 | Two Veterans Honoured in Remembrance Day Service On November 11, 2006 Prince Albert Grand Council honoured First Nations military veterans at the Senator Allan Bird Memorial Centre in Prince Albert with their 2nd Annual PAGC Remembrance Day Service. There were smiles of pride in abundance throughout the two-hour event that provided all with an opportunity to express their heartfelt thanks to the veterans for preserving the democratic way of life in Canada. (more) |
| PAGC Diabetes Team Share Information First Nations women in Northern Saskatchewan are facing up to twice the risk of heart disease compared to the general population. These risks are increased by the incidence of diabetes, obesity and cigarette smoking. These findings were confirmed and shared at the national diabetes conference held recently in Toronto. (more) | |
 | NLCDC Partnering With Santa Claus Children in the Athabasca Basin communities of Wollaston Lake, Black Lake, Stony Rapids and Fond du Lac should circle Sunday, December 10, 2006 on their calendars. Why? Because Santa Claus is flying there on that day in Transwest Air’s 7th Annual Santa Claus Takes Flight project. Santa will also be flying just a bit higher because of a generous $5000.00 donation by the Northern Lights Community Development Corporation. (more) |
 | Michael Ignatieff Wants Aboriginal Self-Government Framework Liberal Party of Canada leadership hopeful Michael Ignatieff chose the Prince Albert Grand Council Annual Assembly on October 23, 2006 to present his aboriginal platform and, hopefully, boost his leadership bid. He sponsored a luncheon, and while he spoke, many in the audience talked amongst themselves rather than listen to the speech of what may be a future Prime Minister of Canada outlining how his future government could improve the lives of all Aboriginal Peoples. However, the audience did applaud on several occasions during the speech. (more) |
 | Operation Christmas Child Prince Albert Academy of Learning staff and students have been busy hosting fundraising events since September 2006 for two charitable projects: Operation Christmas Child and Children’s Haven. (more) |
 | Kelowna Motion Passes in the House of Commons Gary Merasty, Member of Parliament for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, applauded the passing of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee motion calling on the Conservative government to implement the Kelowna Accord. (more) |
 | Don Deranger Wins Second Term Don Deranger, a member of Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation, won a second three-year term as Vice-Chief of Prince Albert Grand Council on October 24, 2006. The vote was conducted in conjunction with the PAGC Annual Assembly, held October 23-24. He fended off a challenge by Donald Sayazie of Black Lake Denesuline Nation who mounted a strong challenge. The vote was 129-75 by delegates from all 12 First Nations of the Grand Council. (more) |
 | Little Red Hosts Willow Awards Little Red River School, home to 270 students from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, hosted the launch of the 2006 Willow Awards launch on October 27. The objectives of the Awards are to encourage young people to read, and promote the cream of Canadian children’s literature. (more) |
 | Mississippi Choctaw Have Prospered The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) were never handed anything on a silver platter. The 9500 members have worked very hard to emerge from 130-odd years of privation to the beginnings of participation in business enterprises in the 1960s and on to modern-day success. The Choctaw have shown themselves to be astute businessmen. They are always looking ahead, are never content with the status quo, and provide a range of well-run services for their members. (more) |
 | PAGC Women's Commission Scholarships The Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission hosted its sixth annual scholarship banquet October 23, 2006 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. (more) |
 | Opaw Scholarships and Bursaries Three scholarships were recently presented to former students of Opawikoscikan High School in Pelican Narrows. (more) |
| Trudy Morin Trudy Morin of Southend, SK convocated with a Masters degree in School and Counselling Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan on October 28. She was one of four that met the Convocation requirements in that program. (more) | |
 | Sturgeon Lake Golden Eagle Awards Sturgeon Lake First Nation held its 8th Annual Golden Eagle Awards on November 2, to honour its outstanding citizens of the previous twelve months. The event was held at Sturgeon Lake Central School and emceed by Russell Badger and Elmer Ballantyne. Their delivery, replete with humour, resembled the Martin/Lewis duo in their latter years. Just kidding – the two have a chemistry that seems to be fueled by some combustible agent. Just kidding again. No, these two are funny. I mean, yes, they are funny. Not funny farm funny, but funny. (more) |
| SaskTel Internet at Dakota Whitecap As of October 25, 2006 SaskTel High Speed Internet service is now available in Whitecap Dakota First Nation. This expansion was made possible by an innovative partnership agreement between Whitecap Dakota First Nation and SaskTel. (more) | |
 | Gary Tinker Federation Receives Spirit Award On November 3, 2006 the Gary Tinker Federation for the Disabled, based in La Ronge, received its Spirit Award for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in the category of services for people with disabilities. (more) |
 | Highlights of Role Model Conference The conference commenced with an opening prayer by our PAGC Elder and Committee member Allan Longjohn, and continued with the grand entry to the singing and drumming of the Wahpeton Dakota Juniors. Leaders PAGC Grand Chief Ron Michel and PBCN Chief Harold Linklater welcomed the youth to the conference. This year’s keynote speaker was Gary Merasty, Liberal MP for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River who advised our youth to stay in school and to believe in themselves. (more) |
 | The Apprenticeship and Trades Commission Brett D’Amour, a Field Consultant with the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission of Saskatchewan, an arms-length agency of government, manned one of the booths at the PBCN/PAGC Role Model Conference and Career Fair at Prince Albert’s Exhibition Centre. A journeyman plumber/gasfitter by trade, D’Amour handles all apprenticeship issues outside of head office in Regina. (more) |
 | SaskHighways Wants Aboriginals Brad Casavant, who is Métis, is on a two-year internship program as Fleet Manager Assistant/Work Diversity Coordinator with Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation in Prince Albert. He’s not exactly an Uncle Sam, but he wants you (an Aboriginal) to work for SaskHighways. (more) |
| Bobby Bird Scholarships The 15th annual Bobby Bird Memorial Scholarship Awards were presented to 6 deserving PAGC School students from Grades 7-12 on October 24, 2006. The awards were presented in conjunction with the PAGC Annual Assembly held at the Senator Allan Bird Memorial Centre in Prince Albert. (more) | |
 | IRS Compensation Agreement The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Indian Residential School unit hosted a conference for the Assembly of First Nations November 13 & 14, 2006 in Saskatoon regarding the Indian Residential School (IRS) Compensation Settlement Agreement. (more) |
 | Fort McKay Group of Companies Raking In Fort McKay First Nation, with a band population of 500, is located 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, right in the middle of Alberta’s booming oilsands development. Over the past 20 years the First Nation has taken advantage of all opportunities to develop economic success. (more) |
| NCMHL Releases Schedule The NCMHL has released its 2006-07 playing schedule. The league is comprised of Aboriginal teams from La Ronge, Montreal Lake, Big River First Nation, Stanley Mission, and Deschambault Lake playing in 5 divisions: Female, Novice Male, Atom Male, PeeWee Male, Bantam Male, and Midget Male. (more) | |
| FSIN Executive Portfolios On November 2, 2006, FSIN Chief Lawrence Joseph issued a challenge to all governments and institutions as he unveiled his new executive team of Vice-Chiefs and their portfolio assignments. (more) | |
 | Don Carriere Looking For Aboriginal Crusaders Are you attending Carlton Comprehensive High School in 2007, and are you interested in football? Don Carriere, an assistant coach of the Carlton Comprehensive High School Junior Crusaders football team, which consists of players in Grades 9 and 10, wants you on the team. (more) |
 | Pelican Narrows Students Successfully Complete Sixteen students attended a luncheon in Pelican Narrows on Friday, November 10, 2006 to celebrate the completion of the Post Secondary Career Start program held over the past ten weeks. This program was a joint project with Northlands College and the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. Chief, Harold Linklater, Band Councillor Stanley Merasty and Social Development Director Steve Ballantyne joined Northlands College staff Beatrice Fremont, Senior Co-ordinator; Lois Coutts, Student Services Counsellor; and Jan Lentowicz, Instructor in congratulating the students for completing the program. Students who successfully completed are: Sharon Ballantyne, Louise Michel, Ken Michel, Lisa Merasty, Theola Dorion, Ronald Linklater, Olivia Custer, Crystal Sewap, Eric Ballantyne, Darrell Ballantyne, Horace Custer, Corinne Linklater, Wanda McCallum, Lucy Bloomfield, Jamie Ballantyne and Malcolm Ryan Sewap. (more) |
 | Keeping Kids Occupied Like most parents, everyday is spent sending the kids off to school and then waiting for them to arrive. If you are anything like most people in the city, it’s a struggle to ensure that our kids always have something to do. It becomes a burden for many in the urban landscape, especially if one is a student or unemployed. Thankfully, there are some programs available to urban dwellers that come in the form of the Youth Activities Project, part of Prince Albert Urban Aboriginal Strategy run by Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. (more) |
| Phil's Acimowina The top news this fall in Indian country towns and villages was the election of Lawrence Joseph to the position of Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. (more) | |
 | Chief Lawrence Joseph Speaks Newly minted Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Chief Lawrence Joseph, who was elected to office on October 25, says that no one single message got him the job of provincial chief. (more) |
 | Ron's Ramblings Early Childhood Language Development, “It’s Only a Flesh Wound”, Ed Bradley Knew No Barriers, Move Kashechewan to Timmins? Winter is Upon Us, The New James Bond and much more. (more) |
