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The Red Lake Friendship Centre is receiving $637,952 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to train Aboriginal youth for Ontario Common Core Hard Rock Mining certification.  The centre, in partnership with Placer Dome Campbell Mine, will train up to 120 youth over a three-year period to supply the mining industry with a pool of skilled and trained workers to draw from, and help Aboriginal youth find jobs in the North.

from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund News Releases

Ontario Government Provides New Opportunities For Aboriginal Youth - #950005  - February 10, 2006

Training Program Will Teach Mining Skills

SUDBURY – The Ontario government is investing in a training program that will provide Aboriginal youth with the skills they need to find jobs in the mining sector, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced today.

“The McGuinty government is committed to stimulating economic development and creating job opportunities across the North,” said Bartolucci.  “Through this investment, we are ensuring that the mining industry has access to a number of skilled workers that will contribute to a more prosperous future.”

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) is providing the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre with $637,952 to train Aboriginal youth for Ontario Common Core Hard Rock Mining certification.  The centre, in partnership with Placer Dome Campbell Mine, will train up to 120 youth over a three-year period to supply the mining industry with a pool of skilled and trained workers to draw from, and help Aboriginal youth find jobs in the North.

“I am pleased that we are helping Aboriginal youth develop essential skills to work within one of Northern Ontario’s most robust sectors,” said David Ramsay, Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs.  “Program participants will learn the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain gainful employment in Ontario’s mining sector and have opportunities to seek rewarding employment closer to home.”

This NOHFC project is part of the government’s Northern Prosperity Plan for building stronger northern communities. The Northern Prosperity Plan has four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing Opportunities for All.

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from http://www.ucfv.ca/FT

- FEAST AND TRANSFORMATION FILM FESTIVAL -
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A Festival of First Nations films from the Pacific Northwest
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Date: 21-23 April, 2006    << >>    Location: Chilliwack, BC

Presented by the University College of the Fraser Valley and the British Museum, together with the Royal Anthropological Institute, and with the support of the City of Chilliwack.
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BACKGROUND:
 
Over the years, filmmakers from around the world have visited the Pacific Northwest to document the lives and cultures of its indigenous peoples. Their works are poignant journeys into the struggles of these people and have been of central importance in the renaissance of Aboriginal culture – expressing protest as well as recovery and revealing some of the anguish and loss still so much a part of life for First Nations groups. The Feast and Transformation film festival program showcases films by three directors who belong to Aboriginal communities, and other films made through close partnership between filmmakers and Aboriginal people. An example is David McIlwraith’s The Lynching of Louis Sam, a timely feature given Washington State’s recent official public acknowledgement of responsibility for the 1884 death of the 14-year-old Sto:lo youth. The weekend event will also include discussions with some of the filmmakers and elders from several of the communities where the films were made.
 
The driving force behind mirroring the London festival in Chilliwack is Hugh Brody, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies at UCFV. An internationally recognized scholar, anthropologist, land claims researcher, policy adviser, filmmaker and writer, Brody is drawing together threads of research and experience from a diversity of cultures in order to push land claims and rights research in new directions. His work in Aboriginal communities is helping to teach a new generation to do research for themselves and their communities – teaching them to tell their own stories and to discover for themselves what is important and necessary to create sustainable communities. He has authored nine books, published 16 essays and produced five documentary films, including Time Immemorial, which will be featured at the festival.
 
PROGRAM:

The City of Chilliwack will host a welcoming ceremony and reception, along with two film screenings, on Friday, April 21, at City Hall beginning at 6:15 p.m. The remaining films will be shown on Saturday, April 22 (beginning at 9 a.m.) and Sunday, April 23 (beginning at 10 a.m.) at the UCFV Theatre at 45635 Yale Rd. 

Download a film festival program here:
Download a Feast and Transformation Film Festival Program -in PDF format 

TICKETS:

The public is encouraged to attend this world-class event. Tickets are $10/adult per day ($20 for all three days) or $5/day for elders, seniors, or students ($10 for all three days). To book tickets, please call the UCFV box office at 604 795-2814. For more information about the event itself, please call 604 864-4639 or email deborah.block@ucfv.ca .

FILM SYNOPSES: View short overviews of the subject matter covered by each film
Download the Film Synopses (in PDF format)

Themes such as ...

• HERITAGE AND LOSS
• LAND CLAIMS
• CULTURAL REVIVAL / CHASING MUSEUMS
• FILMS FROM OUTSIDE
• THE CITY: THE LAND

FILMS TO BE SHOWN INCLUDE:

Friday evening,  21 April 2006

• In the Land of the War Canoes (Dir. E. Curtis, 1914/1972, 44 min.)
• Crooked Beak of Heaven (Dir. Michael MacIntyre, 1975, 50 min.)

Saturday  22 April 2006

• Potlatch: a Strict Law Bids Us Dance (Dir. Dennis Wheeler, 1975, 54 min.)
• Lynching of Louie Sam (Dir. David McIlwraith, 2004, 52 min.)
• Blockade (Dir. Nettie Wilde, 1993, 90 min.)
• Time Immemorial (Dir. Hugh Brody, 1991, 58 min.)
• The New Collectors - part 2 (from the Ravens and Eagles documentary series, 2003, 24 min.)
• Totem: the Return of the G’psgolex Pole (Dir. Gil Cardinal, 2003, 70 min.)
• Johnny Tootall (Dir. Shirley Cheechoo, 2005, 93 min.)

Sunday 23 April 2006

• Makah, the Whale Harvesters (dir. Ralf Marschalleck, 1999, 113 min.)
• Years From Here (part 2 of Changing Ground), (Dir. John Walker, 2000, 50 min.)
• On The Corner (Dir. Nathaniel Geary, 2003, 95 mins)
• Tlina: Rendering of Wealth (Dir. Barb Cranmer, 1999, 50 min.)

The "Dig Your Roots" web site is inviting everyone to listen to all the submissions and help select the tracks for a new CD of Aboriginal music. Everyone can win prizes as well.

from http://digyourroots.ca/

Let the listening begin! - Deadline for listening: April 30, 2006

We called for submissions, and they came in droves! And now the juries have chosen independent artists from all across the country to appear right here at DigYourRoots.ca!

"Dig Your Roots – Aboriginal"

Check out the Aboriginal artists that have been chosen to appear here at Dig Your Roots and you could win lots of cool stuff. All you have to do is listen to the artists and submit your comments. The more artists you listen to, the higher your chances are of winning something. Visit the Aboriginal Artists page for more details. Deadline for listening: April 30, 2006

Thank you to all of our jury members: Peter Adema, Elaine Bomberry, Andre Dudemaine, Rick Giguere, Jory Groberman, Alan Greyeyes, Jani Lauzon, Wayne Lavallee, Valerey Lavergne, David McLeod, and Christina Paul .

15 of these artists will now be chosen to appear on the "Dig Your Roots - Aboriginal" CD compilation. These artists will perform at 5 regional shows in the summer. And as with the other DYR projects, each of these shows will be broadcast on participating stations LIVE COAST-TO-COAST-COAST! “Dig Your Roots – Aboriginal” will be released in May 2006 with the shows to take place the end of the June.

Happy Listening!

We're hiring!

We are looking for two part-time Regional Coordinators: Prairie/North and Atlantic. All of our coordinators will be focused on organizing and promoting the live concerts in June 2006. Check out the job posting here (pdf): Atlantic and Prairie/North

Winners of the essay contest were recently announced in Sudbury. For more information about the contest visit http://northonjobs.com/ON/essay/essay.html

For job opportunities visit the Diversity Canada web site at http://diversitycanada.org and NorthONJobs - Northern Ontario's premier job site at http://northonjobs.com.

from http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=24566&catname=Local+News 

Writers share their view of North’s virtues for youth

By Laurel Myers - Timmins Daily Press - Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Northern Ontario is a great place to work and a beautiful place to live, according to Celia Sankar, executive director of Diversity Canada Foundation.

The foundation wants to get this message out to the youth in Northern Ontario by initiating an essay competition for youth, aged 16-30, who are living in, or are originally from, the North.

The participants were asked to write why youth should choose to live and work in Northern Ontario.

Dawn Elmore saw the contest advertised in her local paper and decided it reflected her life.

After growing up in Thunder Bay, Elmore saw a lack of job opportunities available to her and moved south.

“I loved the North, but I didn’t think there were any jobs here,” she said.

She remained in southern Ontario for 10 years before making the move back to the North.

A weekend visit to Elmore’s boyfriend’s hometown of Goulais River showed the couple job opportunities existed in the area.

“I’m glad to be here now,” Elmore said.

“We’re able to do so much more than we were in southern Ontario.”

The message behind her essay, which won first prize in the competition, was to find a way to show youth, while they’re still in the North, all the things available to them.

“I didn’t really appreciate everything I had until I realized what I was missing,” she said about moving away.

Elmore admitted finding job opportunities is a lot about who you know.

“(Northern Ontario) needs to find a way to get the message out to people who don’t know anybody, that there are jobs, there are opportunities. I think they’re just hidden,” she said.

The awards presentation took place at the Sudbury Public Library on Monday.

Osprey Media LP, which owns The Sudbury Star and was a key sponsor of the event, is responsible for getting the word out about the contest, said Sankar.

David Kilgour, the publisher and general manager of The Sudbury Star, was on-hand to present the second- and third-place prizes of $500 and $250 respectively.

“This was a no-brainer for us to become involved in when Diversity Canada presented the program to us,” Kilgour said.

“It’s a great fit for an existing program we have the Northern Ontario Youth Program.”

The Youth Program includes the Ontera Youth Achievement Awards and the Osprey Youth Development Workshops.

The awards honour youth who best demonstrate innovation, leadership, altruism and community building in the North.

The workshops create a forum for discussion on actions required to build the North’s communities from within.

“The purpose is to bring awareness to youth in our communities and to find new ways, through working with youth, to keep young people in the North,” he said.

“Encouraging youth to stay in the North is very important to us to build the types of communities that will thrive in the future.”

As well as sponsoring the Diversity Canada essay competition, Osprey Media LP contributes to youth retention in the North by providing jobs in areas such as computer programming.

“I’m looking forward to a day when we don’t have to print in our paper the discouraging stats about the number of young people who are leaving the community,” Kilgour said.

Other sponsors of the event included the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) with a $1,000 donation for first prize, and Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. of Sudbury who provided the honourable-mention winners with $50 and a membership card for Costco.

Diversity Canada is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote Northern Ontario to today’s youth.

Discussing the roots of the essay competition, Sankar said it’s important to first understand why young people leave and what they think about Northern Ontario.

“Once we understand why they are leaving, we can put our efforts together to create a place where youth would like to stay,” she said.

The essays were sent from across Northern Ontario and shared a number of common solutions to keeping the youth in the North.

Sankar listed jobs as the No. 1 thing in common.

“We need jobs for highly educated and highly skilled workers.”

The second most valuable asset, as agreed upon in the essays, was a wider variety of cultural and recreational activities, emphasizing lifestyle is as equally important as the job opportunities.

The third was a product of the first two, retaining greater numbers of an individual’s peer group.

“It’s hard for people here to not be able to socialize because everybody is down south,” Sankar said.

Educational opportunities were also on the list, stating Northern Ontario should have more post-secondary courses to choose from.

Aime Dimatteo, executive director of the NOHFC, who was also present at the awards ceremony, realizes the necessity of job opportunities for retaining youth in the North.

“Northern Ontario’s pristine wilderness and clean air won’t do it, we need the job opportunities here as well,” he said.

“We need to communicate to our youth in whatever way we can.”

Second place in the essay competition went to Mary Brohart of Massey.

The third-place winner was Taryn Reid, originally from Sault Ste. Marie.

Seven participants were honoured as runner-ups in the competition.

From http://www.siouxlookoutjobs.com/job%20fair.html ... be sure to check out the 30 registered employers that includes some who will be doing interviews at the Job Fair.

Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge deadline of May 6 only four weeks away!

With only four weeks left for writing before the May 6 deadline, this is a reminder that the Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge is happening again this year with even more prizes in store!
 
The Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge provides an opportunity for Aboriginal youth across the country to have their voices heard. We hope to uncover the budding creativity and talent of our youth and through these stories educate all Canadians about the moments that have shaped our country and its people.  

We are asking young Aboriginal Canadians (Status, Non-status, Métis, Inuit) ages 14-18 or 19-29 to submit a creative short story about a moment in history written from an Aboriginal perspective.  Last year’s submissions included stories on the first meeting between Europeans and First Nations peoples, residential schools, modern-day elections on reserves and the sharing of knowledge from generation to generation.  (Please see the contest website for story length guidelines - www.our-story.ca)

The first-prize winner of the 14-18 age group will receive a $500 prize and the winner of the 19-29 age group will receive $1000.  Both winners will be profiled in a Canadian Learning Television and Book Television production, published in The Beaver Magazine: Canada’s History Magazine and to travel to Ottawa to read an excerpt from his/her story at a special celebration event. Participants with a story in the top ten in either age group will receive a $200 prize. All winning essays will be published online and all participants will receive a letter of recognition for their participation. The deadline for submissions is May 6, 2006. A Committee of Aboriginal authors, including actress Tantoo Cardinal from Calgary and journalist Rachel Qitsualik from Iqualuit, will judge the submissions. 

****SPECIAL NOTE TO TEACHERS AND YOUTH GROUPS****

New this year - the first four classes or youth groups to jointly submit their stories will received a digital camcorder!

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
_____________________
Annie Lindsay
Programme Coordinator
The Dominion Institute
183 Bathurst Street, Suite 401
Toronto, ON M5T 2R7
416.368.9627 or 866.701.1867
fax 416.368.2111

from News and Updates at http://telehealth.knet.ca

Telehealth Community Engagement 
Posted by: Tina Kakepetum Schultz on Wednesday, April 12

My name is Tina Kakepetum Schultz. I have been recently hired as the KO Telehealth Community Engagement Worker.

One of my job requirements is to work with the First Nations that are connected to Telehealth on the Kuhkenah Network (K-Net). My first task was to meet with the 24 Chiefs and Council from each of these communities.

The Health Canada Primary Care Health Transition program funding that supported the KO Telehealth program ended March 31, 2006. FNIHB announced they will extend the program by an additional four months (April - July) providing bridge funding for the existing telehealth services. The next two years of funding was presented as an interim step towards developing a longer term telehealth sustainability strategy under the  First Nations Health Blueprint negotiated in Kelowna.

KO Telehealth was given two tasks to complete within the first four months of this two year interim funding period:

1. KOTH has to obtain 24 signed agreements (BCRs) from Chiefs and Councils of each partner KOTH First Nation supporting reinvestment of travel costs savings into sustaining Telehealth.
2. Build a sustainability business case for Telehealth.

If the work of obtaining the BCRs from all the First Nations is successful, then FNIHB will support an additional 20 months of funding to build a sustainability plan for Telehealth.

Since February 24, 2006, I have met with 20 First Nations to discuss future sustainability funding for Telehealth.

I would like to say thank you to the Chiefs and Councils who have made a commitment to support the ongoing operation of the KO Telehealth initiative. The following First Nations are commited to providing BCRs supporting this program:

• Bearskin Lake
• Big Trout Lake
• Cat Lake Lake
• Deer Lake
• Eabametoong
• Fort Severn
• Kasabonika
• Kingfisher
• Lac Seul
• Mishkeegogamang
• Muskrat Dam
• Neskantaga
• North Caribou Lake
• North Spirit Lake
• Pikangikum
• Poplar Hill
• Sachigo Lake
• Sandy Lake
• Webequie
• Wunnimun Lake

I will be meeting with Slate Falls, Keewaywin, Nibinamik and Wapakeka First Nations over the next two weeks.

I would like to thank each of the Chief and Council for the kindness and hospitality they showed to me during our video conference meetings as well as receiving me into their communities. I look forward to working closely  with each community in the coming years. 

MiiQuetch!!!

Geordi Kakepetum, Executive Director and Peter Campbell, KO Public Works Manager met with John Tory, Leader of the Opposition and the Conservative Party in Ontario, on Tuesday evening. The meeting provided the team from Keewaytinook Okimakanak with the opportunity to provide Mr. Tory with an introduction to the KO First Nations, their organization and the work that is being undertaken to support these communities. One outcome of the meeting was an expression of interest for Mr. Tory to visit the Keewaytinook Okimakanak office in Balmertown to learn more about the member First Nations, their programs and services.

from http://www.anglicanjournal.com/extra/news.html?newsItem=2006-04-12_a.news

Church protests dropping of fast-track payments
Tories will not give advances to elderly former students

April 12, 2006 - Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has “strongly” urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reconsider the his Conservative government’s decision not to give advance payments to elderly former students of residential schools before a revised agreement is finalized.

“The Anglican Church of Canada is deeply disappointed at this failure to meet the needs of the elderly former students of residential schools,” said Archbishop Hutchison in a letter to Mr. Harper hours after Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice made the announcement on behalf of the federal government on April 11. “We expected a more humane response to the needs of former students, some of whom are faithful members of the Anglican church.”

The government’s decision reversed a provision in the revised Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement announced in November by the previous Liberal government that former students who are now 65 years of age or older are liable to apply for an advance payment of $8,000. Following the announcement of that agreement, the Anglican Church of Canada had renegotiated the terms of the 2003 residential agreement that it signed with the federal government.

“As a church we have long since acknowledged our own part in the sad history of the residential school system in Canada, through the establishment of an Anglican Healing Fund in 1991, and the issuing of a formal apology in 1993,” wrote Archbishop Hutchison in his letter. He added that the church had been “encouraged” by the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci as special negotiator in May 2005, and had “willingly participated” in the negotiations that produced the revised Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

“While we were disappointed that the change of government resulted in some delay in implementing the agreement, we did not anticipate that your new government would fail to honour an important component, namely, the advance payments to elderly claimants,” added Archbishop Hutchison.

The Assembly of First Nations had urged Ottawa to fast-track payments to elderly claimants since a growing number of them are already ill or dying.

But Mr. Prentice said, “We clearly have an obligation to all Canadians. We have an obligation to all taxpayers.”

The revised agreement provides a $1.9 billion compensation package that will be offered to tens of thousands of aboriginal Canadians who attended Indian residential schools. It offers “every eligible” former native residential school student “living on May 30, 2005” up to $30,000 each in so-called Common Experience Payment. Each former student who applies would receive $10,000 and an additional $3,000 for each year of attendance in excess of the first year.

(The Anglican church operated 26 of 80 boarding schools attended by aboriginals from the mid-19th century into the 1970s. In recent years, hundreds of natives sued the church and the federal government, which owned the schools, alleging physical and sexual abuse.)

from http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2006/11/c8434.html

Assembly of First Nations and National Association of Friendship Centres Sign Memorandum of Understanding

OTTAWA, April 11 /CNW Telbec/ - Last night, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine and Vera Pawis Tabobondung, the President of the National Association of Friendship Centres, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organizations in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The MOU is designed as a first step in NAFC participation in AFN policy development on urban issues.

"The AFN represents the rights and interests of First Nations and we recognize the important service delivery function of the NAFC. For First Nations citizens in many urban areas, Friendship Centres are a major source for culturally appropriate services," stated Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine. "Our efforts to provide analysis that integrates the urban First Nations perspective will be further improved by working with the National Association of Friendship Centres."

The MOU between the AFN and NAFC commits the two organizations to developing an effective working relationship as a first step in the development of further protocol agreements. The MOU calls for:

1. Inclusion of NAFC within the AFN policy processes, in particular, participation in AFN Policy Forums to provide urban analysis;
2. Joint research projects aimed at building common evidenced-based policy positions in regards to urban First Nations peoples (e.g., citizenship);
3. Enhanced communication networks between NAFC and AFN, including constituent members, through mutual notification (as appropriate) and joint efforts where it is deemed strategically advantageous; and
4. Consideration of future relationships and inclusion within organizational structures;

"Working with the NAFC will allow us to reach First Nation citizens in urban centres in more directed ways, and will also allow us to develop policies and recommendations that reflect the urban reality, as well as the reserve reality, and which build on and respect the unique efforts to work with off reserve citizens in different regions," stated the National Chief.

"This memorandum is a first step in what I believe will be a mutually beneficial and highly productive relationship."

The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.

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/For further information: Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer, (613) 241-6789 ext. 336, cell (613) 859-4335/