Canada’s National Inuit women’s organization put a call-out for seamstresses to design a series of amautiit to honour Inuit women and girls who are missing or were murdered.

Pauktuutiit Inuit Women of Canada recently launched its Red Amauti Project, which will fund the creation of an amauti for each of the four regions of Inuit Nunangat: Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and Inuvialuit.

The Red Amauti is an Inuit-focused initiative that draws from the REDress Project, a 2011 art installation developed by Métis artist Jaime Black, who collected 600 red dresses from across the country as a memorial to missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The amauti is a traditional Inuit women’s parka fitted with a hood, used for carrying infants.

The design of the amauti varies across Inuit Nunangat, Kudloo said, from the size of the baby’s pouch to the design of the hem and the different types of embellishments used, such as fringe or beading.

Inuit seamstresses or groups had until Sept. 10 to submit their design bid.

The seamstresses that Pauktuutit selects to create the amautiit will have until January 2022 to complete their projects.

Pauktuutit hasn’t yet determined where the red amautiit will be displayed.

Kudloo said they could be put up in community centres or gathering places, or the parkas could tour through the different regions.

Heather Angnatok of Nain, Nunatsiavut was selected to be one of the seamstresses for the Red Amauti.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has released details on who is eligible to receive a 3rd dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals should be immunized with a third dose of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna).

Moderately to severely immunocompromised includes people with the following conditions:

Individuals who are moderately to severely immunocompromised may have a lower immune response to COVID-19 vaccines compared to the general population.

Individuals with these conditions can have an increased immune response after receiving an additional dose of an mRNA vaccine.

If you meet any of these criteria, you may receive one dose of mRNA vaccine.

You can book your third dose appointment at a Regional Health Authority Clinic (select “Second Dose” when booking online), or contact your physician or pharmacist.

At your appointment, you must present a letter from your employer, physician/medical clinic, or education institution, as applicable, that contains information on your vaccine requirements and includes your first and last name.

Third dose appointments should be scheduled at least 28 days after the last dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

For more information about where and when you can receive a COVID-19 booster shot, visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/vaccine/gettheshot.

The Federal Election will be held on Monday, September 20th, 2021.

There are four candidates running in Labrador for the Member of Parliament.

And they are: Shannon Champion for the Peoples Party of Canada, Shane Dumeresque for the Conservative Party of Canada, Yvonne Jones for the Liberal Party of Canada, and Amy Norman for the New Democratic Party.

We will be airing the candidates on our Sunday Program, September 19th, 2021, to hear more about their background and their platform for the election.

Torngat Wildlife and Plants Secretariat has a new project that will hopefully get underway next week.

Craig Taylor is the Fisheries Analyst.

He says the ghost gear initiative under Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been ongoing fer couple of years.

Taylor added the Secretariat applied and received funding to search for lost gear in the oceans bottom.

He says they rented a vessel that is equipped with a sonar to look for nets on the oceans floor.

Click here to hear Taylor give you more details about this new project and where they’re goal is to do the search of lost gear.

The province is delaying a move to step 3 of its opening plan due to rising numbers of COVID-19 in the Atlantic Region and the fourth wave in the country.

There were ten new confirmed cases in the province yesterday.

Three of those were in the Central region, and were all related to travel. Two in the Eastern region, both of which was under investigation, one case in Western is a previous positive and four cases in the Labrador Grenfell Health all of which were contacts of a previous case. There also 2 presumptive cases at the Labrador Grenfell Health.

There are now 49 confirmed cases in the province with one person in the hospital.

Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says officials were monitoring the fourth wave closely and may reintroduce certain travel restrictions if necessary.

In the meantime, she says the move to Step 3 of the provinces’ re-opening plan is on hold, but will “proceed” when it is safe to do so.

Courtesy VOCM News.

The Provincial Government is reminding employers the minimum wage will increased by $0.25 cents to $12.75 per hour.

This will become effective as of October 1, 2021.

According to a press release this represents the fourth increase to the minimum wage as announced in February 2020.

In accordance with Section 30 of the Labour Standards Act, a review of the minimum wage is required every two years which will be completed in early 2022.

Details about the review process for the minimum wage will be announced in the coming weeks.

The turbot fishery in Makkovik seems to be quite well at this time of the month.

Angel Chaulk is the Fishplant Clerk.

She says three turbot boats remain fishing and since last week landings another 39,456 lbs of turbot was landed, totaling up to 229,139lbs.

Chaulk says there are 17 plantworkers working, which is two more people have been added since last week.

And Nain Fishplant is now winterized, the plant closed last Friday, September 11.

There’s a slight increase at the gas pumps today.

The regulated price of gas is up by just half a cent a litre.

Diesel, stove and furnace oil are all up by less than half a cent. Propane is up by nearly one and a half cents.

The Executive Council of the Nunatsiavut Government released a statement today in response to the growing discussion on the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC).

Following a research and consultation process, the Nunatsiavut Executive Council stated they had come to the conclusion that the NCC has not established that it is a collective that is entitled to Inuit rights.

“Our consultations and the history of our people make our position clear. We do not recognize the NCC proposed land claim,” said Nunatsiavut Executive Council President Johannes Lampe.

“We have been hearing from our beneficiaries that they want Nunatsiavut to speak to this issue for a while, and we took our time to take an informed position — but it is time to move forward through this dialogue in a way that reflects what they have told us and expresses the truth of our oral history and kinship systems.”

The Nunatsiavut Executive Council believes that while some members of the NCC may themselves have some Indigenous ancestry and backgrounds, the NCC has no viable claim to land in Labrador.

“As Inuit, we always return to our oral history, kinship systems and our knowledge of our people. This knowledge tells us who we are and what we are,” said President Lampe.

0“As Nunatsiavut Inuit, we have a settled land claims agreement that we negotiated with the Crown over many years.

It is essential that we act to protect and recognize the rights of Inuit in Nunatsiavut and nationally.”

The Nunatsiavut Government has also applied for intervenor status in the Innu Nation litigation against the Government of Canada in relation to the NCC claim.

Click here for more of the statement made today by the Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe.

Today, Wednesday, September 15, Newfoundland and Labrador has 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last public advisory.

In the Eastern Health region:

– One male between 20-39 years of age. The case is under investigation.
– One male between 60-69 years of age. The case is under investigation.

In the Central Health region:

– One male between 40-49 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.
– One female between 50-59 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.
– One male between 50-59 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.

In the Labrador-Grenfell Health region:

– One male under 20 years of age. The case is a contact of a previous known case.
– One female between 20-39 years of age. The case is a contact of a previous known case.
– One female between 40-49 years of age. The case is a contact of a previous known case.
– One female between 60-69 years of age. The case is a contact of a previous known case.

In the Western Health region:

– One male 70 years of age and older. The case is a contact of a previous known case.

Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised regarding quarantine according to current guidelines.

There has been one new recovery in the Central Health region, 1,488 people have recovered, and one person in hospital because of COVID-19.

There are two new presumptive positive cases in the Labrador-Grenfell Health region. Once presumptive positive cases are confirmed positive, they are reported in public updates as new confirmed cases.

There are currently 49 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the active cases is as follows:

– Eastern Health – 25
– Central Health – 3
– Labrador-Grenfell Health – 17
– Western Health – 4

To date, 283,985 tests have been administered.