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The following stories demonstrate how different groups and organizations are helping to celebrate National Aboriginal Day ... On this, the longest day of the year, do have a GREAT day and find a way to learn about Aboriginal people and their special relationship to this land ...

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CBC press release ...

CBC is Pleased To Announce The Following Special Programming - Aboriginal Day Programming on CBC - June 21

First Stories - 7:00 p.m., Thursday, June 21 (check local listings)

First Stories is a one-hour special featuring a collection of short films by award-winning Aboriginal filmmakers from across Canada.

The line-up of films includes award winners Patrick Ross, by Ervin Chartrand, and Apples and Indians by Lorne Olson. Both films were winners of Golden Sheaf Awards at the 2006 Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival. The film Patrick Ross also won the "Best Short Film" at ReelWorld Film festival in 2006, and film maker Ervin Chartrand recently presented his film to Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean.

The following films make up the one-hour TV special:

From First Stories: Manitoba
- Patrick Ross, by Ervin Chartrand, is a cinematic portrait of a 29-year-old ex-prison inmate and artist. The film follows Patrick as he creates one of his extraordinary paintings while he shares his thoughts on his art, his jail time and his hopes for the future.
- Apples and Indians by Lorne Olson draws its name from something thefilm maker was told as a young boy: that Indians were like apples – red on the outside, white on the inside. The film follows Lorne through the decades in search of his true identity.

From First Stories: Saskatchewan
- The Power of a Horse is the moving account of film maker Cory Generoux dealing with the scars that racism left on his life - both as its recipient and perpetrator. This potent, short film reveals a simple and beautiful lesson that changed his life.
- In ati’wecahsin (It's Getting Easier), film maker Tessa Desnomie celebrates the life and times of her grandmother, Jane Merasty. Born and raised on the trap line, this Woodlands Cree woman has witnessed significant changes throughout her vigorous 80 years.

And from First Stories: Alberta:
- Walking Alone is film maker Gerald Auger's edgy, searing debut about an ex-gang member trying to make peace with his past.
- Two-Spirited, by film maker Sharon Dejarlais is the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's shattering encounter with prejudice and his journey to overcome it.
- Hooked Up: NDNs online, by film maker Jennifer Dysart is a fresh, inventive look at the net and asks us to consider this question: does the web provide aboriginal people with a sense of community?

Red Road Music - Stories and Songs from Native Canada 8:00 p.m., Thursday, June 21st on CBC Radio 2 98.3FM
- Hosted by Wab Kinew of CBC Radio 2 & Kimberley Dawn of NCI FM and featuring Eagle & Hawk with special guests JC Campbell, Tracy Bone, Don Amero, and Jared Sowan in a songwriter's circle.
- According to Native American tradition, walking the Red Road is a metaphor for living within the Creator's guidance - a life of truth, friendship, respect, spirituality, and humanitarianism. The lives of Aboriginal musicians are often connected to the red road, a life path, which ultimately leads to self-discovery and enlightenment.

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Many Waves, One Sea: Celebrating Canadian Multiculturalism Day in Manitoba. CBC is proud to support this free event at The Forks - Saturday, June 30th. Come experience an amazing day filled with wonderful activities for the whole family! Families will have the exciting opportunity to experience different cultures through music, dance, interactive games, storytelling and crafts. Jump on the "spiritual bus tour" at 9:30 a.m. For more information, log on to: www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/md/ .

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Live By The Drum
Airs Saturdays at 4 p.m.
Debut broadcast June 30/07
on CBC Radio One

This summer, CBC Radio One presents a new music program called Live by the Drum. Every Saturday afternoon, host Wabanakwut Kinew shares stories and music which reveal how different cultures use rhythm to express universal experiences. People around the world use beat-heavy
music to mark life-changing events: war and death, sex and celebration. From the chants of a Siberian shaman, to the funk in Brazil's poorest favelas all the way to foot-stomping Quebecois music, our whole world lives by the drum.

Wabanakwut Kinew is the regional host for CBC Radio 2’s new show Canada Live as well as Shaken Not Stirred on CBC Radio One. As a host, he walks the line between traditional and western culture. When he’s not making radio, Wabanakwut is a busy father and a rap artist who performs solo and manages his group "Dead Indians". He wants to see all the world has to offer, while representing his Anishinaabe heritage to the fullest.

Leona Johnson
Community Partnership Executive
CBC Manitoba
Tel: 204 788 3127
Fax: 204 788 3635
Cell: 204 791 1179

From the North Bay Nugget ...

Teepee helps teach about native culture; Occupations, standoffs could have been avoided, teacher says
MARIA CALABRESE - June 19, 2007

Teachers and students expected a six-metre teepee to crash to the ground "like pick-up sticks" as it was dismantled in moments in their schoolyard.

More educational experiences like this day-long demonstration of traditional native culture might have prevented some of the skirmishes the country has seen over land claims, said Stanley Peltier, a native teacher who visited Tweedsmuir Public School Monday afternoon.

"It's a lack of education on the part of how people feel about native people. If the history books were written in a more favourable light (about) the native people, I think some of the things that are happening right now wouldn't be going on," Peltier said.

Mohawks have occupied a quarry near Deseronto since March, demanding that its operating licence be revoked on land that is currently subject to land claim negotiations.

Since February 2006, protesters have occupied the location of an outstanding land claim at a former housing development in Caledonia. In 1995, a standoff at Ipperwash Provincial Park led to the shooting death of an unarmed protester by Ontario Provincial Police.

And a protest in Oka, Que., resulted when a police officer was killed, sparking a 78-day standoff in 1990 between natives and law enforcement officers.

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to clear a backlog of more than 800 land claims.

Peltier's visit comes on the eve of National Aboriginal Day to celebrate native culture on the first day of summer, Thursday, while a national native day of action is planned for June 29.

He tailored his talk to the students according to their age, expecting the older ones to ask about the well-publicized protests. "I think some of the things that are happening in this country is some of the promises made in the treaty aren't being honoured," Peltier said in an interview while waiting for the next group of students.

Peltier, from Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island, said land claims can be muddied by government representatives who sold land without notifying the government, or misinterpreting language in treaties by imposing modern standards of measurement.

He was invited to the North Bay elementary school to teach cultural sensitivity through traditional symbols and stories - all under the canvas roof of the surprisingly sturdy teepee that was set up with the help of students, including his son, Vincent Peltier, who is in Grade 6 at Tweedsmuir.

Once in the teepee, the students sat in a circle representing the cycle of the seasons. Under their feet, the grass that they might have taken for granted is filled with medicinal clover, Peltier told them.

He's an Odawa native who speaks Ojibway with an "old" dialect similar to what is commonly heard in the Nipissing area.

The Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board and the Near North District School Board both offer native as a second language programs at elementary and high schools, particularly in areas with higher concentrations of First Nation students.

"It's important for our people to try to revive the language before it's too late," Peltier said.