Story: Danny Beaton, Mohawk
Photography: Ben Powless, Mohawk

As we walked out to catch the streetcar headed east on College Street, the rain was warm as it began to soak through our hair. On Saturday, June 26, 2010, we were going to join the protest of the G8 and G20 at the Legislation steps at Queens Park in Toronto, Ontario. The streetcar stopped near Grace Street, and my partner’s son’s drum teacher got on and sat in the seat in front of us. We exchanged greetings. Later in the day, we saw him drumming magnificently on his chrome snare drum belted across his chest as he and several dozen drummers and dancers celebrated the fifteen thousand concerned citizens, artists, teachers, mothers, fathers, even grandparents of all colours and backgrounds who had gathered to protest the many concerns we collectively inherited.

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By Bernie Bates

From the moment the doctor slaps you on your ass until the grim reaper calls out your name – you are nothing more than a government slave. From the cradle to the grave your assets are taxed.

Even before you were born the tax-man takes his cut from your parent’s pockets – after all health care isn’t free. The doctor charges the government and they in turn charge you; plus a small administration fee for handling, transportation and spillage. Now I don’t claim to know all of the ins and outs about our tax system, but really, who among us does? I do know this; we aren’t getting our money’s worth. There is so much wasteful squandering of our tax dollars that the government has a special bureaucratic branch just to study where your money is being misspent. There are people who do nothing all day but try and plug holes in the system. And just down the halls of power from those people is another group of people creating more and more loopholes.

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By Clint Buehler

EDMONTON – A new report has recognized that while “stranger` racism in Alberta is still abundantly evident and in many cases unchanged, “the Aboriginal community was quick to point out that discrimination is alive and well in their own communities and practiced by our own people on our own people.“

That is one of the conclusions voiced by Lewis Cardinal, co-chair of the Alberta Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice, on the release of a report on the commission`s intensive research on the subject entitled `The Aboriginal Perspective on Human Rights in Alberta.

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By Cam Martin

The heat this summer has not only caused discomfort for those without air conditioning, it has also set the stage for many forest fires. Currently, there are more than 400 active forest fires in British Columbia. These fires have caused extensive damage to homes and communities, resulting in hundreds of displaced families. Since April 1, there have been 1,272 wildfires in BC, and the fires have burned a total of 933 square kilometres.

The Tl’etinqox community near Alexis creek in central British Columbia is at the very heart of the largest and most severe wildfires of 2010. An evacuation order was recently issued for the small community, though some people stayed to keep watch over their property and to answer the phones at the government office. Over 150 members have been moved about 80 kilometres east to Williams Lake.

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By Rick Littlechild

The RBC Aboriginal Student Awards Program was launched in 1992 to help Aboriginal students complete post-secondary education and provide an opportunity for RBC to strengthen its relationship with the Aboriginal community. To date, 98 students have received the award, and $1,000,000 in scholarship funds has been awarded. RBC also considers scholarship recipients interested in financial services careers for summer and post-graduate employment.

Phil Fontaine acts as a special advisor to RBC. “Training and education help lay the groundwork for the future success of Aboriginal youth in the Canadian workforce,” he says. “The fact that RBC provides scholarship and stay-in-school programs is a testament to its deep understanding of the needs of today’s Aboriginal youth and the communities in which they live.”

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By Lloyd Dolha

A flotilla of canoes from four lower mainland First Nations will paddle down the Fraser River from Hope to Vancouver in late October to raise public awareness and support for bringing an end to the widespread practice of open-net salmon farming in the province’s coastal waters. Chiefs and leaders from the Sto:lo Nation, Squamish Nation, the Cowichan Tribes, and the Musgamagw-Tsawataink Tribal Council have committed to “Paddle for Wild Salmon.” The journey begins October 20th and lasts until the 25th.

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By Clint Buehler

Visual artist; film and video producer, director and writer; theatre playwright, producer and director . . . where do you start in writing about the successfully multi-talented Travis Shilling?

We can start with his latest achievement, the nine-minute short film, Bear Tung, which was recently showcased at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in New York City.

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By Richard Wagamese

In 1966, I was eleven years-old. My adopted family moved that summer to a rented farmhouse in Bruce County in southwestern Ontario. Since being adopted in May of 1965, I had changed homes three times. I remember standing on the porch for the first time, seeing the empty fields around me and feeling lost and scared, and as empty them.

My teacher that year was Mrs. Lorraine Fricke. She was an older woman, nearing retirement and she looked grandmotherly to me. Mrs. Fricke seemed to know me. I remember that clearly. When she saw me enter her classroom that first day she walked right over, smiled, and led me to a seat to the right of her big wooden desk in the front row beside the window.

“So you can look out at the trees,” she said.

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In loving memory of Pelagie Povaliraq Katsuak, formally known as Sister Pelagie. The Katsuak family and relatives of the late Pelagie Povaliraq Katsuak of Arviat would like to thank and acknowledge all the people who kindly assisted us after her passing on July 12, 2010. She passed away at the age of 79, and was the last survivor of the late Okatsiak and Kaslak children. She has left behind her husband Mark Nanauk Katsuak and her children: Mary-Jane, Slaava, Donavan, and Seepa, as well as her grandchildren Abby-Rose and Simon.

In 1951, at the age of 20, Pelagie became Canada’s first Inuk nun. She took her vows and entered the Order of the Grey Nuns during a ceremony in the Roman Catholic Church at Chesterfield, N.W.T.

Sister Pelagie served her calling by helping many children who attended residential school through her loving, caring nature. She was a well known and respected individual who gained great confidence in pursuing life to the fullest, no matter what the situation might be. She lived a life of caring and courage and persuaded many people through her quiet, loving, kind manner. She led by example, a life of service, dedication, and commitment to her faith and family.

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