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News Briefs: Monday, August 29, 2011
Yellowknife sexual assault
Police are looking for help from the public to identify a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman between the dog park and the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool in Yellowknife between 9 and 9:20 p.m. Aug. 24.
The woman had been walking alone when she was grabbed and fondled by an adult male, according to an RCMP press release. She punched the man in the face and was able to escape, according to the police. The suspect is described as an aboriginal male, approximately 5'10" tall with a thin build, no facial hair and wearing dirty clothing.
"Even anybody that was in the area at the time and didn't necessarily see anything that they think may be suspicious, come forward and maybe it will jog their memory," said Const. Kathy Law.
- Kevin Allerston
Porn, voyeurism pleas
A 49-year-old Fort Smith man has pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography and two counts of voyeurism.
He entered his pleas in Fort Smith territorial court on Aug. 16.
The offender is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 4. The voyeurism charges relate to secretly making videos involving three separate victims. The court has imposed a ban on the publication of any information that might identify the victims. The charges were laid in October of last year after an eight-month investigation by the RCMP.
- Paul Bickford
More help to quit
Nicotine replacement therapies are now covered under NWT health care benefits.
The GNWT announced Aug. 12 it will start covering the cost for a three-month supply of the products per resident per year. In addition, it has partnered with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health to train 45 health care providers on how to help people quit smoking.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Vehicular mayhem
Police have laid charges against an 18-year-old male after several residents on Range Lake Road in Yellowknife complained about a pickup truck causing property damage at approximately 3 a.m. Friday.
Residents called police reporting the driver had hit fences, driven over yards and also struck a snowmobile trailer. Police found a damaged pickup truck on Finlayson heading toward Kam Lake Road. The driver was alone in the vehicle and unhurt. The accused has been charged with taking a motor vehicle without consent, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and impaired operation of a motor vehicle. He has a court appearance set for Nov. 22 at 9:30 a.m. The value of property damage was unknown as of press time.
- Kevin Allerston
Drummers and dancers win award
Aklavik
The Aklavik Delta Drummers and Dancers were awarded a Minister's Cultural Circle Award Aug. 22 in Yellowknife for their contributions to arts and culture in the North.
"This year's recipients pride themselves on making a positive and lasting impact on the lives of countless NWT residents, and I applaud them for both their outstanding achievement and passion," wrote Jackson Lafferty, minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in a press release.
The Aklavik drum dance group has been performing for more than 30 years and was originally formed by Inuvialuit elders.
Since then the group has travelled across Canada to perform their traditional dances.
An independent panel of judges chose the winners for the inaugural awards.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Workshops on making beads
Thebacha/Fort Smith
Two one-day workshops on making lampwork glass beads will be held in Fort Smith on Sept. 17 and 18.
Lampwork beads are handmade by melting colourful glass rods in a flame and wrapping the molten glass around a metal mandrel.
The instructor for the workshops is Joy Jubenvill, a glass artist from Bowen Island, B.C.
The workshops, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, will be limited to six participants.
The fee is $100.
The workshops are being presented by Fort Smith artist Chris DeWolf and the NWT Arts Council.
- Paul Bickford
Tribes workshop
Tuktoyaktuk
From Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, Mangilaluk School will host a workshop on Tribes, a step-by-step program that aims to help students work together in groups, or tribes, and help each other set goals, monitor progress and celebrate achievement.
Jean Voysey will host the four-day workshop and Agnes Cudmore, Mangilaluk's principal, said anyone in the community who works with youth is encouraged to attend.
All members of staff at the school have already signed up to participate.
"It is our hope that after this training staff and community youth workers will be able to encourage students to attend school regularly, seeing it as a safe, welcoming environment," she wrote in an e-mail about the program.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Astronomical society forming
Thebacha/Fort Smith
A second organizational and planning meeting has been held for the new Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society.
The Aug. 16 meeting attracted six people, double the number who showed up for the first meeting on July 21.
Mike Couvrette, interim chair of the society, noted four other people have also expressed interest in becoming involved.
Couvrette said an annual general meeting will likely be held sometime in September or October.
In addition, the group's first community outreach event, featuring a number of telescopes, is expected to be held sometime in late September at the Salt River day-use area south of Fort Smith in Wood Buffalo National Park.
One of the main goals of the society is to help establish a dark sky preserve in the park.
- Paul Bickford
Chuckie and Alex wed
Tetlit' Zheh/Fort McPherson
Charlie Neyando and Alexandra Francis were married in Fort McPherson at 2 p.m. Aug. 20 and didn't stop dancing until 3 a.m. the next morning.
The wedding ceremony took place at St. Matthew's Anglican Church and was followed by a feast of caribou, rhubarb soup, doughnuts, pasta salad and trifle at the community centre.
Members of the wedding party and other Fort McPherson residents made speeches.
The bride and groom thanked everyone for coming and helping to plan the wedding in just a couple of months.
The fiddlers started playing at just past 9 p.m. and after the newly-married couple did some jigging everyone else joined in.
James Herbert called square dancing throughout the night and gathered more than 30 couples at one point to fill the floor.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Make the Connection Night
Hay River
The annual Make the Connection Night is set for Sept. 13 in Hay River, starting at 7 p.m. in the curling club.
It will be a chance for people to get information about various community groups and recreational activities.
Once they learn more, community residents can also sign up to participate in the activities of their choosing or volunteer to help out.
- Paul Bickford
Canoe days wrap up
Tsiigehtchic/Arctic Red River
Wet weather didn't stop the community of Tsiigehtchic from celebrating Canoe Days.
The events, which ran from Aug. 19 to 21, included races down the Arctic Red River to the Mackenzie River, as well as talent shows, jigging contests, drum dancing and community feasts.
The three-day event was originally planned for the weekend before, right after the Gwich'in Annual General Assembly, but was rescheduled.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Barge arrives
Ulukhaktok/Holman
The barge arrived in Ulukhaktok Aug. 19 and another is expected in soon.
According to the hamlet office, the first barge brought canned goods, non-perishable foods, hamlet supplies, housing supplies and even vehicles.
Communities of the High Arctic usually have supplies barged to them five months out of the year when the ice melts enough to allow shipping.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Happy Daze are here again
Behchoko/Rae-Edzo
It was Happy Daze once again in Behchoko, with events running from Aug. 19 to 21.
On its first day there was scheduled to be a youth talent show, $20,000 bingo, drop-in sports competitions for kids and a youth dance. On Aug. 20 there was a full day of events, with everything from a cribbage tournament and adult talent show to family bingo and a horseshoe tournament.
The three-day event wrapped up on Aug. 21 with a community barbecue, canoe races, hand games and drum dancing.
Aug. 19 was declared a half-day holiday by Chief Clifford Daniels, with people getting off work at noon.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
High stakes handgames
Pehdzeh Ki/Wrigley
The Pehdzeh Ki First Nation was scheduled to host a $50,000 handgames tournament Aug. 25 to 28 in Wrigley.
On Friday, Aug. 26 there was to be a community feast and opening ceremonies. Handgames were set to start on Saturday and run throughout Sunday as well.
The first place team took home $20,000, while second place took $15,000, third place took $10,000 and fourth place took $5,000.
Participants had to be 16 years or older and came from all over the Deh Cho region and the North.
As of Aug. 24 there were nine teams signed up, although organizers expected more to compete.
- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Men rising up
Salliq/Coral Harbour
A group of Kivalliq men gathered together earlier this month to share and heal as part of the third annual Angutiit Makigiangninga (Men Rising Up) meeting in Coral Harbour.
The meeting was the third held in Coral, but it's the ninth overall, as the group has been holding meetings in other communities in the region over the past few years.
"Men in the North, especially the communities in the Arctic, never have a place to go talk to someone they trust or a place where they can be open to one another and talk about their problems, their issues and their healing," said Noel Kaludjak.
"Our aim is to help the men become a better husband and a better father in the home and if he is in pain, if he's drinking, if he's doing drugs, if he's gambling a lot or addicted to any form, we help him to realize that home is where the most important thing is and the most important person in the home is the child."
The group has had great results already, with men showing positive changes as soon as the weight of their pain is lifted off their shoulders, said Kaludjak. He added the success of the meetings comes from the camaraderie between the participants.
"It's coming from our own people and the people are dealing with their own problems and helping each other and understanding each other.
"We're friends. We're relatives. We know each other by name. It's just awesome knowing I can trust you. You're not going to be here one week and then we'll never see you again."
- Nicole Veerman
Trained to intervene
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
Ten people in Rankin Inlet completed the two-day Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training workshop earlier this month.
The workshop helps participants recognize the risk and learn how to intervene to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. It also prepares them with the skills to perform suicide first aid.
The workshop, held at the Sinikarvik Hotel and paid for by Areva, was completed by Rico Manitok, Hilary Jane Irwin, Annette Ray Boucher, Maani Brown, Jamie Maley, Kayla Bruce, Hakuluk Tracy Ford, Charlotte Kattegatsiak, Allysha Sateana and Uja Eno.
- Nicole Veerman
Curfew back
Tikirarjuaq/Whale Cove
Whale Cove has reinstated its 10 p.m. curfew and siren.
The siren in the community broke two years ago, putting an end to the 10 second alarm telling youth under 16 to go home. But it is back in working order, said Mayor Percy Kabloona.
"Just last week we requested that we start the curfew," he said Aug. 16.
"They turn the siren on for 10 seconds or so, just to let the kids know it's home time and after that our bylaw officer will go around town to make sure kids are not outside or staying at public places."
If a bylaw officer comes across youth who should be at home, they will either ask them to go home or they will take them home, said Kabloona.
With school starting again, the curfew is just a way to remind kids that they need to be at home and in bed at a reasonable hour.
"Daylight is still pretty long here, so just to notify them that it's time to be at home."
Until the last two years, Whale Cove had a siren and curfew in place since the early 90s.
Kabloona said since its reinstatement, there haven't been any issues. He said it's just a learning curve that kids need to get used to.
- Nicole Veerman
Caribou hunt and environmental science camp in one
Taloyoak/Spence Bay
Netsilik School students in Taloyoak will participate in a caribou hunt and environmental science camp before the end of the month.
About 45 Grades 10 to 12 students were scheduled to hunt caribou on Aug. 23 and Aug. 25, heading to Netsilik, Redfish Lake and the Middle Lake area to hunt the animal, said principal Gina Pizzo. She added the students will distribute the meat to students and elders.
"We live in a hunting society and it's important for all the students to be able to learn the proper ways to harvest caribou and skinning and butchering and respect for the animals, respect for the land," she said. "When they return home, to share their catch with elders and their family and so on."
And during the last week of August, the whole school will participate in the environmental camp and the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
The camp, an annual event, includes a hiking tour of the old RCMP site, Long Lake and environmental games and activities, collect fossils, plants and insects, sample soil and water, said Pizzo.
She added the school has been participating in the clean up for 15 years, if not longer.
"Many students may have never been to the old RCMP site or the old graveyard ... and participate in some of the games and collections makes them more aware of their own environment and respect for the land and environment they live in," she said.
- Jeanne Gagnon
Rankin Inlet mother lobbies for curfew
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
A Rankin Inlet mother of three is calling on the hamlet to set and enforce a 10 p.m. curfew for youth under 16.
After watching a young girl, no older than nine, get harassed and bullied by a group of about 15 kids at the school playground one night, Pelagie Sharp turned to Facebook.
She posted on the story on the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet's page, along with a suggestion that the solution to protecting youth and reducing crime enacted by youth in the community is to have a 10 p.m. siren indicating it's time for children to go home.
Hamlet councillor Kyle Sheppard said it's an issue the council has to discuss, but legally, a curfew couldn't be enforced.
"While the municipality could pass a curfew bylaw, the enforcement of it would be in violation of our Charter, and illegal."
Instead, he suggested there be an optional curfew where a siren goes off suggesting kids should go home.
"You know, during the summer months when it is broad daylight out, young children aren't necessarily wearing a watch, (so) that might help."
- Nicole Veerman
Elders' gathering a success
Kinngait/Cape Dorset
Close to 100 elders from Nunavut and Nunavik attended an elders gathering in Cape Dorset earlier this month, an event one of the members of the elders' committee called a success.
The planned clam digging and fishing did not occur because of the tide but Annie
Manning-Lampron said the gathering was great.
"I liked it because people came from different place and we were able to talk and reminisce about a lot of things," she said.
Nunavik won the friendly game of soccer but Nunavut won in baseball.
Aseena Arreak, an Iqaluit resident who attended the gathering, said activities included a feast, a traditional clothing fashion show and a smallest dress contest.
"It was enjoyable, beautiful day each day," she said. "That (smallest dress contest) was one of the most fun, watching people participate."
- Jeanne Gagnon
Six students graduating
Uqsuqtuuq/Gjoa Haven
Six students of Qiqirtaq Ilihakvik are set to celebrate their graduation on Aug. 27.
Principal Kim Hagarty stated the graduation includes the actual ceremony at 3 p.m., a drum dance from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., a dinner at 7 p.m. followed by the senior prom.
The graduates are Sharon Makkigak, recipient of the Governor General's academic medal, Jessica Hunter, Amber Eleheetook, Margaret Neeveacheak-Steele, George Palla Ameralik and Percy Iquallaq.
- Jeanne Gagnon
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News desk 
