The good work of Dr. Maggie Hodgson, former director of Nechi Training, Research and Health Promotions Institute, and founder and national co-chair of the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation, has been recognized by Canada's Governor General Michaëlle Jean. Hodgson has been named an officer of the Order of Canada.

Young women from the Kainai reserve will participate in a fashion presentation entitled, ARTAWARENESS at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary on March 31.

They will model "wearable art," art within the context of the animated human form. This is an annual student-run event and project of Alberta College of Art and Design Student's Association (ACADSA). However, this will be a new experience and, hopefully, a positive experience for the 15 Kainai secondary school girls.

A racist comment in a Ric Dolphin story in the Western Standard about the leadership race for the ruling Alberta Conservative Party has caused his employer some headaches.

Aboriginal community leaders in Edmonton, who call themselves the Aboriginal Human Rights Commission, called a press conference at City Hall on Feb. 15. They were outraged by the following reference to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein's Metis wife in the story:

Edmonton film-maker Marie Burke takes a look into the world of traditional Native medicine with her documentary, Spirit Doctors. The National Film Board of Canada presented Spirit Doctors to a packed theatre at the Stanley A. Milner Library on Feb. 11. Burke introduced her audience to Mary and Ed Louie of southern British Columbia, two Native spirit doctors committed to age-old healing methods and ceremonial practices.

This film also explores the ongoing debate around the ethics of documenting sacred ceremonies and traditional knowledge.

Portage College held a ceremony on March 13 to honor Elsie Quintal, an instructor in the Native Footwear and Hide Tanning courses in the Native Arts and Culture program.

Quintal turns 90 this year and has shared her skills and expertise with Portage students for 28 years.
In 1998, Quintal received the Esquao Award from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women. In that same year, she received a certificate of appreciation for dedicated service to Alberta Vocational College, and the Excellence in Teaching award from the college.

A new tripartite agreement will change policing for Montana, Ermineskin and Samson First Nations in Hobbema.

A new RCMP detachment will be built at Montana reserve, and nine new Aboriginal officers will be shared between the three bands.

A two-hour lunch-time ceremony March 6 held under the glass-covered pyramid that covers the central public assembly area of Edmonton City Hall marked the latest stop on a road that may lead to good things for the city's more than 30,000 Aboriginal residents.

With each new case of Avian Influenza reported in the media, the idea that the virus responsible, H5N1, could be the cause of the next global pandemic seems more grounded in reality.

As the Aboriginal tourism sector continues to grow, so does the need for Aboriginal interpreters. These positions would be filled by people of Aboriginal decent who have the desire to tell the Aboriginal story and can do so in two new heritage sites, including Metis Crossing in northeastern Alberta and Blackfoot Crossing in the south.

Lakeland College, in collaboration with The Buffalo Spirit Alliance and The Metis Heritage Alliance Committee of Alberta, has launched a unique program in Aboriginal heritage interpretation.

After her father suffered a brain injury in a workplace accident and spent months in the hospital, April Auger knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She credits nurses at the University of Alberta Hospital for helping the family through it all.

"They really made a difference. If not for them, our family would have fallen apart. Nursing is about improving another person's life."

Now enrolled in her second year of nursing at the University of Alberta (U of A), Auger recently received a 2005 Canada Post Aboriginal Education Initiative Award worth $1,000.