Achievements recognized at annual awards gala

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The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards gala was held in Vancouver on Jan. 27 and many performers in the stage show are very familiar to the Native community on the Prairies.

Shane Yellowbird, a country singer who hails from Hobbema, Alta. took part in the event that served to honor 14 Inuit, Metis or First Nations people who have excelled in a variety of areas and categories. Yellowbird, whose new CD is due out this year, sang his single release Beautiful Concept to an appreciative crowd. Also on the agenda was Wayne Lavallee (Cree/Metis) who closed the event with a rendition of Savanna, a song off of his CD Green Dress, which won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award in 2004.

Perhaps the most familiar to Prairie audiences was the show's co-host Lorne Cardinal of Sucker Creek, Alta., who plays Constable Davis Quinton on the CTV hit sitcom Corner Gas set in small-town Saskatchewan. He teamed up with his real-life partner Cherie Maracle to share hosting duties.

Other performers included Inuit rocker Lucie Idlout, rappers Rapsure Risin', the Git Hayetsk Dancers, and performance artist Skeena Reece.

The theme of this year's awards show was transformation and executive producer Roman Bittman used the story Raven Stole The Sun, the tale of the creature that brings light to the people of the earth, as the basis of his elaborate set. The story was also told through two performances by the Raven Spirit Dance Company.

Coast Salish carvings and colors also inspired the set design, which featured a grove of giant trees as one would see when visiting the wooded areas of British Columbia.

The gala is produced by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The black-tie affair hosts about 2,500 people from the Aboriginal community, corporate and public sectors. Among the guests found mingling before and after the show were Dr. David Suzuki, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine.

Saskatchewan's award recipients were Jim Sinclair, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson who received the award in the area of Law and Justice. The Youth award went to Andrea Dykstra of Pictou Landing, N.S. Other recipients were Jane Ash Poitras (Arts and Culture), Dr. Herb Belcourt (Business) and George Tuccaro (Media and Communications), Taiaiake Alfred (Education), Tony Belcourt (Public Service), Bernd Christmas (Business and Commerce), Gladys Taylor Cook (Heritage and Spirituality), Myra Cree (Media and Communications), Billy Day (Environment), Wendy Grant-John (Community Development) and Shirley Firth Larsson (Sports).