Starting this week, a team of outreach staff will drive a branded “Moccasin Mobile Outreach” van along a designated route in Whitehorse making stops at locations including the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, the Black Street stairs and several parks. 

Travel in the North Slave region is not currently recommended due to freezing rain. Anyone who must travel should use caution and drive slowly.

The smell of fresh-cooked turkey will float through the air in three Nunavut communities over the next little while as thousands of the frozen birds are being donated to residents.

Northern Stores partnered with the hamlets of Arviat, Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet to hand out the turkeys.

On Tuesday in Rankin Inlet, with about 2,700 residents, 1,040 turkeys will be distributed from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Community Hall, the hamlet announced last week.

“It will really help the community,” Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie said Monday, adding he will be there to help hand out the turkeys.

To receive one of the birds, community members are asked to line up in their cars starting downhill in front of Mary Our Mother Catholic Church at 102 Sivulliq Ave.

Darren’s Taxi has offered to pick up and deliver 40 turkeys to community members in Rankin Inlet, free of charge to elders or those who don’t have vehicles.

Last Friday, as many as 800 turkeys were distributed in Arviat.

There were eight pallets of the frozen birds, some of which were delivered directly to elders in their homes, said Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr.

“I’m very thankful, because it’s food and that’s what we need. We’re very happy to see food going out to the people that need it and at a very good price,” Savikataaq said.

And in Baker Lake, close to 400 turkeys were handed out, said the hamlet’s senior administrative officer Sheldon Dorey.

In an interview, he noted Friday was a workday and some community members didn’t have a chance to pick up a turkey. Dorey said another 500 turkeys will be handed out in Baker Lake sometime in the next few weeks.

Even so, the hamlet still managed to give turkeys to half of the homes in the community, including personally delivering some to elders who were unable to pick to make it to the community hall to pick them up.

“Our Northern Store team worked closely with hamlet staff … to ensure the supply of turkeys was adequate for all families in each community,” said Brent Smith, manager of communications and media at the North West Co.

He couldn’t provide an exact number of the turkeys that were donated but said “food security is a priority for Northern Stores with food waste reduction as just one element of that focus.”

An exchange program offers staff and students the opportunity to study or work across the circumpolar North. The deadline to apply for funding is February 15.

Arviat’s mayor is encouraging residents to take part in a community consultation this week for a new fuel tank farm, after public backlash last year prompted a restart of the project.

Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. said the hamlet council will meet with staff from the Government of Nunavut’s petroleum products division Wednesday. That evening at 7 p.m., residents can go to the community hall for a consultation to hear what’s being planned and voice their opinions.

“There is no hidden agenda,” Savikataaq said in an interview.

“Up to this point, no site selections or even possible selections have been talked about. We’ll start to talk about possible site selections and the pros and cons, and listen to the people on what they want.”

The proposed site of a new Arviat tank farm proved controversial last year.

A group of residents launched a petition to pause development on a new facility, citing health and environmental concerns related to its proposed location.

The petition received more than 700 online signatures, and the hamlet council responded by asking the GN to restart the project.

Last July, Nunavut’s Minister of Community and Government Services David Joanasie said his department would work with Arviat on restarting the process and moving on to the next steps.

Arviat “badly” needs a new tank farm with a larger capacity to store jet fuel, Savikataaq said.

The hamlet has been advertising this week’s consultation, and he is hoping for a good turnout.

“My hope is that people show up and voice their concerns,” he said.

“We don’t want any further delays, and we’ll make a decision once everything has been looked at.”

As of late Monday, the Department of Community and Government Services did not respond to Nunatsiaq News’ request for more information about the consultation.

Yukon Energy’s proposal is in front of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board. This is the first time the dam has been reviewed by the board which didn’t exist in 2000, when the company’s last operating licence for the dam was issued. 

One of the victims of a charter plane crash outside of Fort Smith, N.W.T., earlier this week was a heavy equipment operator at a diamond mine who loved playing music and being an uncle, his sister said Friday.

The call has gone out for candidates interested in joining Iqaluit city council.

The deadline to apply is Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m., according to a public service announcement released Monday by the City of Iqaluit.

City council will vote to select an appointee at its Feb. 13 meeting and the successful candidate will be informed the following day, the announcement said.

One seat on the eight-member council became vacant 12 weeks ago when newly elected member Jack Anawak resigned Nov. 6 after he was charged with impaired driving.

The Nunavut Elections Act does not permit byelections to fill council vacancies. It does provide two options — council can either choose the unsuccessful candidate with the highest number of votes from the Oct. 23 municipal election, or select one from eligible applicants.

In November, council directed staff to develop a policy for filling vacancies but in December it sent the first version back for more work.

At the time, Coun. Romeyn Stevenson said the policy should be clear that council should always put out a call for candidates rather than choosing the runner-up from the most recent election.

In the October vote, the runner-up was Lewis Falkiner MacKay, who finished ninth with 525 votes compared to Anawak’s 635.

A revised policy proposal was presented to councillors Jan. 23, which still contained the option to select the runner-up.

But that too was sent back for more work when some members said it was too prescriptive in the deadlines it would have set for council to act to fill vacancies.

In the meantime, councillors voted to start the process by issuing a call for candidates.

Among the criteria for eligibility to apply for consideration, potential candidates must be 18 or older, be a resident of Iqaluit and have lived in Nunavut for at least one year, not be an employee of the city and be paid up on their municipal taxes as of Dec. 3, 2023.

A full list of the criteria is on the city’s website.

Prospective appointees must complete an application package, which is available by contacting city hall.

This is the latest the road has opened in the past 30 years on record. The previous latest opening date was January 11.

Government of Nunavut representatives will visit five Kivalliq communities starting over the next two weeks as part of a study looking at possibly linking them all by road.

The project would connect Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet, Whale Cove and Arviat to a 725-kilometre road. A separate 320-kilometre route inland to Baker Lake is also in the plans.

The idea is not new. Various proposals have been discussed for well over a decade.

With community engagement sessions planned over the coming two weeks, two Kivalliq mayors say they are interested but also have questions.

“It’s absolutely hard to think how it would be here… We have [some] of the worst storms of almost anywhere,” said Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie in an interview.

“If somebody gets stuck out there, it could be a real problem getting a hold of them and finding them.”

Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. also raised concerns about weather and safety, especially when blizzards can last several days.

He said winter road maintenance could also be expensive.

Savikataaq said his community would more likely benefit from a road south to Manitoba, which could reduce reliance on the sealift.

“I think it would be more beneficial if we get connected to the south instead,” he said.

Both mayors said they could also see benefits to building the road, which could reduce reliance on air travel to get from one place to another.

Construction could create jobs in the region, Towtongie added.

Both mayors said they’re encouraging community members to attend the local engagement sessions so they can learn and share their thoughts.

“I have a lot of questions,” Towtongie said.

“The information that we’re going to get is hopefully going to help figure some of this stuff right off the bat, but I’m sure they have a lot of work ahead of them.”

Last year, Minister of Economic Development and Transportation David Akeeagok told the legislative assembly a study of the project was underway.

“One of the key deliverables of the study is to determine the cost for the construction of the road, which will be published in the final report,” said Weichien Chan, spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development and Transportation, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

“We expect to complete the study by fall of 2024.”

Chan said the GN budgeted $2 million for this part of the project, with Transport Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund covering 75 per cent of the cost.

Here is a schedule of the community engagement sessions:

• Arviat: Jan. 30 at 6 p.m., community hall;
• Baker Lake: Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m, community hall;
• Chesterfield Inlet: Feb. 2 at 6 p.m., community hall;
• Whale Cove: Feb. 5 at 6 p.m., community hall;
• Rankin Inlet: Feb 6 at 6 p.m., community hall.

People unable to attend the meetings can provide their thoughts in an online survey. Nunami Stantec Ltd. is leading the study and design of the project.

Unmarked burials and the experiences of Inuit and northern communities will be the focus of a conference opening in Iqaluit later this week.

Participants from across the country will attend the sixth National Gathering on Unmarked Burials, running Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 at the Aqsarniit hotel.

“I think it’s very important for the survivors and the teams to come together to share with one another,” said Kimberly Murray, the independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked Graves and burial Sites associated with Indian residential schools.

“It’s also very healing, and an opportunity for communities to heal together and for me to learn as well.”

Murray, a Mohawk lawyer from Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation in Quebec, was appointed by the federal government in 2022.

Her two-year mandate is to provide recommendations for a federal legal framework for the treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children associated with former residential schools.

As special interlocutor, Murray has been meeting Indigenous community members to discuss investigations into unmarked graves as well as protection and preservation of burial sites.

“Although my mandate was Indian residential schools, I don’t think it should matter where the person died,” Murray said in an interview.

“It was all the government of Canada who sent the children and young people to these institutions, and when they died, didn’t return them home.”

From the 1870s until the mid-1990s, 139 residential schools operated across Canada, including 13 schools that operated at various times in Nunavut and four in Nunavik.

Dozens of searches for unmarked graves have begun across Canada since 2021 when the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation revealed ground-penetrating radar had found what are believed to be the unmarked graves of more than 200 children in Kamloops, B.C., at the site of a former residential school, The Canadian Press has reported.

In addition to hearing about the experiences of people at residential schools, Murray anticipates the three-day Iqaluit conference will also hear from survivors in the North about the sanatoriums, hospitals, mission schools, day schools, and federal hostels where children were taken.

“I think it’s really important that people from other regions hear about the work that northerners are doing,” Murray said of the gathering’s focus on Inuit and northern experiences.

Participants will hear from survivors’ sharing circles and panels focused on strategies to support the search and recovery of missing children, and learn how to search for records.

They will have access to trauma-informed and culturally appropriate supports. Residential school survivors, elders, knowledge holders, Indigenous leaders and technicians leading search and recovery efforts will also speak.

Murray said that when she was appointed as interlocutor, “there were about 80 communities that were receiving funding from Canada, now it’s up to around 130.

“We see communities all over the country receiving funding but they are all at different stages.”

After the gathering, Murray will prepare a final summary report with recommendations to be presented at the national closing gathering in Ottawa in June.

In February, the Protecting our Ancestors Conference in Winnipeg will address the need for federal legislation to ensure protection, control, disposition and repatriation of ancestral remains and belongings.

Murray recommended Inuit survivors who are able should try to attend to share their thoughts on the legislation.

Three candidates — Harry Tulugak and Suzy Kauki and incumbent Pita Aatami — are set to face off Thursday in Makivvik Corp.’s presidential election.

Here’s how the results from the vote will impact the people of Nunavik.

How Makivvik works

Makivvik Corp. is the body that works to uphold the constitutional rights and represent the interests of Inuit in Nunavik. It was established in 1978 through the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Makivvik’s five-member executive, including its president, works with a board of directors comprised of one representative from each of the 14 Nunavik communities.

They have a mandate to relieve poverty, promote the welfare of residents and Inuit way of life, improve communities and housing, and generate social and economic development.

Makivvik as a business corporation 

Makivvik has numerous investments. According to its 2021-22 annual report, the most prominent are with:

• Air Inuit and Canadian North, which serve communities across the Arctic;
• NEAS, or Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping, a maritime transportation company that stops in 45 communities across the North carrying supplies;
• Unaaq Fisheries, as well as fisheries companies in Europe, Japan, America and Asia.

Makivvik also holds stakes in Pan-Arctic Inuit Logistics and Nasittuq Corp., both of which are used to help privately owned companies in Inuit regions win provincial and federal government contracts and create jobs in the North.

As well, it has interests in Halutik Enterprises and Kautaq Construction. Both work in Nunavik, the first taking care of diesel distribution in Kuujjuaq and the other handling construction projects across the region.

In its 2021-22 annual report, Makivvik treasurer George Berthe reported that the beneficiaries’ equity stake in the corporation was $582 million.

Past elections for president

In the 2021 Makivvik presidential election, Nunavimmiut cast 3,532 votes from among 8,626 eligible voters for a turnout of 41 per cent.

The 2018 election saw close to a 47 per cent turnout while the turnout in 2015 was 48 per cent.

Pita Aatami was Makivvik president from 1998 until 2012 when he was defeated by Jobie Tukkiapik, who held the position until 2018.

Charlie Watt Sr. was president from 2018 until 2021, when Aatami was elected and returned to office.

How voting works

An Inuit beneficiary number is required to vote, which can be used in the online voting system. In-person voting is also available in every community.

Polling opens Thursday at 10 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m.

Travelers to Hay River in recent months have been unable to hail a cab. We spoke to the town's senior administrator about the issue.

The North West Company says a delay in the opening of the Liard River ice crossing is contributing to shortages.

Hay River's inaugural community spirit awards will be a celebration of local volunteers and businesses that have made a positive impact in the community.

The Yellowknife Guild of Arts and Crafts is offering free art classes to help seniors stay connected and fight isolation. The topics include pottery, glass work, weaving and silversmithing.

Both species failed to meet Canadian spawning escapement goals, renewing calls for action and for Canada and the U.S. to shift their focus to rebuilding salmon stocks.

The Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation in the Yukon has bought a majority stake in a company specializing in hydroponic food systems, with the goal of improving northern food security.

Crystal Benwell says her younger brother loved music, was proud of his nieces and lit up a room. He was on board a plane that crashed outside Fort Smith.

Tagak Curley posted on Facebook recently about the names that Inuit used to give Qallunaat.

He wrote, “Most days seemed like they were fun. Most Qallunaat that came to work to live in our small communities were often named in Inuktitut.”

He noted that one Hudson’s Bay Company manager had been named Nipikittualuk; this would have been because he spoke so softly.

I posted two comments to Tagak’s post. The first was that a tourist visiting a fishing camp in Nunavik a number of years ago was completely bald except for a small patch of hair on the top of his head. Inuit named him Qikiqtaaluk — the one with an island.

The second comment was that in the 1960s, Finn Schultz-Lorentzen, an administrator in Igloolik, was bald on top but had a full beard. Of course, Inuit called him Kujjangajuq — the upside-down man.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell suggested someone should write a glossary of such names. I remember that one Inuk compiled quite a long list of names for Qallunaat. I think it was Joe Tigullaraq, some years ago.

Reading Tagak’s post caused me to remember some of my own research into names, done years ago. Here is a section on the names given to missionaries in Cumberland Sound, and especially at Blacklead Island.

The first missionary to spend a winter in Baffin Island was Brother Mathias Warmow, of the Moravian Church in Greenland. He spent the winter of 1857-58 with the whaling captain, William Penny, aboard his ship Lady Franklin near Kekerten in Cumberland Sound.

Unlike most of the white missionaries who would come to Baffin Island decades later, Warmow arrived with a distinct advantage.

He could already speak an Inuit dialect, West Greenlandic.

Writing about the first Inuit that he met, he noted, “As they understood me, and I them, very well, we were able to converse with but little difficulty.”

Many of the Inuit in Cumberland Sound understood a little English, having learned it from their interaction with Scottish and American whalers.

From the whalers, they had learned that a “minister” was coming to instruct them. And so, instead of giving him a descriptive Inuktitut name as they did with many newcomers, the Inuit simply called him “minister.”

This displeased Warmow, who noted that he would have preferred they call him by his Christian name, or its Greenlandic equivalent, Matiuse. There is nothing written about how Inuit at the time actually pronounced “minister.”

It would be three and a half decades before another missionary would come to Baffin Island. In 1894, Rev. Edmund James Peck arrived at Blacklead Island to build his mission there.

Peck arrived with the same advantage Warmow had had — he already spoke Inuktitut, having learned the language during eight years on the Hudson Bay coast of Quebec.

The Inuit gave him a name — Uqammak. It means “the one who speaks well,” and is derived from the verbal root “uqaq-” which signifies speaking.

Stories of Uqammak have been passed down through the generations and the name is still remembered today.

In 1894, Peck brought with him a 22-year-old layman, Joseph Caldecott Parker. As preparation for his missionary work, Parker had taken a few months medical training.

To travel to Blacklead Island, he signed on as doctor of the whaling ship Alert. At the mission station, he threw himself into the task of learning Inuktitut and made rapid progress.

He ministered to the sick, and the Inuit gave him a name, Luktaakuluk — “the little doctor” or “the dear doctor.”

Inuit words don’t normally start with “d” and “luktaaq” was the closest they could come to pronouncing “doctor.” The suffix “kuluk” is one signifying endearment or smallness. Unfortunately, the little doctor drowned in a boating accident two years later.

That same year, another missionary arrived at Blacklead. He was Charles Sampson and he remained with the mission until 1900 when he returned to England and resigned. He subsequently returned as a trader. I know of no Inuktitut name for him. They may have simply called him “ajuriqsuiji,” perhaps with a descriptive suffix added.

“Ajuriqsuiji” is the general term for a Protestant minister and can roughly be translated as “the teacher” or “the instructor.”

In 1898, Julian William Bilby arrived from England to join Peck and Sampson. He endeared himself to the Inuit through his devotion to language study and his interest in the local way of life and customs. He was rewarded with the Inuktitut name “ilataaq.”

“Ila” is a noun meaning “relative” or “friend;” “taaq” is a suffix showing acquisition. Perhaps his name should best be translated as “our new friend.”

T. Greenshield arrived to join Peck in 1901, the summer that Bilby left for furlough in England. He too immersed himself in language study and was popular among the Inuit. They graced him with a name that simply added an additional suffix to Bilby’s name, calling him “ilataaqauk” — “another new friend.”

That completes the roster of white missionaries to Cumberland Sound prior to the movement of the mission station from Blacklead Island to Pangnirtung in the 1920s.

The earliest missionary, Mathias Warmow, had simply been called “minister,” but all but one of the Blacklead missionaries are known to have been given Inuktitut names. The one exception — Sampson — may well have had a local name as well, but if so it has been lost to time.

Taissumani is an occasional column that recalls events of historical interest. Kenn Harper is a historian and writer who lived in the Arctic for more than 50 years. He is the author of “Minik: The New York Eskimo” and “Thou Shalt Do No Murder,” among other books. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to [email protected].

Community members in Fort Smith have rallied around one another, cooking meals, offering free coffee and other supports.

The Yukon Government has been recruiting EMS personnel across the territory to help plug service gaps. It's now reviewing what it pays personnel, including the current on-call honorarium of $3.71 an hour.

One of the three artists chosen for an all-inclusive residency at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq says the knowledge that she has a month off from her day job to just make art is still sinking in.

The former senior administrative officer (SAO) of Norman Wells, N.W.T., says she's "out of money" as she continues to pursue a defamation case against her former employer.

The AVENS seniors community in Yellowknife says it, the N.W.T. and city all need to be better prepared if a future city-wide evacuation happens.

Yukon's chief coroner says 23 people died in the territory in 2023 from substance use, and all but one of those deaths happened in Whitehorse.

RCMP say Michael Beaulieu, suspected of shooting a man in Hay River, has been taken into custody in Yellowknife.

The AlgonCrees won the championship at the Syracuse CanAm broomball tournament in New York Jan 19-21.

Citing the effects of inflation, elders who are part of the Uqqujjait Innarnut Elders Support Program will now receive $175 per month, an increase of $25 to $55 for most members, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. announced this week.

This represents an increase for all cohorts of elders who receive payments from the program, NTI spokesperson Gershom Moyo told Nunatsiaq News on Friday.

Previously, elders born in 1944 or earlier received monthly support of $150, elders born in 1945 received $135, and elders born between 1946 and 1955 received monthly payments of $120.

NTI also extended the program eligibility to include elders born between Jan. 1, 1956, and Dec. 31, 1958. Both changes take effect April 1. NTI’s board of directors made the decision to increase the payment during its meeting Tuesday in Iqaluit.

Elders’ pensions are delivered by NTI through the Nunavut Elders Pension Trust and the Nunavut Elders Supplemental Trust.

The latter trust is what funds the Uqqujjait Innarnut program and provides monthly pensions to Inuit elders born between Jan. 1, 1949, to Dec. 31, 1955.

These pensions are funded from NTI’s share of mineral resource revenues such as mineral royalties and exploration fees, Moyo said.

In addition to the increase to $175 per month, NTI admitted a new cohort of 496 elders born between Jan. 1, 1956, and Dec. 31, 1958, bringing the total number of program recipients to 1,137 from 641.

The Nunavut Elders Pension Trust provides an additional $175 per month to another 560 elders.

Moyo said in an email the latest increase to the Uqqujjait Innarnut program is driven by inflation, “which has eroded incomes including elders’ monthly payments.”

In June 2022, inflation reached a 40-year high of 8.1 per cent.

“Over the past three years, the economic impact of COVID was somewhat mitigated by various programs provided through the Indigenous Community Support Fund. Those programs are no longer available,” Moyo said.

The increase in pensions and in the number of elders receiving them will cost an additional $1,721,400 per year between the two programs: The Nunavut Elders Supplemental Trust will incur $1,464,660 in additional costs and the Nunavut Elders Pension Trust will add a $256,740 cost.

“With the increasing cost of living, especially the escalating cost for food, it is important that we provide as much assistance as we can,” said NTI president Aluki Kotierk, in a statement.

“I am pleased that NTI is now able to provide greater support for this cherished segment of our society.”

The ice road connecting Yellowknife to Dettah is set to have its latest opening on record this year as construction began Jan. 25.

People in the Northwest Territories will continue to adopt greener home heating technologies with or without a carbon tax, according to the executive director of the Arctic Energy Alliance (AEA).

The Yukon Government organized a public information session on Tuesday to discuss last year's flooding in the Klondike Valley. Impacted residents showed up and shared their stories.

It takes more than just fighting skills to defend yourself in a confrontation, according to Cindy Girard and Jean-François-Éric Isabel.

It also requires self-confidence.

The couple formed Ellie – Autodéfense as a means to teach that to women and girls, and sometimes men. Their latest stop was Salluit, but since May they have been visiting Nunavik communities along the Hudson coast under contract with the Inuulitsivik Health Centre.

Isabel said the duo was surprised at first to get the call.

“But then again, it may never happen again, so we were excited to go,” he said.

Although Isabel is highly trained in multiple martial arts, he offers instruction that nearly anyone could learn in just a few hours.

“Everything that we do needs to be simple and accessible,” he said. “Our clients can vary from five-year-old girls to a 76-year-old lady with a cane.”

Girard, meanwhile, offers woman-to-woman reassurance and training to help use what Isabel teaches them.

“Women often think they are weaker, less capable,” she said, adding the pair starts with confidence building.

Then, when the women discover they can defend themselves, “they take great pride in that,” said Girard.

The two coaches feel that this dynamic makes the space more welcoming for women.

“I have had some women who had difficulty even entering the room when [Jean-François-Éric] is there,” said Girard. “But I can be there and reach them, work with them.”

The training ends up being quick, she said, over a single day.

Reaction to their visits in Nunavik communities has been positive, they say.

“There is one lady, it is the third time we go to Salluit and it is the third time she has signed up,” said Girard.

In their instruction, the couple focus on real-world examples of altercations clients might face and work to help them learn how to handle it.

They focus on developing reflexes, said Girard, because in these moments people generally don’t have time to think about what they’re doing.

“We know that adrenaline kicks in, tunnel vision happens and fine motor skills are out the window,” she said.

Because most physical assaults happen in a place a person is familiar with, they focus on teaching self-defence in settings such as in their home or on their way to work.

“These environments have tables, couches, chairs, counters — these are prone to creating serious injuries,” especially when there is a fight, Isabel said.

“It’s about ensuring your security, and being able to come home to the people we love.”

Both instructors have full-time jobs in Drummondville, Que., where they live with their children and dogs.

Over the next few months, the couple will continue travelling the Hudson coast and finish their contract in the summer. In two weeks, they return to Puvirnituq.

“We love going to the North,” said Girard, “if we are invited to another community, it will be our pleasure to come.”

Two men face drug-related charges after Iqaluit RCMP carried out a search warrant as part of a cocaine trafficking investigation at an Apex residence last week.

The search, carried out Jan. 19, yielded 33 grams of cocaine, 0.5 grams of crack cocaine and an assortment of unknown pills, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. Pauline Melanson in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

A 41-year-old man is charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime, according to an RCMP news release issued Jan. 24.

A 37-year-old man is charged with possession of a substance under schedule 1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

A third male was arrested but later released without being charged, police said.

The two suspects are scheduled to appear in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit on Feb. 5.

Dementia cases among Indigenous people in Canada could spike in coming decades, warns the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

The society released a study Jan. 22 that found the number of dementia cases among this demographic is estimated to increase by 273 per cent by 2050, as opposed to 187 per cent among the general population of Canada.

The reason has a lot to do with age. Fewer than five per cent of Indigenous people in Canada were over the age of 65 in 2005. That number will be closer to 15 per cent by 2036, the study said.

It includes no data specific to Nunavut, said Dr. Joshua Armstrong, a research scientist with Alzheimer Society of Canada and lead author of the report.

He said the North wasn’t included in the study because the group that did the modelling wasn’t confident with the data from the territories.

The number-one risk factor for dementia is old age, according to Armstrong.

“We often think about Indigenous populations as being younger, but if you look at the demographic data there is a growing number of people over the age of 65,” he said.

While this may be true for the broader Indigenous population, Statistics Canada census data from 2021 indicates Nunavut has a different demographic makeup.

There are roughly 40,000 people in Nunavut, with 12,000 of them under 14 and nearly 10,000 between the ages of 15 and 30. The study projects to 2050, when more than half of Nunavut’s population will still be 57 or younger.

Age, however, isn’t the only dementia risk, according to the study.

It noted that socioeconomic circumstances, health, racism and colonization can play roles in higher rates of dementia among Indigenous populations.

Dr. Joshua Armstrong is an Alzheimer Society of Canada researcher and lead author of the study that found dementia among Indigenous people of Canada will almost triple in the coming decades. (Photo courtesy Dr. Joshua Armstrong)

It’s still a growing area of research, Armstrong said, “but the idea is that racism … chronic racism, racism on a daily basis, leads to chronic stress.

“And it’s been long known that chronic stress has a negative impact on the brain … which then leads to dementia outcomes as people get older.”

Even if Nunavut doesn’t see the same spike in dementia cases that could occur in other places, there are currently no specialized supports in the territory for people living with it.

Ottawa’s Embassy West long-term care centre has 70 Nunavummiut elders, the majority of whom have a diagnosis of dementia, said Department of Health spokesperson Danarae Sommerville. She did not provide exact numbers.

Anne Crawford, an elder-care advocate and legal representative for the Iqaluit Elders Society, said having to leave home is bad for those with dementia.

“What people need is familiar surroundings, regular regularity and predictability of people you’re in contact with, and of events and repetition of things that you already know,” she said.

“Aging in place is the best possible choice.”

Crawford called on the Nunavut government to sponsor the training and development of psychologists from northern communities, so in turn better dementia diagnosis and treatment is available in the North.

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout agrees, saying neither the federal government nor the GN are doing enough to keep elders in their home communities.

She spoke about the issue in 2021 in the House of Commons and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal said at the time he’d be happy to hold discussions with her on the topic. This has not yet happened, Idlout told Nunatsiaq News this week.

Idlout called the practice of sending Inuit elders south for long-term care a type of exile.

“It’s bad enough that they’ve experienced many atrocities throughout their lifetimes,” she said, adding both levels of government could do things like make sure families are trained to take care of their elders who have specific needs, like dementia.

A 24-bed elders facility in Rankin Inlet is expected to be completed later this year. It will accommodate people with dementia, although it’s not clear how much of that specialized capacity it will have.

There are two more elder-care facilities planned for Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, but the GN did not provide a timeline for their completion.

In 2017, Noel Avadluk was sentenced to a term of imprisonment with no end date. Now he will have a new sentencing hearing.

Andrew Morrison describes being in a dark place in 2021.

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, the Iqaluit musician and Jerry Cans frontman found himself stuck in isolation hubs on a few occasions while travelling. That same year, he lost his mother, former Nunavut Chief Justice Beverly Browne.

Out of that difficult time, Morrison started working on a new music project: Echoes Of…

Morrison collaborated with several artists to create music under the name Echoes Of…, including Northern Haze’s James Ungalaq, Terry Uyarak, Ivaana, Naja P., and Jace Lasek, of Besnard Lakes.

The result is a different flavour of music from the toe-tapping Jerry Cans tunes Morrison is more well-known for.

The first few singles, including Dead or Dying featuring Lovely Things, are more ambient and down-tempo.

“It was very interesting for me to explore what art felt like in a kind of dark, depressing time of my life,” Morrison said in a phone interview while waiting to board a flight to Japan at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

“COVID kind of shut everything down and then, kind of re-emerging and figuring out how to do that same thing in a completely different way is a very interesting, challenging experience.”

Morrison’s first Echoes Of… album, Euphemisms, releases on streaming platforms Friday.

The 10-track record includes songs in Inuktitut and English.

“I wanted this project to be quite different and open and able to kind of just work with whoever was hanging out having coffee at my house or whoever’s looking for some collaborative space,” Morrison said.

“I really wanted it to be kind of a family thing because we’re all a big, extended, complicated arts family, and it was really nice to kind of see what resources we’ve developed over the last few years and put those in the album.”

While Morrison won’t be in Iqaluit to celebrate his album’s release, he hopes to perform a show when he returns to the city.

Until then, he said he is thankful to his collaborators and the people who are supporting this project.

Morrison said family is the heart of Echoes Of…, especially his late mother, who was also a co-founder of the Iqaluit Music Society.

“This album is obviously completely dedicated to her and all the collaborators and my kids and family,” he said.

“After she passed away, I was wondering if I was even going to play music anymore, and then I thought about her, and she would be mad at me if I didn’t and mad at me for raising kids in a house that didn’t have any music.”

Heavy snow in Juneau, Alaska has wreaked havoc on boats, roofs and roads.

Aurora College has temporarily closed its Yellowknife campus amid complaints about heating issues at the building.

She wants her listeners to know that 'it's OK to not be OK.'

Nunatsiaq News is publishing profiles of the three candidates for Makivvik president ahead of the organization’s 2024 election.

Harry Tulugak wants Inuit to regain control over Nunavik’s land and resources.

He is running for president of Makivvik Corp., the organization that represents Inuit in the region. The election is scheduled for Feb. 1.

Tulugak is a former mayor of Puvirnituq and has served as Inuulitsivik Health Board interim director general. Most recently, he worked as general manager of Puvirnituq’s Co-op store.

If elected, Tulugak, 66, said he aims to bring the principles of a group called Inuit Tungavingat Nunamini to the forefront of Makivvik.

Inuit Tungavingat Nunamini were political dissidents who opposed certain parts of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement negotiations, the land claims deal between Inuit and Cree in northern Quebec and the Quebec government.

In section two of the agreement, Quebec’s Inuit cede all “claims, titles, rights and interests” to the land they inhabit.

“Makivvik lost all say over Nunavik land,” Tulugak said in a phone interview with Nunatsiaq News.

“Makivvik has no chance of ever getting back any land on its own as a treaty organization,” he said. “[But] we have never lost our birthright inheritance, our dominion over the resources.”

Tulugak said he believes Inuit Tungavingat Nunamini can still exercise those rights, potentially through establishing this group’s presence on Makivvik’s land committee.

He quoted a philosophy from the late Inuit Tungavingat Nunamini leader Taamusi Qumaq, who said “our future generations will inherit these ancestral lands in perpetuity.”

There was animosity in the region for many years between Makivvik and those opposed to section two.

“It is time to work together now, and establish our authority over Nunavik land,” said Tulugak.

Aside from land issues, he said he wants to improve conditions for elders.

“I would establish a few rooms in key communities, to make sure that these elders don’t have to be shipped south to die,” he said.

Another key part of Tulugak’s campaign involves Inuktitut language revitalization.

Also running for president of Makivvik Corp. are incumbent Pita Aatami and challenger Suzy Kauki.

Nahanni Butte's Soham Srimani has won the band manager mentor award for the third consecutive year. Hay River's Glenn Smith is the NWT SAO of the year.

Kipper has just completed his avalanche dog in training certification, and could become fully qualified a year from now. He will be spending most of his time at Mt. Sima Alpine Adventure Park, but is also available to respond to incidents in the wider Yukon, and northern BC.

Mining company BHP is proposing an early-stage exploration program this summer across several vast areas on the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. 

A Canadian Army ranger says he was hoping for the best when he rushed to the plane that crashed near Fort Smith, N.W.T., Tuesday, leaving six people dead and one injured.

Two people have been arrested and charged in the N.W.T. for allegedly carrying illegal weapons and 740 grams of crack cocaine.

Community members gathered to support one another and honour the six people who lost their lives and one survivor in Tuesday's plane crash.