A polar bear rummages through Paul Etungat’s garbage bin in Kinngait on Nov. 4. Etungat said his mother was smoking outside just before the bear appeared at 6 a.m. They heard noises coming from the bin, then Etungat used an air horn to scare the animal away. (Photo by Paul Etungat)
Eric Ittukallak and Jackusi Amamatuak from Puvirnituq, who are participating in this year’s Ivakkak dogsled race, take their dogs to their resting site during their stopover in Kuujjuaq on Tuesday, March 5, as local children run after them to try to hop on their sled. (Photo by Isabelle Dubois)
George Kauki and his teammate Timuti Angnatuk are the only team from Kuujjuaq in this year’s Ivakkak dogsled race. While musher and dog-team owner George Kauki hugs his little daughter, after being away from home for over a week on the trail, his young apprentice musher, Timuti, is all smiles, happy to be welcomed by his community on Tuesday, March 5. (Photo by Isabelle Dubois)
Musher Willie Cain Jr. and his teammate Ken Labbé from Tasiujaq were the first team in this year’s Ivakkak dogsled race to arrive at Tasialuk (Stewart Lake) near Kuujjuaq on Tuesday, March 3. (Photo by Isabelle Dubois)
Aloupa Airo-Watt competes in the one-foot high kick at Jaanimmarik School’s Inuit games on Feb. 26 in Kuujjuaq. Airo-Watt won the event in his category, with a height of 280 cm, not far from the Arctic Winter Games record of 292 cm. (Photo by Isabelle Dubois)
Members of Team Nunavut pose with Community and Government Services Minister Lorne Kusugak and Nunavut Premier Joe Savikataaq on Wednesday, March 4, during the unveiling of the 2020 Arctic Winter Games Team Nunavut uniform and pin set. The parka and pants have a patch signifying the 50th anniversary of the games, while Team Nunavut’s uniform has a patch on the parka, podium jacket and mittens to celebrate the team’s 20th anniversary. The uniforms also include custom, handmade crocheted hats made in Arviat and Pangnirtung. The games take place in Whitehorse from March 15 to 21. Team Nunavut is sending 270 participants drawn from 22 communities. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
Willie Cain’s dogsled team arrives in Kuujjuaq on Tuesday, March 3, during Nunavik’s Ivakkak 2020 race. The race was put on pause shortly after it started on Feb. 25, following the sudden death of a racer, 24-year old Willia Qullialuk of Kangiqsujuaq. The cause of Qullialuk’s death isn’t yet known but organizers say it wasn’t due to a racing accident. The race resumed on Feb 27. This year’s route skirts Ungava Bay, beginning at Kangirsuk and passing through Aupaluk, Tasiujaq and Kuujjuaq before finishing at Kangiqsualujjuaq. (Photo by Allen Gordon)
Nunatsiaq News has been working with students at Nunavik Sivunitsavut in Montreal this winter through a series of journalism and media literacy workshops. The class of post-secondary students, who come from communities throughout Nunavik, will produce their own news and opinion pieces. (Photo by Emanuel Lowi)
Sandy Jaaka and Matthew Arngak are seen en route to Aupaluk during Nunavik’s Ivakkak 2020 dogsled race. The race resumed on Feb 27, after coming to an abrupt halt outside Kangirsuk shortly after it had begun on Feb. 25, following the sudden death of Jaaka’s partner, 24-year old Willia Qullialuk of Kangiqsujuaq. The cause of Qullialuk’s death isn’t yet known but organizers say it wasn’t due to a racing accident. Jaaka decided to continue on with the race and was first joined by his cousin Norman Arnatuk and is now with Arngak for the rest of the race. On Feb. 29, one team dropped out, after Noah Uqituk and Jaanu Jaaka concluded their team was tired and unable to keep up, leaving six teams in this year’s race. This year’s race route skirts along Ungava Bay, passing through the communities of Aupaluk, Tasiujaq and Kuujjuaq before crossing the finish line in Kangiqsualujjuaq. The race was originally expected to take 12 days. (Photo courtesy of Ivakkak)
Skye Corey from Cambridge Bay sings her song “Red Dress,” about missing and murdered Indigenous women and children, at the Pauktuutit annual general meeting on Wednesday, February 26. (Photo by Kahlan Miron)
Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq stands with Rebecca Kudloo, president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, at Pauktuutit’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in Ottawa. Many Pauktuutit members took the time to tell Qaqqaq how proud they were of her. Pauktuutit then gave Qaqqaq the purple sweater she’s seen wearing here. (Photo courtesy of Pauktuutit)
A model showcasing a design by Nunavut designer Martha Kyak’s brand, InukChic, struts down a makeshift runway at the annual general meeting of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The fashion show took place during a break in the afternoon, following morning talks with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed and Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq. (Photo by Kahlan Miron)
Nunavut’s MLAs wore pink shirts, pink ties and pink fox-fur pins on Pink Day at the legislative assembly on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The anti-bullying initiative began in 2007, and since then the day has become a chance to highlight individuals and groups in schools and communities who make a positive difference by promoting respect and kindness. Nunavut’s theme for this year’s Pink Day is Ajunngitunga, which means I am capable. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
Billy Cain, regional councillor for Tasiujaq, welcomes the results of a vote to hold the spring meeting of the Kativik Regional Government in his home community. The vote was held on Monday, Feb. 24, after discussions narrowed the choice of host community down to either Tasiujaq or Salluit. Tasiujaq won 15 to seven. The spring meeting moves around the region each year and last year went to Kuujjuaraapik. In 2018, it was in Aupaluk. Tasiujaq last hosted the spring meeting in 2009. (Photo by Elaine Anselmi)
The lights of Iqaluit shine on a beautiful but cold, at -35 C, evening on Feb. 19. (Photo by Frank Reardon)
Parks Canada employee Despoina Kavousanaki points out a detail on an epaulette found during the 2019 excavation of the HMS Erebus to Stanley Anablak, president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and Pamela Gross, president of the Inuit Heritage Trust, at Parks Canada’s conservation laboratories in Ottawa on Thursday, Feb. 20. Gross told those present that the trust is working towards having a museum in the territory to showcase the finds from the Franklin vessels. (Photo by Patricia Lightfoot)
Finance Minister George Hickes answers questions from reporters about the Government of Nunavut’s 2020-21 operations budget, which is being tabled today in the legislative assembly. Out of the projected $2.33 billions of total operating expenses in the coming year, the biggest portion is being spent on the Department of Health. “This budget aims to foster individual and community wellness, particularly in health care and support to families and individuals in crisis,” Hickes said in his budget address. The biggest item on the budget is $17.6 million towards meeting increased medical travel needs that are projected for the coming year. Also of note is the $1.5 million for six new RCMP members for the territory this year, and six next year. Four Inuktitut-speaking RCMP dispatchers will also be hired to provide 24-7 service for the territory, and $1.3 million is going to increase foster care per diems for the first time since 2004. (Photo by Dustin Patar)
Lori Eddy, skip for Nunavut’s women’s curling team at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, speaks with reporters following her team’s surprise 6-5 win against Northern Ontario today in Moose Jaw, Sask. Eddy last made it to the national curling finals for Team Ontario in 1997. “We were just thrilled to have such a good game. It means so much to us and to Nunavut,” she said. (Photo courtesy of Curling Canada)
Iqaluit Blizzard players, coaches and the Hockey Nunavut midget team celebrate their championship win in Montreal on Sunday, Feb. 16. (Photo courtesy of the Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association)
Kuujjuaq’s Sylvia Cloutier performs with Iqaluit’s Josh Q and the Trade-Offs on Feb. 5 as part of the Arctic Inspiration Prize award ceremony at the Shaw Centre in downtown Ottawa. (Photo by Lisa Gregoire)
Caroline Boulianne and five-month-old Keenan of Kuujjuaq sell knitted crafts and mittens at the Northern Lights conference’s arts and crafts pavilion at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa as dancers, throat-singers and Inuit games athletes perform on a nearby stage on Feb. 6. (Photo by Lisa Gregoire)
Award-winning artist Mathew Nuqingaq shows off his exquisite jewelry at the Northern Lights conference’s arts and crafts pavilion at Ottawa’s downtown Shaw Centre. The conference wrapped up Feb. 8. (Photo by Lisa Gregoire)
Members of the Iqaluit fire department responded to a small fire at the Baffin Correctional Centre expansion construction site late on Thursday night. Read more later on nunatsiaq.com. (Photo by Dustin Patar)
Iqaluit’s Inuksuk Drum Dancers throat sing and perform a choreographed drum dance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The Ottawa show also featured Iqaluit’s Inuksuk Concert Band. The band and choir were a hit with their audience; after a repertoire of songs ranging from Charlie Adam’s “Quviasupunga” to a band rendition of “YMCA”—which had choir members and other non-performing students spontaneously dancing in the back—the students earned a standing ovation. (Photo by Kahlan Miron)
City of Iqaluit staff work to create an outdoor ice rink outside Nakasuk Elementary School on Saturday, Feb. 8. Kathy Anilniliak stopped to take this picture and thank them, “as it uplifts the spirits of many children in Iqaluit who use the rink day and night.” (Photo courtesy of Kathy Anilniliak)
