The Aboriginal Friendship Centre, First Light in St. John’s is holding events for National Indigenous Peoples Day.

They are offering in-person and virtual events since last Friday on their Facebook page.

The facebook events included an intro to Cultural Humility last Friday, Country Night at 7pm last Sunday, a Sunrise ceremony at 6am on Monday, at 12 noon showcases and Inuit games on facebook, and a pick-up community feast from 4-6pm.

On Tuesday was Kat and Sal on facebook at 11am, and live zoom of Kayak Teachings with Noah Nochasak.

Wednesday was basket weaving at 3 pm and facebook virtual performing at 6 pm.

This evening at 6 pm, Thursday, there will be Inuit Drum Tying and First Nations Drum Tying, and tomorrow Friday will be Ko’jua Song and dance at 1 pm on facebook.

The Heritage Forum was held in Nain this year.

Mary Binky Andersen is the Business Development Specialist at Nunatsiavut Government.

She did a video and picture presentation at the forum on the communities North of Nain such as Nutâk, OKak and Hebron.

Andersen grew up traveling up North and would like to share some history and experiences.

Stay tuned to our Teen Rockers show to hear Part 1 of Andersen’s presentation (Audio to be added later).

The regulated price of various fuels has increased across the board today, but not by much.

Gas is up by just over a cent per litre (1.1), and diesel by just under one cent (0.8).

Furnace and stove oil have increased by a little over half a cent per litre (0.59, 0.70 respectively), and propane is up by exactly half a cent.

The Language & Culture Division of Nunatsiavut Government has a window decorating contest for National Indigenous People’s Day in Nain.

This is for all Nunatsiavut communities, all entries from each community will be put in a prize draw for a $100 voucher at Woodward’s Oil Ltd.

Decorations must be cultural themed or related to National Indigenous People’s Day.

The end date for the contest is tomorrow Friday, June 25, 2021 and photo submissions must be sent to robyn.martin@nunatsiavut.com.

There will also be a Family Scavenger Hunt open to all Nunatsiavut communities.

The prize for this activity is a $200 voucher, one winner per community.

Anyone who would like to participate in the contest must submit your photos to robyn.martin@nunatsiavut.com or rita-ann.dicker@nunatsiavut.com.

Also, there are a lot of words in Inuktitut on the Nain DHSD Nunatsiavut Facebook page if anyone wanted to take a look.

A big milestone in Newfoundland and Labrador’s reopening plan as the province opens up to the rest of Atlantic Canada.

As of yesterday, the province has dropped isolation requirements for residents of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. This marks the first time travellers from those areas can come freely to this province since last November.

Premier Andrew Furey believes the province is ready to begin reopening.

He says the province is prepared for the Atlantic bubble; equally as important is that the province is ready to open to the rest of the country on Canada Day.

Today (Tuesday, June 22), Newfoundland and Labrador has one new confirmed case of COVID-19. Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.

The one new confirmed case is a female in the Western Health region between 60-69 years of age. The case is a contact of a previous case. The case is not connected to the cluster in the Western Health region.

There were no new confirmed cases throughout the weekend.

There have been ten new recoveries in the province since the last public advisory. On Saturday, June 19, there were seven recoveries, one in the Eastern Health region and six in the Western Health region. On Sunday, June 20, there were three new recoveries, two in the Central Health region and one in the Western Health region. 1,360 people have recovered. There is no one in hospital due to COVID-19.

There are 13 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the 13 active cases is as follows:

· Eastern Health – 3
· Central Health – 1
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 1
· Western Health – 8

To date, 157,609 people have been tested.

This year will be the 3rd Annual Tom C Jararuse Memorial Dart Tournament in Hopedale.

The dates are set for August 27 and 28, 2021 and will take place at the Nanuk Center.

The prize for 1st place will be $2000, 2nd prize $1000, and the 3rd prize $500.

Teams must consist of four participants; 2 male and 2 female with a registration for each participant.

If you are interested in registering your team, you can contact Mary Flowers, Hannah Jararuse Winters, Billy Jararuse, and Maggie Jararuse.

The town of Makkovik started their community clean up sponsored by the Makkovik Inuit Community Government.

The property cleaning and trash pick up in the town will be until Friday, June 25, 2021.

You can enter for prize draws by taking photos and post them on the MICG Facebook site for your property cleaning, or ditch trash pick ups and trash pick ups at popular sites. This will be by age category, so please specify your age for participants.

The deadline is on Monday, June 28 at 12pm and draws will take place the next day.

There will also be free pick ups for disposed vehicles. Please have it ready for pick up at roadside.

There will be free garbage bags available to residents, and a lunch break will be available at the town office on June 23rd at 3pm.

Please do your part to make Makkovik a clean and safe community, and ensure that garbage bags collected is placed on road side for pick ups on garbage days of Tuesdays or Fridays.

Effective immediately, the health authorities in the province are relaxing some of the rules for visitors and patients at their facilities.

In Eastern Health, all support persons and visitors must register upon arrival to the facility and be screened prior to the visit. Visits will only proceed for individuals who meet the screening criteria.

In addition:

• Hospital patients can identify one support person, if required, and up to two visitors per day who can visit separately once a day unless otherwise advised by the clinical care team.
• Long-term care residents can identify one support person, if required, and up to two visitors per day who can visit separately once a day, or at the same time if physical distancing requirements can be maintained. Visitors are advised to connect with the patient’s health care team to discuss visitation hours.
• Obstetrics patients may have one support person and one doula during delivery, and up to two visitors per day are permitted after delivery until the time of the patient’s discharge.
• Pediatric patients in hospital may have both parents/guardians visit at the same time and there are no restrictions on the number of visits per day.

Rules and protocols across the four health authorities are similar but may have slight variations.

Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents will be able to enter Canada without undergoing quarantine starting the night of July 5, the federal government announced today.

The news comes as many Canadian provinces have hit key vaccination targets, with more than 75 per cent of eligible Canadians having received at least one dose and over 20 per cent having received two.

Canadians and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated won’t be able to simply walk through customs, however.

According to officials at a government briefing for journalists, those entering will need to show documents proving they received doses of vaccines approved in Canada at least 14 days prior to entering the country.

Officials said travellers must electronically submit COVID-19-related information to the government’s ArriveCAN app before arriving, meet the pre- and on-arrival test requirements, be asymptomatic and have a suitable quarantine plan.

If approved, those accepted travellers will not have to quarantine. Those arriving by air will also not be forced to stay at a government-authorized hotel and non-vaccinated children or dependent adults travelling with them will also be exempt from the hotel stay.

Children who aren’t vaccinated will be able to go home with their parents, but must quarantine for two weeks, said an official speaking on background.

The new rules — which kick in July 5 at 11:59 p.m. ET — cover Canadian citizens, permanent residents, those registered under the Indian Act and some foreign nationals already allowed to enter Canada, including international students.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said those without a smartphone or without mobile data should submit their information online within 72 hours before their arrival in Canada.

There are no changes to border restrictions for travellers who are not fully vaccinated. Those who land by air will still have to stay in hotel quarantine for up to three days pending a negative arrival test, quarantine at home for the remainder of the 14-day period and take a test on day eight of their self-isolation period.