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The Daily Gleaner reports that members of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians have overwhelmingly endorsed an agreement-in-principle negotiated with the Federal Government regarding status under the Indian Act. If the agreement is radified the new band could be established in 2010 and would be the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Band.
There is a television program Minik: The Lost Eskimo about five Inuit brought to New York by by explorer Robert Peary in October 1897. This program was produced by the American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and is reviewed by Henrietta Walmark in The Globe and Mail under the title, Critics Choice.
Bill Curry reports in The Globe and Mail that when Jim Prentice was Minister of Indian Affairs he ordered public servants to conclude at least 50 specific land claims and now, under Minister Strahl, that number has been achieved.
Minister Strahl, of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, has announced that Mr. Richard Edjericon will be the Chair of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.
Bruce Johnstone reports in the StarPhoenix that there is a memorandum of understanding between Encanto Resources and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations that might result in a potash mine on First Nations land.
Michael Valpy reported in the March 25, 2008, on the Anglican perception of injustice in the article "Archbishop issues stern rebuke on jailing of Natives".
Archbishop Hiltz's letter to Premier McGuinty implies that members of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation are being punished for defending traditional lands.
![[payepot cover]](http://iportal.usask.ca/docs/blog/payepot.jpg)
In McNally Robinson's Bookseller, March-April, 2008, reports that the book, Payepot and His People by Abel Watetch has been republished. It was first published in 1957.
"Watetch was a nephew of Chief Payepot and a veteran of World War I."
Ali Symons, General Synod web writer, reports that the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples (ACIP) has decided to reschedule this year's Sacred Circle until next year.
"Marie Ann Battiste, a Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq working at the University of Saskatchewan, was one of 14 recipients at a 2008 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards gala in Toronto last week. Ms. Battiste, a member of Potlo’tek First Nation in Cape Breton, won in the education category."
The code book used, by John A. Macdonald's government, during the Northwest Resistance has been put up on the web by google. Please see examples of how the code book was used.
The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Chief Larry Casper Jr. of the Seton Lake Indian Band and the Honourable Michael de Jong, British Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation announced a final agreement on a claim dating back to the early 1900s.
The Honourable Carol Skelton, M.P. for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar and the Honourable Rob Norris, Saskatchewan Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour announced $33.1 million in funding for a Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (AESP) project. The Northern Career Quest Partnership is designed to provide training and skills development for 1,500 Aboriginal people in northern Saskatchewan, leading to long-term jobs in the resource sector.
Cristin Schmitz has written an article for The Lawyers Weekly with the title, Allegations of Racism at the DOJ [Department of Justice] Cause a Stir. Problems were reported to a Senate committee examining employment equity.
On the print copy of March 7, 2008 (Vol. 27, No. 41) the article is on the front page, and follows onto page 17 with the heading, Visible minority employees have a higher turn-over rate than colleagues and discusses systemic problems.
The Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay, British Columbia is profiled on CBC Newsworld on Tuesday March 11 in the documentary, My Big Fat Diet. A distinguished Métis physician, Dr. Jay Wortman believes that the western diet is the primary cause of the growing epidemic.
The Act respecting family homes situated on First Nation reserves and matrimonial interests or rights in or to structures and lands situated on those reserves has gone through first reading on March 4, 2008. For the status please see Bill C-47 Home Page
The Glenbow Museum present an exhibition that:
"...speaks to a sense of history that shifts between truth and fact, past and present, right and wrong. The artists make us see change as an integral part of history, identity and tradition."
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation has released a major (425 page) document titled, From Truth to Reconcilation: Transforming the Legacy of Residential Schools.
Remembering the Children is a website about the March 2008 multi-city tour by Aboriginal and Church leaders to promote the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding residential schools.
Tour dates:
Joanne Hatherly of the Victoria Times Colonist reports that severe forms of arthritis are five times more common among Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal Human Resouce Council has a forum on Building Strong Aboriginal and Private Sector Partnerships on March 26-27, 2008 at the Delta Bessborough.
