt Museum and Archives, in Lethbridge, from now until the end of August.

The exhibit, entitled “Kaahsinnooniksi Aotoksisawooyawa: Our Ancestors Have Come to Visit,” showcases the hide hair shirts, decorated with porcupine quills, paint and human hair. Three of the shirts are also sacred items linked to ceremony, war and spiritual power.

Wicihitowin, which metes out government dollars to programs that serve Aboriginal needs in Edmonton, is struggling for community input.

Executive Director Lyle Frank said more community involvement is needed to accurately prioritize the demands of the Indigenous population.

“In the Aboriginal community a lot of us have got into this mode of having people do for us, and we are saying, well, if you really want change you have got to do it yourself,” said Frank. “What we are trying to do is entice them to come out and give them an opportunity to work on the issues.”

Boyle Street’s drop-in busier than ever

After three years of planning and stops and starts, a medicine wheel garden on the edge of the coulees in Lethbridge has reached the stage its creator is proud of.

 “I can’t believe the response and excitement from everybody in promoting, advertising and providing awareness about the garden. Especially the volunteers and donors have really assisted in the maintenance of the medicine wheel garden,” said Doreen Williams Freeman.

A well-established foundation is pushing Aboriginal groups to apply for funding when undertaking environmental projects.

“We do a fair bit of work with First Nations groups,” said Aurora Bonin, western Canada’s regional manager of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, an initiative created by the TD Bank Financial Group to support community-based projects.

“We’ve done quite a range of things in terms of environmental and wildlife preservation as well as working with educational programs for youth.”