The Winter Sports meet took place this past weekend in Postville.

We spoke with Howard Worthman who is the Vice-Principal of B.L. Morrison School.

He gave us information about the Winter Meet.

Here are the results; in Badminton; Rigolet came in 1st place, Hopedale placed 2nd and Postville placed 3rd.

In ball hockey; Nain came in 1st, Makkovik came in 2nd and 3rd place went to Postville.

In the girl’s singles Cross Country Skiing, Samantha Williams from Rigolet came in 1st place, Michelle Nochasak from Makkovik came 2nd, and Brianna Wolfery from Rigolet came 3rd.

In the boys singles Cross Country Skiing, 1st place went to Liam Dyson from Makkovik, 2nd place went to Trevor Dicker from Nain, and Shannon Howell also from Nain came in 3rd.

In the females Cross Country Skiing, Rigolet came in 1st followed by Makkovik 2nd and Hopedale placed 3rd.

In the males Cross Country Skiing, Makkovik team came in 1st, Nain came 2nd and third place went to Hopedale.

For the outdoor soccer; Makkovik came 1st, Nain 2nd and Rigolet came 3rd.

In the Labrathon, Liam and Emily from Makkovik finished 1st, Trevor Dicker and Madison Dicker from Nain came in 2nd, and Brady and Samantha from Rigolet came in 3rd.

In teams from the Labrathon, Rigolet came 1st, Makkovik was, 2nd, and Hopedale 3rd.

1st place for the female Northern Games was Rigolet, 2nd place went to Postville and 3rd came to a tie of Makkovik and Hopedale.

1st place for the male Northern Games was Postville, Hopedale 2nd and Makkovik 3rd.

The Female MVP went to Samantha Williams from Postville and the Male MVP was Hanson Jacque from Rigolet.

The Female Most Sportsman-like award went to Allison Gear of Postville and the Male Most Sportsman-like award went to William Tuglavina of Hopedale.

Team Mr. Obed Award went to Natuashish and First place in the overall results of the sports meet; Makkovik 1st, Rigolet 2nd and Hopedale 3rd.

The Makkovik Recreation Director announced that the North Coast Ball Hockey Tournament has been postponed.

Paul Andersen is the Recreation Director for Makkovik Inuit Community Government.

He says the non-cash prize tournament has been moved to February 28th and 29th, 2020.

It will take place at the J.C. Erhardt Memorial School gym at 3pm onwards.

The teams must consists of 4 players and the goalie, and men must be 14 years and older while females must be 12 years and older.

The registration fee is $100 per team and the deadline to apply is February 26th.

To apply your team, you can contact Paul Andersen by email at paulandersen923@gmail.com or drop a message to him on Facebook.

The Nigivik Centre released their monthly schedule for this month, February.

Brenda Dicker is the New Food Security Worker.

Dicker says due to staff holding meetings and helping the Nain DHSD, they will be closed today, Tuesday, February 11th to the 13th.

The Nigivik Center will reopen for their programs this Friday, the 14th.

The OKâlaKatiget got a copy of their monthly calendar events and here is the activity for this Friday, February 14th.

Starting from 9am to 12pm, they will be making Pork Chops and Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

If you have any questions, you can contact Brenda Dicker at the Nigivik Center during regular work hours at 922-2968 for more information.

The Department of Language, Culture and Tourism is looking to hire a fluent Inuttitut speaker in Nain to lead an Adult Inuttitut Café at the Illusuak Cultural Centre.

This person will be there to present at the café, encourage, and guide participants to speak in Inuttitut in a positive environment.

This will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays for two hours during the day.

If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Shirley Jararuse at 922-2052 or by email at shirley.jararuse@nunatsiavut.com or Robyn Martin at 922-2051 or by email at robyn.martin@nunatsiavut.com.

The 2020 hunting season for harvesting Polar Bears opened on February 3rd, 2020.

And so far there has been three Polar Bears harvested on the north coast communities.

Todd Broomfield is the Director of Renewable Resources.

He says two licensed hunters from Nain and one from Makkovik got their bears this weekend.

Click here to hear more from Broomfield on the Polar Bear hunts.

The Nunatsiavut Assembly’s first sitting of the New Year was held the week of January 20th in Hopedale.

The Nunatsiavut Government Assembly did a shuffle and elected New Ministers and Ordinary Member.

The new First Minister who has been elected is Tyler Edmunds of Postville.

Carlene Palliser of Rigolet is the Minister of Education and Economic Development.

While Tony Andersen of Nain, is the Minister of Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology.

Gregory Flowers of Hopedale is now the Minister of Land and Natural Resources.

And John Andersen is the new Ordinary Member for Makkovik.

The Nunatsiavut Government of Language, Culture & Tourism is seeking nominations to acknowledge individuals who strive to keep the Inuttitut language and culture alive here in Nunatsiavut.

If you know someone who is dedicated to preserve Inuttitut and the Inuit culture and you feel they are very deserving of this award, please take the time to nominate them.

Please include the following in your nomination letter:

• Description of why you feel he/she deserves the award, including which projects/initiatives they have led or participated in, for how long, and what role they played for Inuttitut & cultural preservation; minimum 250 words, maximum 1000 words.
• A short bio of the nominee and include their community of origin
• Letters of recommendation are encouraged
• Nominees must be Nunatsiavut Beneficiaries.

The deadline is on Friday, February 21st, 2020.

For more information, you can contact Shirley Jararuse at 922-2052 or Robyn Martin at 922-2051.

The Community Employment Enhancement Program is offered in each community ever year; this is to help individuals who need more hours to qualify for Employment Insurance.

We contacted the Postville and Makkovik ICG’s for an update on their Community Employment Enhancement Programs.

Glenn Sheppard is the AngajukKâk for the Postville ICG.

Sheppard says that there is one person left to do her hours until next month.

She’s been doing some knitting, sewing and crafts and other things the manager would like for her to do.

Barry Andersen is the AngajukKâk for the Makkovik ICG.

He says there is also one person left to do his hours until the middle of the month.

He’s been doing things around town, doing some shoveling and helping elders.

The Nain Atsanik Inn is still undergoing major renovations in the hotel.

Patty Dicker is the new owner of the Atsanik Inn in Nain.

Dicker says renovations began last summer in 2019.

Right now, the kitchen area now have all new kitchen appliances installed and each guest room have all new mattresses put in place.

There are three new workers in the kitchen area; Phillipino Kitchen helper, Nehler-Ding Panaga, the cook is Abdelhadi Abouida, and his wife Nezha Oulhadj is the cook’s helpers.

Dicker adds that they have started renovations since last summer on the inside of the building which and is gradually building up.

The flooring has been replaced with new carpets.

The old wallpaper is all off and painting has started, the light fixtures in the dining area and front lobby are being replaced.

The rooms are still under renovations, it’s taking a little slower than expected, but is being done.

They had some building challenges with repairs but they will adjust the issue.

A few rooms should be in operation now and they will continue to work on the other rooms.

And the Take out business is being received well from the community and everyone is appreciated with the business.

The SmartICE program is a partnership with Nunatsiavut Government, the industry, the Memorial University and the Government of Canada.

We spoke with Rex Holwell Jr. who is the Northern Production Lead with SmartICE.

He says there are no students training in the program but will get more people end of June.

Holwell went out to Nain Bay with two trainees with the Smart-Kamutik yesterday.

He says he will be going once a week to different routes depending on where people are requesting him to go.

He adds that if you want to see his progress, you can go to the website at www.siku.org.