The Nunatsiavut Government in partnership with the Torngat Wildlife Plants and Fisheries Secretariat, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Memorial University are hosting a wildlife research workshop on May 24-26 in Hopedale.

They are looking for 3 participants from each community of Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville and Upper Lake Melville area to attend.

For more information or if you are interested in attending, you can contact Jason Dicker by email at Jason.dicker@nunatsiavut.com.

Accommodations, travel and honorarium will be provided for participants.

Are you a Nunatsiavut beneficiary looking to enhance your Inuttitut skills?

Join Nicholas and Vanessa Flowers for 12 weeks of Inuttitut learning in Nunatsiavummiutitut.

Both recent graduates of the Aurniarvik Program at Pirurvik in Iqaluit, Nicholas and Vanessa are excited to share with Nunatsiavummiut what they’ve learned during their time in their program.

In these Intermediate level lessons, Nicholas and Vanessa will be teaching Inuttitut in a similar way that they were taught, following lessons posted on Tusaalanga.ca

With 15 participants, they will be teaching Inuttitut grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and comprehension in an engaging classroom environment via Zoom.

They will be held from May 8th – July 28th, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:30-8pm.

If interested, please fill out the form at docs.google.com/forms. Space is limited.

The Research Project is seeking parents in Nain to participate in an interview on Housing insecurity and the welfare of families in Nunatsiavut.

Christina Goldhar is a PhD Student in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University.

She is conducting a research project called “An Interrogation of the housing crisis in Nunatsiavut and Nunavut, outcomes for women, children and families” for her PhD degree.

This project in being completed with the support of the Nunatsiavut Government. A similar study is also being conducted in Nunavut.

This study seeks to better understand connections between the housing crisis in Nunatsiavut and the welfare needs of families.

Interviews will take up to one hour and may be conducted in English or Inuktitut. All participants will be compensated for their time with a $50 gift card for Northern, and only one interview will be conducted per household.

If you are a parent in the community and you are interested in participating, please drop by the Nunatsiavut Government Administration Building from 8:30am-4pm, Monday-Friday to register your interview.

Interviews will be held until Thursday, May 4th; evening and weekend timeslots are also available.

You can also call 709-922-2942, or message Christina on their Facebook page, “Housing and welfare, Nunavut and Nunatsiavut” to register.

The Nunatsiavut Government is extending a huge congratulations to the authors of TautukKonik / Looking Back: A Portrait of Inuit Life in northern Labrador, 1969-1986 on winning the Peter Cashin Prize.

The Peter Cashin Prize is awarded annually by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Memorial University for the best piece of scholarly work on the history and/or political economy of Newfoundland and Labrador published in the preceding calendar year.

The book’s authors include Andrea Procter (winner of the award in 2020 for her publication, A Long Journey: Residential Schools in Labrador and Newfoundland), Candace Cochrane and the Nunatsiavut Creative Group, consisting of Peggy Andersen, Rutie Dicker, Minnie Gear, Maria Merkuratsuk, Katie Winters, Sue Webb, Bev Hunter, Fran Williams, Jade Holwell, Joe Dicker, and the late Levi Nochasak.

“Congratulations to Nunatsiavummiut who have contributed their knowledge in the publishing of TauktukKonik,” said Roxanne Barbour, Minister of Language, Culture and Tourism. “Their work is evidently exceptional. Be proud of yourselves as I am proud of you all.”

The Nunatsiavut Government was a partner on TautukKonik, which was a project that came out of the Tradition and Transition partnership with Memorial University. The book is a collaborative portrait of a time of change for Inuit in northern Labrador. It uses repatriated photographs of Inuit life taken by Cochrane between 1969 and 1986. The Nunatsiavut Creative Group, along with Procter and Cochrane, combined the images with Inuit recollections in both Inuktitut and English. Together, they created an inspired portrait of time and place.

The Inuit Community Government of Makkovik are busy with their projects this time of year.

We spoke with AngajukKâk Barry Andersen.

He says with the milder temperatures now, his crew have been doing their best to get the ditches clear.

They have the trail markers taken down and is preparing the groom trail operations for next season.

Click here to hear the update with Andersen.

The annual George Lane Memorial dart tournament will be head in Hopedale this weekend.

Starting date will be April 28 at the Nanuk Community Centre at 6pm.

The deadline to register your team is tomorrow Friday, April 28 at 12pm.

There will be cash prizes for winning teams; 1st place team will win $2,000, 2nd place $1,000, and 3rd place $500.

They will also have prizes for Most tons, Most finishes, and High score.

There will also be 50/50 tickets available to purchase, and the draw will take place on Sunday, April 30.

You can register your team to Jill Nitsman; cash and EMT accepted, and can be sent to nitsmanjill@yahoo.ca.

Pigutsavik Daycare Centre in Nain are excited to announce that they will start an all-year-round programming for families in Nain this coming summer.

Melissa Mercer is the Administrator for the Nain Pigutsavik Daycare Centre.

She says starting this summer, daycare will be open all year round, instead of closing in June and reopening in September.

And the daycare grad will take place in August and will only be for the children that are leaving daycare to go to the big school.

Children will be no longer able to attend the program once they start kindergarten.

They will not be having their yearly registration night as registration is open throughout the year; you can sign your children up at any time.

Waitlisted children in the preschool room will be given full time spots in order of their registration with priority given to children of working parents once other children start Kindergarten.

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns, to Melissa Mercer by email at melissa.mercer@nunatsiavut.com, or call her office at 922-1330.

Provincial Government announced call for nominations for Premier and Ministers Teaching Awards.

The Honorable John Haggie, Minister of Education announcing today, the opening of nominations for the third annual Premier’s Award for teaching innovation and the Minister of Education’s Award for Compassion in teaching.

The Premier’s Award for Teaching Innovation recognizes primary, elementary, or secondary teachers in all disciplines who have demonstrated innovation in instruction and commitment to preparing their students for future success.

The Minister of Education for Compassion in Teaching recognizes inspirational and compassionate teachers at the primary, elementary or secondary level who have demonstrated a commitment to supporting the social, emotional and mental health of their students, colleagues or school community as a whole.

These awards recognize teaching excellence in areas that are meaningful and impactful for K- grade 12 students in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 26.

The Nunatsiavut Government is now accepting applications for the Residential Heat Pump Program.

This program is available to Beneficiaries in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, in the Inuit Communities of Nain, Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik, and Rigolet.

The Primary heat source in the dwellings of eligible applicants must be electric heating. (Please refer to Program Guidelines for more details on heating eligibility).

Applicants with a gross income of less than $100,000 will have all costs associated with the heat pump and installation covered.

Applicants with a gross income of $100,000 will be responsible for 25% of the cost of the heat pump and installation, with 75% of the costs covered by the program.

For a copy of the application, please print the online version or contact your loca Community Liaison Officer.

For general inquiries, you may contact Jamie.howlett@nunatsiavut.com, or call him at 1-866-922-2942 ext. 280.

Or stuart.michel@nunatsiavut.com, or call 1-709-947-3558.

Completed applications can be sent to NGretrofit@nunatsiavut.com.

April is Daffodil Month, Pauktuutit knows the significance of understanding the impacts of cancer. This includes understanding what is happening when we or someone we care about is diagnosed with cancer and what the diagnosis means to our loved ones, in our language.

Pauktuutit, in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society is proud to launch the Inuktut version of the patient and caregiver ‘My Journey’ module.

All information is narrated and printed in the South Qikiqtaaluk dialect.

The Inuusinni Aqqusaaqtara – My Journey-Learning module shares information you need to understand your rights. That’s Rights, Diagnosis, Type of Cancer, Treatment, and Aftercare.

Visit www.bit.ly/3AdRsqq to find the module designed to make this journey a little bit easier.