The 2023 Hopedale RCMP Volleyball tournament will be held this April.

We spoke with Jacqueline Dicker one of the volunteers.

She says they have a Facebook group page for anyone who would like to join.

Dicker says this year the 2023 RCMP Tournament is scheduled for April 21-22, 2023.

Registration fee is $20 per player.

Deadline to register your teams is April 19, 2023, at 4pm.

Teams must have 5 players minimum and a maximum of 7 players registered.

If you would like to Register your team, you can message on their Facebook page or call the Hopedale RCMP detachment at 933-3820 extn 3.

The 7th Annual Grace Jararuse Flowers Memorial Ice Hockey begins next week from March 1-5, 2023.

The registration fee for students is $20 and for adults is $30.

The deadline is on Tuesday, February 28.

Teams must consists a maximum number of 12 players per team and a minimum of seven.

Here is the tentative schedule for the tournament:

The Novice Exhibition game will be on March 1st.

The Atom/Peewee division will play after the Novice until March 2nd.

From March 2-3, the Female/Women Division will play, and;

The Men’s division and 13 plus division will be playing from March 3-5.

If anyone have any questions or got any concerns, can message William Flowers.

The 2023 Winter Sports Meet turned out to be a huge success in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut.

Steve Brazil is the Principal for the Northern Lights Academy.

The Winter meet went from Thursday, February 16-18.

Brazil says overall, the J.C. Erhardt Memorial of Makkovik came first, Northern Lights Academy came second, and the Amos Comenius Memorial of Hopedale came third.

For sports, the Eagles of Rigolet won badminton, Nain Huskies won ball hockey, the Wolverines of Makkovik won soccer.

In the Labrathon, Rigolet came first, Makkovik came in second, and Hopedale came third.

Both Makkovik females and Makkovik males won in the cross-country skiing.

Jesse Ford from Makkovik received the Male MVP and Mariam Lane of Makkovik received the Female MVP.

For the Male Most Sportsmanlike, Shane Wolfrey from Rigolet won, Kennedy Winters got the Female Most Sportsmanlike, and the team overall sportsmanlike went to Northern Lights Academy.

Brazil like to thank the Nunatsiavut Government and the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District for helping with the Sports Meet.

There are times when memories com back of when something unexpected happened back then in Nain.

Gordon Obed is a senior.

He remembers when the old Power House burned to the ground.

Obed says he cant remember the year when it happened, but he says the ice had just broken and there were some floating ice around.

He said just about the whole community went down the beach for cover by the seashore.

Click here to hear Obed talk more about that that day.

Stay tuned for more about that this coming Sunday, February 26 will be Estomechi.

The Award Ceremonies for the 1st Annual Mark Dicker Memorial Hockey Tournament took place last night in Nain.

We spoke with Sherry Dicker-Lidd, who is one of the organizers and the mother of Late Mark Dicker.

The ceremony was held at the Nain Husky Centre from 5:30-6:30pm.

Dicker-Lidd says they will be better prepared and better organized for the next tournament.

Here are the awards based on the number of goals:

For the 12 and Under Division, Quinten Dicker was the Top Scorer and Peter Dicker was the Top Goalie.

The awards were nominated on Captain’s polls, and they are:

The Top Defense award went to Thomas Kohlmeister.

Maiya Harris got the Most Sportsmanlike Player.

The Most Sports Minded Team Award went to Team Justice League.

The Mark Dicker’s Award of Excellence and Determination went to John Dicker.

Many community members on the north coast will be preparing for different workshops in their home communities.

We spoke with Cathy Mitsuk, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls 2SLGBTQQIA+ Support Coordinator.

She says that all materials in all 5 communities will be paid for from this grant.

They received the Indigenous Violence Prevention grant of $23,000 dollars from the Office of Women and Gender Equality.

Mitsuk adds that the first programming will go on in Nain from February 24-26, and will have 10 participants in the Homemade Parka Workshop with April Williams.

In Hopedale, they will be holding their seal skin mitt making workshop with Veronica Flowers, with 10 participants.

In Postville during weeknights starting from March 6-10, they will be making seal skin mitts and they have 8 participants with Samantha Jacque.

In Makkovik, they will have 6 participants for the chimo hat making workshop, which will be held from February 27- March 3rd.

In Rigolet, they will be making chimo caps with Roberta Baikie Andersen from March 10-12.

Beneficiaries from Upper Lake Melville area; in HVGB, Northwest, and Mud Lake will also be making parkas.

Their parka workshop will be held at the HVGB DHSD building from March 24-March 26 with April Williams.

The province is putting nearly $1 million behind the expansion of the Office for Indigenous and Northern Skilled Trades, operated by Trades NL.

Just over $910,000 will be used to both expand the office into Corner Brook and St. John’s and maintain the existing one in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Government says new and emerging construction opportunities across the province influenced the decision.

They say the offices will ensure that programs, policies, procedures, and reporting mechanisms support both status and non-status Indigenous people.

The original office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay was opened in 2020 with a mandate of reaching 15 per cent Indigenous representation in building and construction trades in the province.

Qalipu First Nation Chief Brendan Mitchell says the announcement is great news.

Mining and wind are areas where Indigenous people need to have the skills to take those jobs.

Story courtesy of the VOCM News.

MHA for the Torngat Mountains District Lela Evans has been very busy voicing her concerns for people along the coast.

She says she’s been very busy dealing with the ongoing issues that we face in Northern Labrador since she was elected in 2019.

For example, the cost of food, the cost of stove oil, and gasoline.

Evans adds that she attended a meeting in Ottawa along with groups of Indigenous people from all over Canada.

Click here to hear Part 2 of MHA Evans on these issues.

The kinatuinnamut ilingajuk magazine holds interesting stories within Labrador.

For example, there was a story about the Lang Claims Opening that was held in Nain in 1989.

About 300 people from the North Coast communities, St. John’s and Ottawa gathered at the Jens Haven Memorial School gym to witness this historical event.

Nain’s chief elder back then, late Jerry Sillitt did an opening prayer, followed by a hymn sung by the Moravian Coastal Choir.

Click here to hear part two of this event that was held in 1988.

The OKâlaKatiget Radio Department contacted each community on the north coast to find out what they have in their freezers.

In the Nain community freezer, they have moose, seal fat, ducks, and pigeons.

In Hopedale, their community freezer is open from Monday to Friday until 4:30pm.

We spoke with Christine Foltz Vincent who is the Town Manager.

She says right now they only have moose meat and little bit of cod fish, and residence can come to the freezer once every 2 weeks, and seniors can drop by once a week.

In Postville, they only have cod to offer to the residents.

We spoke with Barry Andersen who is the AngajukKâk for Makkovik ICG.

He says right now, they have fresh frozen cod fish and arctic char, and residence can drop by anytime when their ICG office is open.

In Happy Valley-Goose Bay, the community freezer is located on 114 Hamilton River Road, and doors are open from 8:30am-3:30pm.

Beneficiaries can drop by the freezer once a month, and can get 3 meals.

We spoke with Debbie Hynes who is the Community Freezer Coordinator.

She says currently they have moose meat, rabbit, partridge, potato carrot, cabbage, and butter in the local community freezer.