The OKâlaKatiget Society has obtained funds through the First Nations and Inuit Skills Links Program to employ two youth at our office in Nain.

This is a Mentored Program which assists young people in acquiring the essential skills that will help them gain employment, function well in the workplace, and learn about job and career options.

The two positions available at OKâlaKatiget are one Television Intern and one Radio Assistant.

Applicants must be:

Youth between the ages of 18 to 30 years old.

Unemployed and out of school.

The deadline to apply is September 25, 2019.
The period of employment is 26 weeks, ending March, 2019.

The rate of pay will be $14.00 per hour plus 4% vacation pay.

For more information, contact the OK Society at 922-2955.

The 2019 Fall Sports Meet is being held in Nain starting today.

Teams and Athletes from Nain, Natuashish, Hopedale, Postville, and Rigolet will be participating this year.

The events will start with Table Tennis at the 4 to 12 school gym soon as the teams arrive.

The Opening Ceremonies will take place this evening at 6pm, followed by Volley-Ball later on.

Day 2 they will begin in the morning with a Cross Country Run, than moves on with archery.

In the afternoon they will hold Volley-Ball, and in the evening they will hold Native Games.

For the last day for Day 3 starting in the morning there will be Volley-Ball, in the afternoon Volley-Ball continues, and in the evening will be the Awards Banquet.

Newfoundland and Labrador isn’t feeling the effects of the attacks on a Saudi Arabian Oil Field just yet.

Gas increased by 0.8 cents per litre.

On the island diesel is up 1.5 cents, while Labrador is seeing an increase of .4 cents per litre.

Heating and stove oils are up 1.27 cents and propane remains unchanged.

Depending on market factors this week, George Murphy of the consumer group for fair gas prices says fuel prices could go up across the board next week.

There are Supportive Living Homes in Hopedale, Nain, and HV-GB.

We contacted Beverly Hunter, who is the Elders Coordinator in Hopedale.

She says it will be 3 years in March since they opened this unit.

They have a 3 bedroom unit that houses 3 single people with complex needs with 1 bedroom available.

She also says that they have one bedroom available but the deadline to apply has passed and they will have a staff meeting to determine when their regional committee meeting will be to select the applicants.

She adds that staffs are available 24 hours a day 7 days week.

Any questions or concerns can call Beverly Hunter at 933-3330.

The Nain fish plant is still busy with Scallops.

Deidi Kohlmeister is the Office Supervisor for the plant.

She says that there are seven employees working on prcessing scallops.

Kohlmeister says 1,310lbs green scallops and 448lbs of meat have been landed to this date.

She says the driver of the Torngat 1 is John Andersen and the shuckers are Martin Andersen, Jeffery Jararuse, Eddy Sillitt and Julius Lampe.

She adds the fishermen are doing well even when they are using small buckets.

The Okak Commemoration Event that was supposed to be held in Okak is now being held in Nain.

Jim Lyall is the Ordinary Member for Nain and the Minister of Culture, Recreation and Tourism for the Nunatsiavut Government.

He says that the planned event at the former northern Labrador community of Okak to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the Spanish flu has been cancelled after organizers were notified by Transport Canada of new regulations regarding the use of small marine passenger vessels.

Click here to hear Lyall tell you more about the Okak commemoration.

Splash’ N Boots travelled to Nain to perform for all the children on September 2, 2019.

Splash’ N Boots is a Canadian children’s musical duo who are broadcasted on the Television show, “Tree House”.

The Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development and Air Borealis came together to sponsor this amazing opportunity for children to watch a live performance done by the Splash’ N Boots show.

The two main duo characters are Nick Adams and Taes Leavitt.

They have released 11 albums and 5 DVDs, have traveled across the world performing live shows in their Big Yellow Boot on Tree house TV.

Click here to hear Part 2 of the Splash’ N Boots performance.

A planned three-day event at the former northern Labrador community of Okak to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the Spanish flu has been cancelled after organizers were notified by Transport Canada of new regulations regarding the use of small marine passenger vessels.

The event will now take place in Nain on September 23-24. The regulations, effective March 12, 2019, require all commercial and public purpose vessels engaged in the domestic carriage of passengers in Canada to maintain a minimum of $250,000 liability insurance, multiplied by the passenger capacity of the vessel.

“Given that the boats planned to ferry people from Nain to Okak would not be in compliance with the regulations, we had no choice but to cancel the trip,” notes Language, Culture and Tourism Minister Jim Lyall. “Although this is very unfortunate, we will still go ahead and hold an event in Nain instead, to provide the opportunity to celebrate the descendants and community of Okak, connect families and form bonds.

We want to take this time to come together and celebrate the resilience of the Spanish flu survivors, while remembering all those that were lost to the tragedy.” The event will include a memorial service at the Nain Moravian Church, a monument ceremony, an ‘art as healing’ workshop, story-telling gathering, and a family tree session. In October 1918, the supply vessel SS Harmony set sail from St. John’s for northern Labrador bringing with it the Spanish flu, a deadly virus that changed the course of history for Labrador Inuit.

The virus spread quickly, killing entire families and leaving many children orphaned. No community was impacted as much as Okak, where 204 of the 263 residents perished.

The Jens Haven Memorial School in Nain are currently looking to fill in some positions.

Jacob Larkin is the Principal at the JHM School.

Right now, both the High school and Primary school do not have Inuktitut teachers.

They are also looking for Indigenous teachers to hold the ilusivut program.

For the ilusivut position you do not need your high school diploma.

Larkin says right now they are still looking to get these four positions filled.

There are four new teachers who are staffed at the school this year.

He also added that the Breakfast Committee are still looking for volunteers to make toast and serve breakfast at the 4-12 building from 7:45-8:30am for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Volunteers will need to fill out a Criminal Offence Declaration form which can be filled out upon arrival at the office.

If you are interested please contact the School at 922-2813.

The OKâlaKatiget Society Television show Tamânevugut will be showcasing their seventh season this fall.

Tamânevugut can be watched on the APTN Television Network.

APTN broadcasts on four feeds, an HD feed, an Eastern, Western and Northern feeds.

OKâlaKatiget Society Radio Department has the new schedule air time for the Tamânevugut shows.

Episode 4 is the Inuit Youth Summit; this will be aired on the APTN North Feed today Wednesday September 18, 2019 at 7am and again at 12pm.

This episode will be aired on APTN (north feed) on Monday October 7, 2019 at 12 noon.

The next show will be Episode 5 of the Inuktitut Language this show will be aired on Monday September 23, 2019 at 7am and again at 12 noon.

And the Kayak Project 1 and Part 2 for Episode on the APTN East feed on Monday September 23 at 6am and again on the HD Feed on Monday September 23 at 6:30 am.

And the episode 12 of the Year End concert part 1 on the APTN North Feed will be aired 9:30pm.