The Office of Indigenous Affairs (OIA) has an exciting year with the full return to campus for students in the fall semester.

During the fall semester the Office of Indigenous Affairs will be officially opening and naming a building and has a dedicated space for self-identified Indigenous students.

The official name of the building will be Juniper House, which is the new home of the ISRC.

As you may know, the name Juniper House was chosen because Memorial wanted a name that would be representative of Indigenous students attending Memorial, particularly the Innu, Inuit, and Mi’kmaq.

As a circumboreal plant that grows in diverse environments across the province, juniper is present across all our traditions and territories.

As a plant with many uses: medicinal, craft and culinary, they felt this reflects the multi-faceted purpose of Juniper House.

It will function as a resource and study space, a home away from home, and a place to take care of students to take care of themselves on their university journey.

They would like to build on this connection by collecting and sharing their stories and knowledge of juniper, and with that said they want the community to be a part of this process.

They would like to invite you and community members to share your knowledge and stories of juniper with us.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami opens Nomination Period for Presidential Election this September.

Any Inuk at least 18 years of age may be nominated in one of two ways. The first way is through nomination by the designated Member Representative of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Makivik Corporation, and the Nunatsiavut Government.

The second way is to complete a Candidate Application Form, and secure the signatures of 20 Inuit, aged 18 or older, who support the individual’s candidacy. Applicants must also provide a cover letter that outlines their experience in a leadership role, knowledge of issues important to Inuit as well as a description of what they would like to achieve as ITK President.

The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, August 18, 2021, at 5 pm ET. The Candidate Application Form as well as other documents are available at www.itk.ca/2021-itk-presidential-election. For more information, please contact ITK at 1-866-262-8181.

Amy Norman of Happy Valley-Goose Bay is seeking to be nominated as a candidate in the federal election.

Norman says that she will be running for the Non-Democratic Party for Labrador.

Norman grew up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and she work with the land protectors, she is a leader for girl guides, an environmental activist, and she also works at Warr’s Pharmacy as a Pharmacy Technician.

We will be speaking with Amy Norman later in the AtjiKangitut Program to find out more.

The 11th Annual CYN and Mr. Volleyball Tournament will be going ahead this month.

This is open to male and female divisions.

The opening ceremony will be held on August 27, 2021, at 6pm at the Jeremias Sillit Community Center.

So far, they have 7 teams in Women’s division and 5 teams for Men’s division registered.

If you or your friends want to play in this tournament, the deadline for registration is Wednesday August 25, at 4pm.

Teams must have at least 5 players and a maximum of 7 players.

The registration fee is as follows: $30 registration fee per player and those who are not in high school, and it’s $20 per player for high school students.

To register a team, you can contact the CYN Fieldworker Bradley Lampe at the JS Center at 922-2691 or 922-2690.

Health authorities are investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A infections linked to frozen mangoes.

It comes after Nature’s Touch Frozen Food Inc. pulled several batches of frozen mangoes from grocery stores over concerns about potential contamination.

The recall applies to certain Nature’s Touch, Compliments, Irresistibles and President’s Choice products sold in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and possibly other provinces and territories.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is urging consumers to dispose of recalled products, and contact their doctors if they have any concerns.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Saturday it was collecting reports of hepatitis A infections related to the outbreak in Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The public health agency said two people who became sick said they ate frozen mangoes before falling ill, and leftover products collected from their homes tested positive for hepatitis A.

The CFIA says eating food contaminated with hepatitis A may cause mild illness that can appear about 15 to 50 days after the food was eaten.

It often clears up on its own in a week or two, although it can last up to six months in some people.

The CFIA says the virus can cause inflammation of the liver, and symptoms may include fever, low appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and yellowing in the whites of the eyes and the skin.

For more information on the recalled products can be found on the CFIA’s website.

There are two snow crab boats left fishing in Makkovik, and 8 other boats finished up this summer.

Angel Chaulk is the Fish Plant Clerk.

She says they were waiting for two boats to return with their catches yesterday.

And to date a total of 259,066 lbs of crab have been landed.

The snow crab fishing season closes tomorrow Friday, August 6.

Chaulk says the 23 employees including 8 summer students was doing a major cleanup and finishing touches yesterday to get the plant ready for the turbot fishery.

She added as of yesterday there are turbot boats there yet.

We will have the char and scallop landings from the Nain Fish plant tomorrow.

All fuel prices are up this morning, but only marginally.

The biggest mover is the price of diesel, which has increased by one cent.

Gas prices are up as well, increasing by 0.2 cents.

Furnace and stove oils are up by 0.8 cents, and the price of propane has increased by 0.3 cents.

The Department of Language, Culture and Tourism for the Nunatsiavut Government held a meeting last evening at the Illusuak Cultural Center.

Rita-Ann Dicker is the Language program coordinator.

She says that approximately 10 people showed up and discussed some ways how to promote more of the Inuktitut language.

Participants spoke about past and current programs and how to enhance ongoing and new Inuktitut language initiatives.

There were participants from all different backgrounds, such as teachers, elders, interpreters, translators, reporters, and parents.

Dicker adds that the meeting was a success and that they plan to have another meeting sometime in the near future.

The Member of the House of Assembly for the Torngat Mountains District was in Nain last week.

We spoke with MHA Lela Evans about some of the issues that she is working on.

She says she had a meeting with Honourable Dr. John Haggie. Minister of Health and Community Services for Newfoundland and Labrador about patient’s transportation.

Evans also spoke about the number of passengers that are allowed on board and who is able to travel on the Kamutik W. She also speaks about the policy that is in place by the federal government due to COVID-19.

We will be speaking with MHA Lela Evans later in the AtjiKangitut program to find out more.

Today (Wednesday, August 4), Newfoundland and Labrador has one new confirmed case of COVID-19 since the last public advisory. Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.

The new confirmed case is a male in the Central Health region between 20-39 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.

There have been no new recoveries in the province and 1,421 people have recovered. There are two people in hospital due to COVID-19. One is a crewmember from the ship that was off the coast of Bay Bulls and one is a crewmember from the ship that was anchored in Conception Bay.

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

· Eastern Health 2
o 1 related to ship previously in Bay Bulls
o 1 related to ship previously in Conception Bay
· Central Health – 1
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 0
· Western Health – 1

To date, 263,576 tests have been administered