On Saturday April 9, Global TV will carry the 2011 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards from Edmonton, Alberta. The awards are being presented to 14 outstanding aboriginal Canadians and the gala is being hosted by Adam Beach and Evan Adams.

Beach’s latest movie with Harrison Ford is entitled ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ and is scheduled for release in the next few months. Other movie credits include Clint Eastwood’s ‘Flag of our Fathers’, ‘Windtalkers’ with Nicholas Cage and the 1998 production ‘Smoke Signals’ where he and Evan Adams played two Indian guys who leave the reserve in search of themselves. This movie won an award that year at the Sundance Film Festival. On TV he has played roles in ‘Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee’ and recently in ‘Hawaii 5-0’.

In a recent interview with the Vancouver Sun, Beach said that ‘the awards are very important because our people need role models, they need heroes, and they don’t realize there are heroes right in their own backyard”.

Blue Saltwater lives right in your own backyard Mr. Beach and I am going to see that you have a chance to meet him. I’ll be interested to see whether he is the type of heroic role model you’re talking about.