National Aboriginal
Achievement Awards
COVER:
Thomas
Prince
Canada's
Forgotten Aboriginal War Hero
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL
ACHIEVMENT AWARDS:
Dr. Freda Ahenakew
Mariano Aupilardjuk
Roman
Bittman
Dr Harold Cardinal
Dr. Lindsay Crowshoe
Tomson Highway
Fred House
Zacharias Kunuk
Richard Nerysoo
Lance Relland
Nicholas Sibbeston
Mary Thomas
Dolly Watts
BUSINESS:
Bankers Call Shots
A bank is calling the
financial shots on one of Manitoba's largest First Nations
CULTURE:
Debate
Rages Over Native Alcoholism
Gwishalaayt
The Spirit
Wraps Around You
EDUCATION:
Agreement Solidifies Ties Between Valley Schools and First Nations
Education Critical to Moving Forward
Education is Failing Aboriginal Students
MODERN TREATIES:
Atlantic
Chiefs Demand Action on Template Agreements
...the
Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs are demanding a meeting
with DFO minister Herb Dhaliwa...
Cash-strapped Tribal Police Winding Down Operations
First Nations communities
in Cape Breton will no longer be policed by their own...
HUMOUR:
Support Your Local Native
OBITUARY:
Chief Simon Baker
POLITICS:
One
Dead Indian
Referendum
Circus Coming Soon to Your Town
20,000 Survivors of Residential Schools to Seek Compensation
Tomson Highway
Arts and Culture
Tomson
Highway is Native theatre in this country. Inducted into the Order of
Canada, Highway has shaped the development of Aboriginal theatre in both
Canada and around the world.
His plays - Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, The Rez Sisters, The Sage, The Dancer and the Fool - established a place and market for Aboriginal theatre in Canada.
They have also been translated into numerous languages making them a window on Canada's Aboriginal reality for the rest of the world to behold. Award after award came his way but there is much more than a playwright inside his creative soul.
In 1998, his first novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen, was published and was soon nominated for several prestigious literary awards. Highway has been writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Concordia University and others.
He also helped establish Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada's first Aboriginal theatre company and was artistic director for six years. In addition to his writing, Highway is also an accomplished musician.
The proud son of a caribou hunter - who was born off a trapline in isolated northern Manitoba - Highway is trilingual, speaking French, English and Cree. The words of artistic producer Martin Bragg serve as a fitting tribute for this wonderfully creative man: "Tomson is not only a role model and inspiration for the Native community, he is a Canadian who has inspired us all to challenge ourselves both as artists and human beings."