EDUCATION

Current Issue

1999 Articles

COVER: 1998: The Year in Review
A look back at the events which made headlines last year. -Johnny Campbell

BIOGRAPHY: Dolly Watts: Woman Warrior
Entrepeneur and warrior, Dolly Watts talks about her life, her triumphs and the birth of her restaurant, Liliget. -R. Stewart

Frida Ens: Against the odds
The executive director for the Vancouver Police and Native Liaison Society has come to be a powerful voice for the disenfranchised. -R. Stewart

BUSINESS: Native Designer Makes Art out of Fashion
Dorothy Grant's original and beautiful clothing designs have been recognized both locally and internationally.

CULTURE: Bill Peacock, a Eulogy
The First Nations Drum loses a friend.

Drumbeats of the Heart
A short story by Bill Peacock.

EDUCATION: 1999 Aboriginal Achievement Awards
The sixth annual national Aboriginal Achievement Awards honour 14 distinguished recipients.

HISTORY

MODERN TREATIES: Black's Attack
A newspaper publisher uses his 53 editors to oppose the Nisga'a treaty. -Maurice Switzer

POLITICS

Internationally acclaimed fashion designer Dorothy Grant, Canada's High Commissioner to South Africa James Bartleman and groundbreaking medical researchers Dr. Lillian Dyck and Dr. Malcolm King are among the distinguished group of 14 recipients who were honoured at the sixth annual national Aboriginal Achievement Awards (NAAA). The awards were presented on March 12 at the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts in Regina, before a sold out audience.

"The 14 recipients display formidable talent and high achievement that is becoming so prevalent in Aboriginal communities across Canada," said John Kim Bell, Founder, Chair and Executive Producer of the NAAA. "The richness and diversity found in this year's recipients confirms my belief that anything is possible."

Bell established the unique awards system in 1994 to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of First Nations, Metis and Inuit achievers. In all, 14 awards will be presented - 12 career achievement awards, one for lifetime achievement and a special youth award that includes a $5,000 scholarship.

This year's recipients are:

• Metis human rights activist and Vancouver Metis Association founder Dr. Howard Adams for education;

• Canada's High Commissioner to South Africa James Bartleman, for Public Service;

• founder of the Winnipeg Indian and Metis Friendship Centre and pioneer court worker, Dorothy Betz for Community Development;

• the first Aboriginal woman appointed as federal judge, the honourable Madame Justice Rose Toodick Boyko for the law and justice;

• internationally renowned, Montreal-based maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Edward Cree for Medicine;

• University of Saskatchewan neuro-psychiatry researcher Dr. Lillian Eva Dyck for Science and Technology;

• Vancouver-based Haida artist and internationally acclaimed fashion designer to stars Peter Coyote and Robin Williams, Dorothy Grant for Business and commerce;

• the first provincially appointed Inuk judge in Newfoundland and Labrador, Judge James Igloliorte for Law and Justice;

• cystic fibrosis, asthma and chronic bronchitis researcher and the first Aboriginal full professor in a medical school, Dr. Malcolm King, for Medicine;

• the first Inuk novelist Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk from northern Quebec for Heritage and Spirituality;

• founder of Regina's nationally renowned hot-lunch program for Aboriginal inner city children, Theresa Stevenson for Community Development;

• Top 40 Under 40 recognized entrepreneur from Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, David Tuccaro for Business and Commerce;

• sixteen-year-old pre-med student at Saskatchewan Indian Federation College 'Alika LaFountaine, in the youth category and;

• internationally celebrated Cree painter, Dr. Allen Sapp from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, for Lifetime Achievement.

The gala evening featured video profiles of each achiever, along with special musical tributes by Aboriginal performers. The event was the first time the NAAA has been showcased in Saskatchewan, which takes place in a different Canadian city each year, and was taped and broadcast as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation national network special on Tuesday, April 13th at 8:00 p.m.

Selected out of hundreds of nominations by a 19-member national jury comprised of past award recipients, and balanced geographical, sectoral and nationhood representation, over 70 extraordinary individuals have been honored since 1994 including: Olympic champions Alwyn Morris and Angela Chambers; NHL superstar Bryan Trottier; NHL coach of the year Ted Nolan; award-winning actors Graham Greene, Tom Jackson and Tantoo Cardinal; kidney transplant specialist Dr. Martin Gale McLoughlin; and Albert Rock whose digital data logger is used by NASA and Indy and Formula One car racing.

The NAAA is sponsored by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, CIBC, the CBC, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Air Canada, BP Amoco, Cancom, Placer Dome North America, SaskEnergy, Wascana Energy and SaskTel. Public sector sponsors include: Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, Industry Canada through Aboriginal Business Canada, Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada, Agriculture Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice Canada, Environment Canada, Government of the Northwest Territories, National Resources Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Solicitor General Canada, the Province of Sasketchewan and the City of Regina.