The children of the Northern Village of Kuujjuaq enjoy sledding as part of the community’s second “Love Life” event on March 13. “Love Life” celebrates life and helps residents heal from recent trauma and tragedy. The community also celebrated the day with music, snow sculptures and country food. The slide, which was built for the event, stayed up afterwards and children can still enjoy sledding on it after school or on the weekends. (Photo courtesy of Isabelle Dubois)
This carving from the late 1960s shows a traditional adoption, validated in 1969 by Justice J.H. Sissons of the Northwest Territories. It’s among the carvings from the Sissons-Morrow collection of Inuit carvings from the N.W.T., currently on display at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit. That collection began in 1956 when Kaotak, a man found not guilty of killing his father, presented Sissons with a carving depicting the trial. After that, Sissons would commission local carvers to depict cases in stone, ivory, caribou antler, soapstone and metal. Later, Justice William J. Morrow continued the collection. (Photo by Jane George)
The Nunavut Impact Review Board is holding a technical meeting in Iqaluit from Monday to Wednesday on Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s planned expansion of its Mary River mine in North Baffin. Daniel Quassa from the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization, second from right, said on Monday he worries about the larger project’s impact on the marine food chain. Consultants working for Baffinland said the mine conducts extensive monitoring for invasive species and contaminants. After the meeting wraps up, Baffinland will have a chance to respond to a long list of concerns before the NIRB’s final public hearing on the project takes place this September. From left: Merlyn Recinos of Igloolik, Enookie Enuarak of Pond Inlet, Quassa and Frank Tester for the Hamlet of Pond Inlet. (Photo by Jane George)
Drum dancers from around Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions, including Julia Ogina, seen here, will perform in Cambridge Bay tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Kullik Elementary School. Other nightly performances are also planned later in the week. During the day the drum dancers plan to meet and record their songs, for a follow-up to 2018’s Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit or “Stories Told Through Drum-Dance Songs,” a book prepared for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which Ogina co-ordinated. (Photo by Jane George)
“Inuit in Canada will continue to harvest seals as we always have to meet our needs in the Arctic,” said a Nunavut Sivuniksavut student at the school’s pro sealing rally. On March 28, NS students gathered at Parliament Hill for a rally in support of Inuit seal. They gave a presentation on its historical and cultural importance, commented on the state of sealing today and ended with a fashion show. The students also encouraged their audience to take and share a “#sealfie” —a picture featuring sealskin fashion. The Government of Nunavut lent garments to NS for the event. (Photo courtesy of NS/Facebook)
