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News Briefs: Monday, April 29, 2013
Man attacked in Behchoko
RCMP continue to investigate a serious assault that took place in Behchoko on April 21.
Cpl. Barry Ledoux said a male delivery worker was delivering parcels outside the Northern Store in Behchoko at about 5 a.m. when three men attacked him.
Ledoux said there is no known motive for the attack and nothing was stolen. RCMP did not know the identities or whereabouts of the attackers as of late last week.
Ledoux said the delivery worker was not from Behchoko. He was taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife with severe injuries after the attack, but has now been released.
Police urge anyone with information to call the Behchoko RCMP detachment or Crimestoppers.
- Kassina Ryder
Tlicho finalize land use plan
The Tlicho Government has finalized its land use plan, Grand Chief Eddie Erasmus announced at the 20th session of the second Tlicho Assembly in Gameti on April 24.
The plan will guide the Tlicho in making decisions on the use of the 39,000 square kilometres of land for which it has surface and sub-surface rights, Erasmus told NWT News/North.
On June 1, the Tlicho Government will lift a long-standing moratorium against development on its lands, said Erasmus. All applications will then go through the Lands Protection Department.
- Laura Busch
Thebacha Campus holds convocation
Aurora College's Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith celebrated the success of 41 students at its annual convocation ceremony on April 26.
Degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded in a number of programs.
Other convocation ceremonies for Aurora College students will be held on May 4 at the Yellowknife North Slave Campus and on May 10 at the Aurora Campus in Inuvik.
- Paul Bickford
Youth symposium planned for college
The second NWT Youth Symposium will be held at Aurora College in Fort Smith on May 14 and 15.
High school students in Grades 10 and 11 will be introduced to campus life.
The students will also learn about the programs offered at Fort Smith's Thebacha Campus - trades, education, environment and natural resources, and business.
- Paul Bickford
FireSmart workshop in Fort Smith
Thebacha/Fort Smith
A workshop in Fort Smith this week will bring together representatives of FireSmart initiatives in many NWT communities.
The two-day gathering will take place on April 30 and May 1 at the Thebacha Campus of Aurora College.
"It's to develop capacity at the local level to move the FireSmart program forward," said Westly Steed, the FireSmart co-ordinator with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
FireSmart involves efforts to lessen the danger of wildfires.
As of the middle of last week, Steed said there were 43 participants registered for the workshop from all regions of the NWT.
The participants include town councillors, senior administrative officers, fire chiefs and firefighters, assistant fire marshals, representatives from emergency measures organizations, band managers and environmental managers.
Two representatives from the Partners in Protection Association - the non-profit organization that launched the FireSmart program - will be attending the workshop from Alberta and B.C.
- Paul Bickford
Fort Smith board seeks members
Thebacha/Fort Smith
The Town of Fort Smith's Sustainable Development Advisory Board is recruiting members for 2013.
The board deals with such issues as alternative energy and energy efficiency, recycling, composting and gardening, as well as other environmentally-sustainable practices.
Coun. Chris Westwell, who is on the board as a council representative, said there are currently three community representatives, but there could be as many as 10.
The members of the board will be appointed by council from the town residents who express an interest.
"I see it as a really important board," said Westwell.
The board was revived about two years ago.
- Paul Bickford
School's sports day postponed
Paulatuk
Paulatuk's Angik School hopes to hold a sports day some time next week.
Principal Russel Hancock said activities were supposed to be held April 26, but harsh weather forced the school to postpone the event.
Hancock said activities should include traditional Dene games such as snow snake, an Inuvialuit game called "prisoner base" and modern activities such as a biathlon. Hancock was eager to combine all types of games and cultures at the half-day afternoon event.
"We may even potentially have archery with the biathlon," he said.
The sports day is not the only activity to have to be pushed back as a result of a harsh winter season. The school's fishing trip, scheduled for April 18, was called off due to bad weather as well.
"We just want to get (the events) over soon," said Hancock.
- Sarah Ladik
Gwich'in Day cookout a success
Aklavik
More than 100 people attended a cookout April 22 in honour of the Gwich'in signing their comprehensive land claim agreement in 1992.
Burgers, hot dogs, and a big pot of moose stew were on offer at the afternoon event, held at the band office. Band manager Knute Hansen said although the cookout got off to a slow start, more people showed up as the day wore on and the kitchen behind the office was used to churn out three big batches of bannock.
"It's an important thing to remember," he said of Gwich'in Day, adding the high turnout was welcome.
- Sarah Ladik
Tsiigehtchic celebrates with carnival
Tsiigehtchic/Arctic Red River
Preparations for this past weekend's carnival were in full swing in Tsiigehtchic, with fundraisers springing up everywhere to fund the various activities.
Recreation co-ordinator Bobbie Jean Van Loon said bingos and 50-50 draws were some of the more common forms of fundraising, but that the community held a giant bake sale on April 19 for all the king, queen, prince and princess candidates combined.
Although the carnival was originally scheduled for this week, it was changed so as to not coincide with the carnival in Tuktoyaktuk. Activities were scheduled to kick off on Friday, April 26, with snowmobile races at 2 p.m.
Last week, Van Loon said she expected the show to be the best the town has ever seen as it is the first year a live band was to back up the singing talent.
- Sarah Ladik
April Antics winding down
Ulukhaktok/Holman
Helen Kavlak School in Ulukhaktok is coming to the end of a month of school spirit fun, more commonly known as April Antics.
Principal Richard McKinnon said the students enjoyed a crazy hair day and relay games in the gym earlier this month and were looking forward to an afternoon of both traditional games and soccer on the ice on April 26.
"We're going to have a lot of the ice cleared so we can have all kinds of games going on at the same time," he said last week.
The school's annual spring picnic will be held May 3. Students and staff will be invited to go out on the ice for fishing, sledding, soccer and other activities.
- Sarah Ladik
Flea market rescheduled in Enterprise
Enterprise
A spring clean flea market and bake sale has been rescheduled at the Enterprise Community Centre.
The flea market and bake sale will run from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 11.
The event is billed as a chance for people to get a start on spring cleaning. They are being invited to bring items they no longer want and some of their favourite baked goods to sell at the centre, where tables can be rented.
The event was originally scheduled for April 9, but was cancelled when there was not enough interest. Organizers are hoping for more interest with the new date.
- Paul Bickford
Designed to win
Ikaahuk/Sachs Harbour
Senior students at Inualthuyak School in Sachs Harbour were treated to a course in AutoSketch this week in which they learned how to design model cars in detail and in three dimensions, but the real fun began when the model cars were subsequently built and raced.
Principal Terry Davidson said the 10 students built seven cars, supplemented by his and consultant Austin Abbott's two, for a total of nine entries. Competitors Corey Esau, Rosanne Lennie and Albert Kaslak had the winning entry in both distance and ability to go in a straight line.
"The kids had fixed iPods to the car so they could take pictures from ground level while they were racing," Davidson said.
- Sarah Ladik
Police seize drugs and liquor
Ikaluktutiak/Cambridge Bay
Two people are facing drug-related charges after Cambridge Bay RCMP seized liquor and prescription pills earlier this month.
Police seized 63 prescription pills, 31 bottles of vodka and 10 cellphones as well as a small amount of drugs, other paraphernalia and cash after executing a search warrant on Okpik Street on April 20, stated police.
A 47-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman each face three charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking, contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and two counts under the Liquor Act.
- Jeanne Gagnon
Seal ban still on
The General Court of the European Union upheld its three-year-old ban on seal products in a ruling handed down April 25.
The court said there is no problem with the existing ban because it still allows traditionally harvested seal products from Inuit communities.
The challenge was brought forward by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and others in the Canadian fur industry, who said the ban is too wide and is negatively impacting the seal industry.
The EU banned the trade of seal products in its markets in July 2009, raising an uproar among Inuit organizations and prompting the federal government to try and overturn the decision.
An appeal can still be filed within 60 days.
- Danielle Sachs
Earth Day celebrations
Iglulik
The canvas of snow at Ataguttaaluk Elementary School was covered in messages, and artwork was abound in Iglulik for Earth Day.
The Grade 7 leadership club at Ataguttaaluk Elementary School brought the snow in the playground to life for all students to enjoy during recess and lunch hour, said Dean Morrow, the school's vice-principal. The group of 12 students wrote "Happy Earth Day" with coloured water in the snow, he said.
Other activities around the school included art projects directed at keeping the world clean and students writing about Earth Day in their journals, he added.
"It was a fun day with a good focus," said Morrow. "It was great to see the students working together."
- Jeanne Gagnon
Seismic in the spring time?
Kangiqtugaapik/Clyde River
It's spring time and the living is easy in Clyde River. Senior administrative officer John Ivey reported that bear sightings are down and many residents are out enjoying the sunshine and hunting.
"The hunting is good and the fishing is good. Life is good," he said.
Some of that peace and quiet may be soon to change in the weeks and months ahead. According to Ivey, a delegation of about 30 people planned to visit April 30 in order to conduct public meetings at the community hall on the potentially controversial topic of seismic activity around the hamlet.
The "big whack of people," Ivey said, made a courtesy call to the hamlet and are only in the pre-planning phase. There are no plans for any seismic work, which would identify oil and gas reserves, at this time.
- Peter Worden
Wedding bells
Rankin Inlet/Winnipeg
Winnipeg was the scene of a beautiful Kivalliq wedding earlier this month.
Amanda McLarty and Norman Eecherk of Rankin Inlet were wed in Winnipeg on April 13.
- Darrell Greer
No prince, but lots of dancing
Ausuittuq/Grise Fiord
The reputed arrival of royalty remained only rumours last week. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, the Crown Prince of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, came through Iqaluit last Tuesday, but Grise Fiord senior administrative officer Marty Kuluguktuk said there were no prince spottings in Nunavut's northernmost community, despite rumours that he was heading that way.
"We were all puzzled when we heard on the radio that the prince was coming up to do a polar bear hunt - flabbergasted really. It was news to us," he said. "(The prince) is not even on our list (for a polar bear hunt) unless he's bringing his own."
The 26-year-old prince did not make it to town, but two Arctic Bay square-dancing instructors and a Pangnirtung accordion player did and gave a four-night workshop.
"That's been the highlight of the month," said Kuluguktuk, explaining it was part of the hamlet's public health strategy. "It's exercise with good eating and healthy living with people, interaction, participation and learning - all good, positive stuff."
Many Nunavut communities each have their own style of square dance. Grise Fiord's styles were imported from various different communities, said Kuluguktuk, adding that the workshop was a first for the community but certainly not the last.
- Peter Worden
Ship named
Rankin Inlet/Nunavut
A contest to name the Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping (NEAS) group's new Arctic sealift ship has been won by a woman from Rankin Inlet.
The ship will be known as the MV Mitiq, a name submitted by Iris Tatty, 22, of Rankin.
Tatty wins an iPad2 from NEAS for having her entry selected.
Mitiq is the Inuktitut word for the common eider, a large and fast sea duck that lives yearround and breeds in the Arctic.
- Darrell Greer
River deep
Kivalliq
The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) is not in favour of a move that would see one of Nunavut's longest rivers, the Black River, named as a federal Heritage River.
While the Black River area is deep in Inuit history, it may also prove itself to be deep in mineral content.
The KIA does not want to see the Heritage River designation go ahead and rule out the possibility of any mining taking place along the banks of the Black River.
- Darrell Greer
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