The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

First Nations meet for 'historic document' (Continued from front page) The agreement is a first step to what we hope will be ever-increasing political, economic and cultural activities and interchanges between our national organizations, our tribes, First nations and our peoples." By exchanging officials and ambassadors, First Nations in Canada and United States could better protect their legal, social, political, and economic rights, he said. High on the agenda for joint action are social concerns and land claims, many delegates said. Fontaine said ambassadors will eventually be appointed to Washington and the Congress will appoint ambassadors to Ottawa. Fontaine promised before any AFN ambassador is sent to Washington, "we will make sure the money is in place to pay for it." Edmonton's Martha Campiou, treasurer of the National Association of Friendship Centres said she wants to create awareness of social services like housing, addiction counselling and education for urban natives. She said aboriginals need support from non-aboriginals for the betterment of all people. "We need the support to work in unity that the Creator gave to us and to have an understanding of the Aboriginal community," said Campiou of the Driftpile Cree First Nation. Ruey Darrow of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma said her group is concerned with land claims. "We don't have a land base in Oklahoma. Other tribes have reservations and we do not," Darrow said. She said her ancestors were promised land for a reservation, but now the land is being grazed by livestock. "We want to return it to its pristine condition," Darrow said. However, representatives of several native groups say the assembly should focus on uniting with First Nations in Canada before venturing elsewhere. -CP­-