News From Around the Nations

Smoke Traders World Premiere

Smoke Traders World Premiere at Hot Docs 2012 on May 3rd at 9pm and on May 4th at 3:45pm. Put together by Rezolution Pictures Smoke Traders features Brian White from Akwesasne. Short Synopsis: For centuries, Europeans have run the North American tobacco trade; today the First Nations people are taking it back. But is the tobacco trade a road to independence or criminality for Native people? Smoke Traders tells the story of the contraband tobacco trade and the effect on individual lives and communities from a Native perspective. The multimillion dollar cigarette industry that Mohawks have built has pulled their communities out of third world poverty, but the Canadian government is determined to shut the trade down. Are these traders criminals who must be stopped? Or are they a new breed of Native entrepreneur who deserve our support?

Nominations Open for Aboriginal Business Leadership Award

OTTAWA - The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and the Assembly of

First Nations (AFN) today announced that nominations are open for this

year’s joint FPAC-AFN Business Leadership Award. The award recognizes and

celebrates First Nations entrepreneurs for their success in a forest

products business that exemplifies business leadership, exceptional

environmental and safety performance and the delivery of high-quality

products and services. The recipient must also demonstrate a strong,

long-term commitment to the Indigenous community, particularly in supporting

Indigenous employment. “Recognizing the role of First Nations

businesses in enabling strong First Nation communities is very important.

Such recognition also underscores the importance of First Nations in shaping

the future of the Canadian forest industry consistent with our rights and

values of respect, responsibility and sustainability,” said National Chief

Shawn A-in-chut Atleo. There are now approximately 1,400 Aboriginal owned

businesses in Canada, and about 17,000 Aboriginal people working in the

sector, making the forest products industry the largest employer for First

Nations workers. Nominations for the FPAC-AFN Business Leadership Award are open until June15, 2012. The award will be presented on July 18, 2012 at the AFN General

Assembly in Toronto, Ontario. To obtain an application, please visit

http://www.fpac.ca/BusinessLeadershipAward

Strengthening the Violence Against Women Act

This week, the Senate will consider bipartisan legislation, introduced by

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), that would reauthorize

the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Native American women suffer from violent crime at some of the highest rates in the United States. With non-Indians constituting more than 76 percent of the overall population living on reservations and other Indian lands, interracial dating and marriage are common, and many of the abusers of Native American women are non-Indian men. Too often, non-Indian men who batter their Indian wives and girlfriends go unpunished because tribes cannot prosecute non-Indians, even if the offender lives on the reservation and is married to a tribal member,

and because Federal law-enforcement resources are hours away from reservations and stretched thin.

Under the Leahy-Crapo bill¹s tribal-jurisdiction provisions:

* Tribes could prosecute non-Indians only for domestic violence, dating

violence, and violations of protection orders. Crimes between two

strangers, or between two non-Indians, or between persons with no ties to

the tribe, would not be covered.

* Federal- and state-court jurisdiction over domestic violence would be

unaffected.

* Defendants would effectively have the same rights in tribal court as in

state court, including due-process rights and an indigent defendant¹s right

to free appointed counsel meeting Federal constitutional standards.

* Defendants could protect their rights by appealing their convictions to a

tribal court and filing habeas petitions in Federal court.

The Administration strongly supports Senate passage of the Leahy-Crapo bill

to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark piece of

bipartisan legislation. The Administration strongly supports measures in

the bill that will bring justice to Native American victims.

NAC English Theatre presents King Lear Featuring All Aboriginal Cast

Ottawa, Ontario - The National Arts Centre English Theatre is proud to

present Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, King Lear which features a cast of entirely Aboriginal actors from across the country including the renowned August Schellenberg as Lear. “There are two things that I am proudest of at the NAC. On one level is

the Shakespeare, and the other has been our Aboriginal programming,” said

NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Peter Hinton. “This production is a

fitting celebration of the great Aboriginal talent we have in Canada.” Joining August Schellenberg are: Keith Barker, Lorne Cardinal, Tantoo Cardinal, Ryan Cunningham, Meegwun Fairbrother, Craig Lauzon, Jani Lauzon, Kevin Loring, Billy Merasty, Monique Mojica, Jeremy Proulx, Gordon Patrick White.

The NAC English Theatre production of King Lear launched a special project

titled The Four Nations Exchange. Led by Suzanne Keeptwo and Peter Hinton,

this project involved 27 members from the local Aboriginal community who

participated in twelve, two-hour workshops over the last four months.

The Four Nations Exchange includes: Ashlee Barberstock, Denise Anne

Boissoneau, Fred Cattroll, Roberta Della-Picca, Elaine Endanawas, Oliver

Foulkes, Shirley Gagnon, Susan Heavens, Keith Hendricks, Jordyn Hendricks,

Marissa Hendricks, Theresa Hendricks, James Lumsden, Lorna Martin, Lise

Menard, Nick Nahwegahbow, Lesley Parlane, Robert Pellerin, Catherine

Peltier Mavin, Jonathan Plante, Bruce Sinclair, Stuart Slippery, Cynthia

Stirbys, Janice Trudeau, Arielle Vien-Foulkes, and Heather Wiggs.

For tickets and info visit NAC’s website: http://www.nac-cna.ca

HUD AWARDS $56 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROMOTE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON ­ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development today awarded more than $56 million to 76 tribal communities

throughout the nation to improve housing conditions, promote community

development and to spur local economies with construction projects and jobs.

The competitive grants awarded are part of HUD¹s Indian Community

Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Program.

APTN NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS TEAM RECEIVES CANADIAN JOURNALISM AWARD

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is pleased to congratulate Jorge Barrera and Kenneth Jackson on their win at the Canadian Association of Journalists’ (CAJ) Awards Gala on Saturday, April 28 in Toronto. The duo received 1 of 16 awards presented at the annual gala. Mr. Barrera and Mr. Jackson won an investigative journalism award in the “Open Television” (less than five minutes) category for their story “Water Exploitation – Bruce Carson,” which originally aired on APTN National News on March 17, 2011. Also nominated from APTN’s News and Current Affairs Department were Kathleen Marten and Tiar Wilson. APTN congratulates all who were involved in developing the news pieces that help all Canadians discover the stories and issues affecting Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples.