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
Richard
Nerysoo
Public Service
To
say Richard Nerysoo has had a political career full of historic milestones,
would be an understatement. A veteran political leader in the Indian Brotherhood,
Dene Nation and the Government of the Northwest Territories, Nerysoo made
history in 1983 when he became the first Aboriginal person to become Premier
of the NWT.
He was also the youngest person in Canadian history to serve in that post.
After holding that high office, and senior cabinet posts in between, it
was time for Nerysoo to make history once again. He did so in 1989 when
he became the first Aboriginal to be elected Speaker in the NWT legislative
assembly.
These firsts followed his election in 1979, when he became the youngest
ever MLA in Northwest Territories' history. His contributions have not
only been felt North of 60. As a MLA in the early 1980s, Nerysoo played
a crucial role in ensuring that the rights of Aboriginals were not ignored
as Prime Minister Trudeau and the provincial premiers repatriated the
Canadian Constitution from Great Britain. Stephen Kakfwi, an Aboriginal
leader who has followed Nerysoo's path all the way into the Premier's
Office in Yellowknife, argues his predecessor's work on the Constitution
was more than significant.
"Mr. Nerysoo was instrumental in securing those amendments," he says.
Between 1996-2000, Nerysoo was President of the Gwich'in Tribal Council
and was charged with the management and implementation of the historic
Gwich'in Land Claims Agreement.
He currently chairs the Gwich'in Council International, a non-profit collective
striving towards securing environmental protection.