Museum exhibit first of its kind

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TORONTO - The Royal Ontario Museum unveils a new exhibition of art and culture from the Heiltsuk Nation on June 21 in the museum's Gallery of Indigenous Peoples.

The exhibit features works by present-day artists, and artifacts from the museum's anthropological collections of orthwest Coast art. The exhibition includes an historical overview with a discussion of the impact of European contact on the Heiltsuk people.

Other themes explore the feelings Heiltsuk people have about the storage of their material outside of their community; and the interconnectedness of art to the family and community, to their traditional ceremonies and to their resources in the land and the sea.

Indian Affairs

LAC LA BICHE, Alta. - Reform MP Leon Benoit's private members bill to bring about an election process for First Nations communities that is the same as non-Aboriginal communities across the country isn't being taken too well in his own riding.

Benoit has introduced Bill C-431 that would see First Nations elections scrutinized using the Canada Elections Act rather than the election principles outlined in the Indian Act. Say representatives from area Aboriginal communities, the Reformer should keep his nose out of First Nations business.

Said Sam Cardinal, administrator at Heart Lake First Nation, "There is some concern [about First Nations elections], but why not let our affairs be our affairs. We don't go and tell people in Lac La Biche or any other municipality what to do." Benoit's bill is still in the initial stages and may not be discussed in Parliment for a year. A second bill dealing with Aboriginal people may be voted on within a few months.

Airdrie, Alta. Reform MP Myron Thomson introduced Bill C-222 to extablish an office for a First Nations ombudsman to handle concerns from Aboriginal people dealing with the Department of Indian Affairs.

Keep Informed

OTTAWA - The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network will launch a news program called InVision with Carol Adams, which will run weekly beginning April 16. It will contain news segments from all regions of Canada, with items filed from news bureaus in Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Yellowknife, Ottawa and Winnipeg. The program will cover news of interest to the Aboriginal community, as well as broader Canadian issues from an Aboriginal perspective. InVision with Carol Adams will be broadcast at 8 p.m. EDT every Sunday.

Taxing Matters

SASKATOON - The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has begun legal proceedings to challenge the Saskatchewan government's right to force First Nations people to pay the provincial sales tax on off-reserve purchases.

The FSIN filed the legal notice in Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon on March 21, two days after finance Minister eric Cline announced the expansion of PST charges in the provincial budget.

Adopted Out

VANCOUVER - The Canadian television premiere of The John Walkus Story will air on Vision TV on May 9 at 9 p.m. This documentary profiles a young Native adoptee and Kwakwaka'wakw artist, revealing the commitment of a young man's struggle to belong as he tries to return to the village he was forcefully taken away from as a child. While many non-Native foster and adoptive parents did their best to raise First Nations children, adoptees still suffered with a loss of heritage, language and ceremony.