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Feds to fund Aboriginal language institute

Jamie McDonell and Lesley Crossingham ? Ottawa

Native people have moved one step closer to founding an Aboriginal language institute with a promise from the Secretary of State to fund an advisory committee.

During his address to an Aboriginal language conference organized by the Assembly of First Nations Jan. 19-21, David Crombie said the committee would be formed by the organizers of the language conference to look into the form and make-up of such an institute.

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As the Olympic torch runners wind their way to Edmonton and the Calgary Winter Games loom closer on the horizon, support for the Lubicon Indian band is growing on the University of Alberta campus.

Close to 50 students met at the Heritage Lounge on the university campus to learn more about the history of the Cree land claim fight and to hear about on-campus activities in support of the Lubicons, Jan. 28.

The loosely structured action committee was made up of students and representatives of student groups and was set in motion last December.

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Evicted family leaves tent

After six days of living in a tent, a Metis family of seven, who were evicted from their house, have moved into a government trailer.

Louise Gardiner, her husband and five children, ranging in age from two to 16, had been living in the tent near their empty house for the past week after being evicted by the RCMP and a sheriff.

"It was a helluva way to wake up," says Louise Gardiner in a telephone interview from her Grouard location, 350 km northwest of Edmonton.

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A Cree actor appearing in Theatre Calgary's Olympic arts festival production of Walsh is demanding an apology from Calgary police and the city, claiming he was roughed up by police.

Ron Cook, originally from Manitoba and now living in Toronto, had demanded an apology after being taken to jail by the police for being drunk in a public place. Cook was not arrested.

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For the past eight years, the Native Law Centre of Canada has been helping to open doors for Aboriginal youth in Canada by sending them to other countries.

Each year, the centre selects a handful of Aboriginal youth, age 18 to 30, to take part in its Youth International Internship program, funded through the federal government's Youth Employment Strategy (YES) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).

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In 1998, as one century was about to end and another begin, Maclean's magazine ran a list of the 100 most important Canadians in history, dividing them into 10 categories, with 10 names in each category. In the Stars category, reserved for the best in celebrity the country has had to offer, the number one spot went to Tom Longboat. And in the list of the top 10 Canadians in history overall, Longboat came in ninth spot, sharing the list with the likes of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Glenn Gould, Nellie McClung and K.C. Irving.

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Move over Superman. Step aside Spiderman and Batman. There's a new trio of heroes ready to take the comic book world by storm, and their names are Jesse, Tyra and Chad.

The three are the unlikely heroes of Sacred Circles, a comic book launched by a new comic book company, Birch Bark Comics.

Both the company and the comic book are the brainchild of Brandon Mitchell, a 23-year-old artist and entrepreneur from Listuguj, a Mi'kmaq community located in southeastern Quebec, along the border between Quebec and New Brunswick.

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QUEBEC CITY-It was a diverse group of businesses recognized on Nov. 23, as the First Peoples Business Association handed out its sixth annual Mishtapew Awards of Excellence in Quebec City.

This year's winners included businesses in the natural resource, manufacturing, cultural, financial and service sectors, with both well-established enterprises and those just getting their businesses off the ground being recognized. All of this year's winners are based in Quebec.

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Smokers in Canada's North will soon be out in the cold, thanks to some new laws and regulations limiting where they can light up.

The toughest stand against smoking is being taken in Nunavut, where the territorial legislature passed a new Tobacco Control Act in early November.

Under the act, it will be illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age or 19, or even to someone who looks like they might be under age unless that person provides identification proving he or she is of age.

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A national conference focusing on injury prevention in First Nation and Inuit communities is being planned for Winnipeg from June 9 to 12.

Towards Community Action on Aboriginal Injuries is the theme of the conference, which will bring together health workers from across Canada.