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John Kim Bell, founder and president of the Canadian Native Arts Foundation (CNAF) hosted an official ceremony Feb. 4 to launch the first full-length Native contemporary ballet, In The Land of Spirits.

The ballet will make its debut at a gala performance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in November with a subsequent national tour extending into 1989.

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A Native family here is anxiously awaiting the arrival of an engineer to examine structural defects in the home they were evicted from last month because they failed to make mortgage payments.

The Gardiners, now living in a government trailer, had been living in a tent for six days following their eviction.

An engineer will be sent into the tiny community located 350 km northwest of Edmonton to evaluate the repairs needed to the house, said Hal O'Neil, manager of communications with Rural and Native Housing.

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Mohawk false-face mask back on display

A sacred false-face mask used by the Mohawk Indians for religious ceremonies is again on display in the Glenbow Museum's Spirit Sings exhibition.

The decision was made to allow the museum to display the artefact by a Calgary court Jan. 28. In an earlier ruling the mask had been removed after the Mohawks applied for an injunction.

In its argument, the Glenbow said the mask had been displayed in various museums for many years without objection from the Mohawks who wanted it out of the exhibition.

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How can you support the Last Stand of the Lubicon?

If nothing else, you can wear a button or pin to show where you stand. They are available from the Calgary-based Committee Against Racism, which will be organizing a number of information booths throughout Calgary, including one at the University of Alberta.

"We will be selling buttons and pins and giving away information packages," says volunteer Ellie Jelinik.

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President of the Alberta Native Women's Association Donna Weaselchild, who was removed as the national president of the Native Women's Association of Canada last year, will be replaced during a special assembly next month.

The special meeting will be held in Ottawa March 18 to 22. Weaselchild was removed after she failed to gain support of the Alberta delegation shortly after her election.

Weaselchild, a Blackfoot band member, was elected national president in June last year. She was elected president of the Alberta association in June, 1986.

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With a bonfire and white Christmas lights twinkling in the trees, Native actress Tantoo Cardinal married Hollywood actor John Lawlor on a misty Thursday night. Jan. 14.

Dressed in a purple cape and dress, Tantoo, 37, said "I do" to Lawlor, 46, who wore a B.C. Indian sweater in a ceremony that took place in the backyard Edmonton home of Cardinal's friend.

Holding candles, more than 50 guests looked on as a minister conducted the wedding.

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Windspeaker's Olympic Preview

Although the official exhibition of Native artefacts at the Glenbow Museum offers spectators an opportunity to learn the history of Aboriginal people, the Olympic program A Culture in Transition will highlight modern Indian and Metis culture.

Olympic visitors will learn much from The Spirit Sings, says Olympic coordinator Sykes Powderface, but they will learn even more about Natives from a series of exhibitions, workshops and stores he has coordinated.

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Editorial

A special celebration took place in Edmonton this week when people gathered together at the Native Pastoral Centre to honor about 15 Elders.

People packed into the tiny centre to take part in a unique and deeply spiritual celebration of eucharist in honor of God. The ceremonies opened with the burning of sweetgrass and Elders took the roles of Eucharistic ministers and servers as the wine and bread were prepared and blessed.

The ceremony finished with the Elders leading the congregation, hands linked, into a round dance.

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A Metis man, found unconscious in a Lac La Biche jail cell last spring, may have died from a neck hold put on him by a RCMP officer, a lawyer for the dead man's family argued at a fatality inquiry Jan. 27.

Const. Richard Michaud testified that he had used the hold after Jack Thompson, 29, tried to attack another prisoner but he did not apply enough force to cut off Thompson's air supply.

RCMP constables testified that Thompson was found unconscious and efforts were made to revive him. He died April 25 in the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

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Two Treaty Indians pleaded not guilty Jan. 27 to charges laid after the shooting of three elk in Kananaskis Country in early January.

Beverley Anne Dekock of High Prairie and Clarence McRee of Slave Lake were not present during the provincial court hearing but their lawyer Ken Staroszik entered their pleas.

Dekock has been charged with five counts under the Wildlife Act, while McRee faces seven charges.

The pair return to court Feb. 3 to set a trial date. If found guilty they could be fined up to $2,500 or a month in jail on each charge.