Association reaches out to Winnipeg Inuit

Inuit students in Winnipeg will get some extra help this fall, thanks to a new web site — www.manitobainuit.ca — and welcome guide produced by the Manitoba Urban Inuit Association.

The association will launch the website and guide Oct. 1 at Red River’s College Notre Dame Campus in Winnipeg, with Inuit throat singing and traditional food on Oct. 1.

“As MUIA’s first major project, this website and book attempts to start the process of bridging gaps in services specific to Inuit. It is not easy for northern Inuit students to leave everything they know behind for a new city, but sometimes just having a few questions answered can makes a world of difference,” said Nichola Batzel, president of the association, in a Sept. 28 news release.

The website and guide, created with help from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Winnipeg’s social planning council, are available in English, French and Inuktitut.

The guide contains information about living and working in Winnipeg as well as telephone numbers and addresses to help Inuit students find resources.

The Manitoba Urban Inuit Association’s volunteer board wants to help Inuit adjust to the South and develop a supportive environment “that attempts to duplicate the community spirit and cultural surrounding of the Inuit homelands,” the news release says.

The launch is set for Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., in Room 205, Building F, at Red River College’s Notre Dame Campus, 2055 Notre Dame Ave. in Winnipeg.