Torngat Wildlife, Plants and Fisheries Secretariat has made preparations again to collect geese, collar and band them in Hopedale this coming Fall.

The geese team recently went to Prince Edward Island to get training by the pros.

Regina Wells of the Canadian Wildlife Service and Joseph Townley, Wildlife Facilitator for Nunatsiavut Government joined Meredith Purcell, Dylan Basto and Kevin Flowers of TWPFS on the trip.

They learned how to collar, handle, band and tell the sex of the geese, and also got the opportunity to swab geese for Avian Influenza.

Although the geese captured in the Fall will be challenging, this was a great experience for the team.

The Nunatsiavut Government is working to establish the Nunatsiavut Housing Commission, which will be uniquely responsive to the housing needs and challenged of Inuit in Nunatsiavut. Work is underway on this exciting project and we want to share it with you.

Residents re welcome to attend an open house in their community with the Director of Housing, Brenda Jararuse, to discuss the work underway and how they can get involved. The schedule is as follows:

Rigolet: Monday, July 18 at 4:30pm at the Northern Lights Academy Gym
Makkovik: Tuesday, July 19 at 4:30pm at the Makkovik community Hall
Postville: Wednesday, July 20 at 4:30pm at the Kaipokok Community Centre
Nain: Monday, July 25 at 4:30pm at the Illusuak Cultural Centre
Hopedale: Tuesday, July 26 at the Nanuk Community Centre

NG still strongly encourages while at the open house to physical distance, use non-medical mask, and hand sanitize upon entering the building.

For more information, you can contact Brenda Jararuse at 709-896-8582.

In July 2021, Nunatsiavut Government and Environment Canada staff tagged 33 pigeons with GLS tags.

When visiting islands to egg hunt this summer, please avoid rocks that are marked with spray paint.

If the eggs at these rocks are harvested before the capture team’s arrival, the birds will head back to sea, taking the data with them.

Nunatsiavut Government staff will be attempting to re-trap birds again this summer.

If you find a tagged bird, you can drop it off to an NG Conservation Officer or Nunatsiavut Research Centre staff member.

They’ll ensure that the data is sent to researchers and that you receive a report on where the bird was originally banded.

Banded birds can also be reported to reportband.gov.

More bird tagging projects ware planned for NG this year, so keep an eye out for tagged birds.

Today is day one of the six-day Rhubarb Festival in Hopedale.

Doris Boase is one of the organizers.

The festival was supposed to start with a BBQ for the community, but Vale couldn’t make it due to weather, so the BBQ will be later this week.

At 7pm, there will be Fear Factor for anyone 16 years of age and older.

The teams will consist of one male and one female, one member being between the ages of 16 to 39 years of age, and the other member must be 40 years of age and older.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes will be awarded for the best times.

There are five teams registered and people can still register until 5pm.

There are door prizes to win each day for both the participants and the spectators.

There will be a cardboard boat race tomorrow Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 4:30pm, and a flea market will begin at 7:30pm tomorrow.

The first cleanup of the Nain fish plant was started last Monday, July 4, 2022.

John Ikkusek is the Manager.

He says there are 10 plant workers employed.

There are two char fishermen that have their licenses, and one of the char fishermen headed out to put out his nets last Saturday, July 9.

Ikkusek says the Torngat 1 scallop boat is heading out to start dragging for scallops today.

He adds that Fred Gear of Postville is the captain of the boat this year with one crew member.

The Royal Canadian Navy held an open house at the Illusuak Cultural Center last weekend, Friday July 8, 2022.

We spoke with a few members on Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Margret Brooke.

Sabrina Nash is the Digital Communication Manager for the Royal Canadian Navy.

She says in 2017 with the building of their new artic and offshore patrol ships they will have a steady presence in the arctic, so it was decided to affiliate each of those ships with different communities in the Inuit Nunangat.

Click here to find out more about the Royal Canadian Navy.

The Nunatsiavut Government have sponsored the Twin Flames to tour along the coast of Labrador for the second time.

The band will be working their way up the coast from Rigolet to Nain.

The Labrador Tour will be from Tuesday, July 26 until Saturday, July 30, 2022.

All shows will be at 7pm, and here are the dates:

For Rigolet, they will be at the Community Centre on July 26
Makkovik, at the Community Hall on July 27
Postville, at the Community Centre on July 28
Hopedale, at the Nanuk Community Centre on July 29, and
Nain, at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre on July 30

The community of Hopedale will be having their first Annual William Tuglavina Memorial Volleyball Tournament.

Kendra Winters is one of the volunteers hosting the tournament.

She says the tournament will be on August 12, 2022.

The team must be 14 years of age and older with a minimum of four players and a maximum of seven players, with a fee of $20 per person.

The tournament will be at the Nanuk Community Centre.

The deadline for registrations will be Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

The Nunatsiavut Government and Frontier College are pleased to offer the Summer Literacy Camps again this summer.

They will be offered in the communities of Nain, Hopedale, and Rigolet from Wednesday, July 13 to August 10, 2022.

In Nain, it will be at the Jens Haven Memorial School, at the Amos Comenius Memorial School in Hopedale, and Northern Lights Academy in Rigolet.

Campers will have a chance to spend the day playing games, doing arts and crafts, and reading.

They will be holding the literacy camps for children ages 5-12 from 9:30-3:30, and half days on Friday from 9:30-12 pm.

To register your child, you can go to summerliteracycamps.ca.

The Nain Recreation Department have opened up registration for the 2022 Summer Recreation Program.

Registrations will open on Monday, July 11.

The registration is on a first come, first serve basis and the parents or the guardians can sign their children up for the program.

The limit will be 15 spaces for children ages 5 to 7 years (any child attending school in September 2022 that will be turning 5 years of age before December 31, 2022).

The limit for children ages 8 to 12 years are 15 spaces as well.

After the number has been reached all other children will be wait listed.

Parents will be notified of the start date of the program when they hire more students.

There is a fee of $30 for this year’s summer program.

For more information, anyone can contact the recreation director, Lisa Ivany or the Recreation Assistants, Mary Maggo or Edward Harris up to the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre at 922-2690/922-2691.