Hopedale Inuit Community Government would like to announce that they now have their new groomer for their community.

Marjorie Flowers is the AngajukKak for Hopedale ICG.

She says this is a brand new groomer they just received over the weekend.

Flowers say the groomer arrived on the Astron on Saturday November 24, 2018.

Once the supplier goes to Hopedale to do the orientation with the heavy equipment operators, they will start using the new groomer.

She says hopefully the supplier will begin the orientation by next week.

Flowers added that they are really pleased that this year they will have a better year with the roads being groomed and they are excited about the better service on maintaining the roads in Hopedale.

DHSD has been continuing doing consultations and meeting with Residential School Survivors in their towns.

Rutie Lampe of Nain is the new and appointed Resolution Health Support Worker.

She has been travelling to the communities to meet with the residential school survivors since September.

Lampe says she will be travelling to North West River next month and do consultations on Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 at the DHSD Community Office from 5-7 pm.

She will also be in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Wednesday, December 5th, also at the DHSD Community Office from 6-8 pm.

There will be Community Social Supper and activities and door prizes.

Lampe added come out to the social, consultations and meetings and say what you would like for healing programs for residential school survivors and your families.

She will be available for home visits if you cannot make it to the meetings.

If you have any questions you can contact her at 709-922-2126 ext. 231 or email at rutie.lampe@nunatsiavut.com.

OK Radio contacted Hopedale to see what was on the go in their community this time of the year.

Andrew Piercy is an Elder from Hopedale.

He says there’s a lot of construction going on in his community of Hopedale.

Piercy says people are going seal hunting as well.

To hear more from Piercy on the Hopedale activities, click HERE.

The Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices is predicting a noticeable decrease at the pumps tomorrow.

George Murphy says gasoline is showing a dip of just over 3 cents per litre (3.2 cpl) and diesel is showing a drop of six cents per litre.

As for heating and stove oils, they are down over five cents (5.2) a litre.

Several Innu from the northern Labrador community of Natuashish, including Grand Chief of the Innu Nation Gregory Rich were fined yesterday by Quebec wildlife officers in Oujé-Bougoumou, a small town in central Quebec, for possession of caribou from the Leaf River Herd. The caribou – a gift from Chisasibi Cree Nation – were also seized.

The Innu were travelling to Labrador when they were detained earlier yesterday afternoon. Chief Bobbish of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, had provided a letter intending to support safe passage and declaring the caribou a gift from their Nation to the Innu.

However, the letter was not accepted by the Quebec wildlife officers, who seized the caribou, rather than allow the Innu to bring the gift back to the Innu communities of Labrador.

Grand Chief Gregory rich said “the practice of historical sharing between Cree and the Innu of what is now Labrador goes back to long before the assertion of sovereignty by the Crown”.

A member of the Innu Nation who was with the Grand Chief also said “We do not accept that the Province of Quebec can prevent the exercise of this gifting.

The Innu and the Cree have many blood relationship and Cree and Innu customary law support gifting of caribou between many peoples.”

The Grand Chief agrees, calling the actions of the Quebec Government ‘Colonial’.

Innu Nation states that this is but the latest attempt to criminalize Innu and that both the Governments of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador need to recognize the importance of caribou to Innu cultural and spiritual survival.

November is National Addiction awareness month for Nunatsiavut

In honour of national addictions awareness week, the Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development in Nain and Postville will be holding paint night.

Sadly, one in 10 Canadians suffer from some type of substance use disorder. That could mean your co worker, your neighbour or someone in your own family. Addiction does not discriminate – it affects all walks of life.

The Nain DHSD will be holding their paint night on Wednesday November 28, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the DHSD building. Anybody is welcome to attend.

Postville DHSD will be holding their paint night on Thursday November 29, 2018 at 7 pm, it will take place at the recreation hall, any adult is welcome to attend.

If anyone in Nain has any questions you can contact Elsie Russell, Mental health and addictions worker for DHSD at 922-2183.

For Postville you can contact Vyann Andersen-Goudie at the DHSD building at 479-9878.

George Murphy had indicated last month that he might have to abandon his gas price predictions in light of big increases in the cost of the services he uses to compile his figures.

That’s now changed. Murphy says he’ll be continuing on for the next couple of years at least.

He says he’s found another service to use, but is still having some difficulty finding accurate numbers for heating oil and diesel, but the numbers haven’t been too bad.

The IlinniaKatigennik show will air today and that will be the last one until the New Year.

IlinniaKatigennik will be back on the air January 15, 2019.

We like to thank everyone who help out in the Inuktitut Stories and to our listeners to the IlinniaKatigennik program.

Again, IlinniaKatigennik program will be back on air on January 15th, 2019.

The Nain Inuit Community Government has 2019 Nain Moravian Church Calendars for sale.

Calendars are $10 each and all the proceeds will go towards the Nain Moravian Church.

All monies raised will help purchase stove oil for this winter season.

So if anyone would like to purchase the 2019 Nain Moravian Church calendars can do so at the NICG office during regular work hours.

Office hours are from Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

They also prefer cash only for purchasing.

Nunatsiavut Group of Companies (NGC) has decided to donate funds for the Food Banks in Nunatsiavut communities.

Sarah Leo is the Vice-President of Corporate Development for NGC.

She says over the previous years NGC had an amount of $40,000 for the wood project, which was delivered to Nain and Hopedale from the Muskrat Falls.

Unfortunately, the wood supply from that project is not easily accessible and has gotten too expensive to get it out.

Leo says they’ve taken the money and divided it proportionally to the five communities for Food Banks.

To hear Leo discuss more details on what NGC has decided, click HERE.