Publication tops

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The staff and contributors of Windspeaker, Canada's National Aboriginal News Source, have something to celebrate this month. Windspeaker has won first place for General Excellence in the monthly publications category at this year's Native American Journalists Association's annual assembly. The Circle, last year's winner, and Arizona Native Scene, won honorable mentions.

The NAJA awards were presented June 19 in Tempe, Arizona. NAJA is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its primary goal is to improve communications among Native people and between Native North Americans and the general public. Member publications are located across North America.

The General Excellence award was won for Windspeaker's work from April 1997 to March 1998. The publications were judged on the consistent quality of the publication in that time frame.

"Receiving recognition from other Aboriginal journalists confirms to us that we are on the right path," said Bert Crowfoot, Windspeaker publisher. "Windspeaker is the culmination of all the energy and ideas of many talented people."

This win comes as Windspeaker, and its parent organization, the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, celebrates 15 years in the publishing and communications industry. The AMMSA family includes four newspapers, Windspeaker, Alberta Sweetgrass, Saskatchewan Sage, and Raven's Eye, the newspaper of British Columbia and Yukon, plus the radio station, CFWE, The Native Perspective, serving the Aboriginal peoples of Alberta.

Windspeaker's pursuit of excellence, objectivity and independence has shaped it into an acknowledged and respected authority on the news and issues that impact the lives of the people and communities throughout Indian Country.

"We have high standards and that's another reason we've been successful," Crowfoot said.