Promise of spring in the air

Page 5

Tansi! Whooee! Boy, I can't wait for spring to roll around and see all that nice green stuff blanketing our good Mother Earth.

CD released

ONOWAY-Songbird Mishi Donovan, the 1998 Juno Award winner, has just released a new CD entitled, Journey Home. Donovan informed Terrying About that the Winnipeg-based Arbor Records will pull off at least one single for market. Distribution of her CD is being done by Festival Distribution out of Vancouver. Journey Home is slated for a public release party sometime this month.

Gang attack

EDMONTON - The Aboriginal gang situation is finally being addressed at a public forum in Edmonton at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples. The March 30 and 31 conference is being co-ordinated by Marcel Peltier and is jointly sponsored by the WhiteStone Project, Sacred Heart Church and Canadian Heritage. With many Aboriginal youth being lost to gangs, this conference could not have arrived too soon and, hopefully, some very constructive results will stem from it. Organizers are particularly encouraging youth, addictions frontline workers, counsellors and teachers to try to attend. The conference will look at the impact of gangs, violence, positive support and role models, and community feedback.

Fun & games

FORT CHIPEWYAN - With winter comes carnivals. Fort Chip held one March 3 to 5 with a lot of out-of-town visitors and participants, said Margaret Flett, who co-ordinates the dog sled races.

There were eight entries in the 10-dog race, six in six-dog, five in four-dog and six in the one-dog races. Conditions, added Flett, were not really the best due to hard snow and, while the races went on Saturday, Sunday had to be cancelled due to rain! So, they went with the Saturday results for the winners.

As for the King and Queen of the carnival, victory went to Morgan Voyageur and Tammy Tuccaro. The carnival included competition in tea boiling, bannock making, moose calling, traditional dress, jigging, nail pounding, log sawing, snow shoeing, trap setting, plank racing and skidoo racing.

Icicle Fest 2000 was held at Edmonton's McDougall School. Due to poor snow conditions the "snow snake" competition had to be cancelled. However, the Canadian Native Friendship Centre corner was the centre of attention with their Extreme Body Rockers rappers, Metis dancers and storytellers. There was also a special guest appearance by actor Dakota House, better known as "TeeVee" from the CBC Television series, North of 60.

Dance night

ALBERTA - Then there are the round dances, which are in full swing now. Bent Arrow will sponsor a March 18 dance at the Kingsway airport hangar in Edmonton. On the same day there's a round dance in memory of Norman Deschamps and Toby Potts at the Peter Bull Memorial Centre on Louis Bull reserve in Hobbema. March 25 will see a round dance at the Slave Lake Friendship Centre, and on March 30 there's one at Edmonton's Sacred Heart Church.

The Aboriginal students at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton hold a round dance on April 7 at the hangar on Kingsway, and on April 8 there is a dance at the Boyle Street Community Centre and one at the Alexis reserve in memory of Desi Bruno.

PEERLESS LAKE - The Neeyanan Community Association is inviting people to its March 30 and 31 family wellness gathering, said association vice-president Helen Starr, who also happens to be the director of programming.

The community has been working tirelessly for more than a year to get a healing centre off the ground. That is finally in the works with a doublewide trailer being donated this spring. Starr speaks excitedly about the venture, which will also meet the healing needs of residential school survivors and their descendents. Funds for programs are coming from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, Waln Foundation, Native Counselling Services, corporate donors and so on. It is very much a "partnership-type" thing, she added.

In the past, a lot of programs came in from the outside but the community was not seeng any results. Now it is, Starr claimed, and largely because the controls are community-based.

Basketball

SIKSIKA - Basketball, as anyone in the southern part of the province knows, is a huge attraction. Unfortunately, the tournament planned by Siksika high school in February had to be put over to March 24 and 25 because of the passing of Rev. Arthur Ayoungman Sr.

The tourney will be at the high school and the Deerfoot Sportsplex, reported Scotty Many Guns, who said the teams will come from as far away as Browning and Fort Belknap, Montana. The Kainai Warriors, Kainai Braves, Kihew Asiniy from Saddle Lake, the Siksika Suns and the Treaty 7 All Star Team are expected to participate.

As for the Siksika 21st annual Senior Men's Basketball Tournament and the 6th annual Hockey Tournament, those are set for March 30 to April 1. But, that's not all.

For the first time in its history, the National Indian Athletic Association's basketball tournament will be hosted in Canada. Siksika has been given the green light to host the 2001 nationals, which will likely take place in Calgary, said Many Guns.

Powwow

EDMONTON - One of the first powwows of the year in the province is just around the corner. The Aboriginal Student Council at the University of Alberta will host dancers on April 1. It is their fourth annual powwow and begins with a noon grand entry at the Butterdome. It will feature a feast and giveaway, pay the first 15 drums and dancers, and have Hobbema's Battle Lake as host drum and Saskatchewan's Wild Horse as honourary drum.