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Blackfoot Chief Strater Crowfoot says he supports the 1988 Winter Olympics but sympathizes with the Lubicon land claim.

"Native land claims are issues that should be dealt with, Olympics or no Olympics. We have our own land claim concerns," he said in a prepared statement this week.

Crowfoot, elected in December, says he and his council cannot dictate the sentiments of individual band members.

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The Blackfoot band is considering taking legal action to return sacred Blackfoot objects currently in museums across the country to the band.

Blackfoot band manager, Adrian Stimson, who travelled with Calgary Mayor Ralph Klein to Europe last year to publicize the Olympics says many museums have sacred artefacts. "We can't even do our ceremonies now because some (artefacts) aren't even there," he said.

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Representatives of the Alberta Metis Nation Alliance recently spoke at a meeting of the Calgary Metis Local 14, to gain support for their splinter group.

AMNA president Ron LaRocque and vice-president Jo-Ann Daniels spoke at the assembly at the request of the local. About 25 members, including Zone 3 vice-president Peter Pelletier, listened to the speakers and expressed concern over the Metis Association of Alberta (MAA).

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A 17-year-old boy who died of exposure on his way back to his reserve in northern Manitoba was one of two youths released by a child-care agency and left to find their own way home.

Philip Michael, of the Awasis Agency, said the release of John Bighetty violated the agency's guidelines and is being investigated.

The youth was found frozen to death Jan. 29 not far from his home in Pukatawagen.

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Frogmen recovered the body of a heavy-equipment operator who plunged into a lake after the grader he was driving broke through the ice.

Francis Moosenose, 34, died Feb. 1 after plunging into Sarah Lake, about 750 km north of Yellowknife, while grading an ice road. Temperatures in the area hovered around -10 F. An investigation is being carried out to find out why the grader fell through the 30-inch-thick ice, said the N.W.T. RCMP.

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A second witness at the Marshall inquiry has accused the police officer instrumental in sending Donald Marshall to prison of lying.

RCMP Sergeant Herb Davies said yesterday that John MacIntyre, the former Sydney police chief, tried to hide a police document as the RCMP re-investigated the case in 1982.

MacIntyre has denied that he ever did so.

Sgt. Davies' testimony said MacIntyre slipped a paper on to the floor behind his desk during a meeting and, when confronted, the officer turned it over.

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More than 100 groups and individuals are trying to get the Meech Lake constitutional accord changed.

Spokespersons for women's, Native, multi-cultural, a francophone and religious groups are getting set to make their pitches to the legislature committee scheduled to hold public hearings this week.

Most of the hearings will be held in Toronto but the committee plans to travel to London, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. No plans have been made to travel to western Canada.

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If the government handed self-government over to the Metis people of Alberta it would do them no good anyway because they are not prepared to manage themselves, said Saskatchewan Metis vice-president Wayne McKenzie.

"We can't just ask for self-government," he said. "We have to do our homework."

McKenzie was addressing a recent workshop of Metis Zone 3 members on the topic of self-government.

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The Mohawk nation of the Akwesasne reserve, on the Canadian-American border in Quebec, is preparing land claims to expand their nation and become the first reserve to get unequivocal self-government.

The Mohawk plan to claim ownership of the Thousand Islands is part of a claims package that already includes $1 billion worth of land in New York state.

In a statement this week Mohawk officials say they are prepared to arrest any Canadian lawman or judge who might be boating on the St. Lawrence River to show they already have jurisdiction.

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An estimated $10,000 is available for Natives who can demonstrate the talent, motivation and financial need to pursue their artistic venture, said Wanda Wuttunee, Canadian Native Arts Foundation (CNAF) regional director.

The monies are being offered in the form of grants and are available due to the success of a foundation art auction held in Calgary last November. Any Native person, status, non-status, Metis or Inuit can apply.