Iqaluit This Week

The legend of Kiviuq, in drawings…
Saturday, March 17, at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit museum at 1 p.m. Meet artist Nancy Pukirnak Aupaluktuq, whose drawings of the legend of Kiviuq will be on display.

… and film
Saturday, March 17 at 7 p.m. at the Astro Theatre. See John Houston’s latest film, Kiviuq. Admission is free. The film will be followed by a Q and A with the producer.

Square dance and coffee house
Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Inuksuk High School, presented by the Iqaluit Music Society. Admission is free; donations welcome. For more, email Heather at harmonyheather@northwestel.net.

Free Isuma film screenings
Every Sunday at 2 p.m. until June 3, 2007, at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit museum. Different Isuma films will be shown each week. Admission is free, all are ­welcome. For information, call 979-5537.

Clues sought in raven poisonings
Someone in Iqaluit is poisoning ravens and conservation officers are worried that children could be at risk.

Several dead birds were found in late January in the neighbourhood between Happy Valley and the Apex Road. The birds were found to have high levels of avitrol, a poison commonly used by farmers in southern Canada to control flocks of starlings and other pests.

Used properly, small amounts of the poison are mixed with feed, such as corn. A small amount of the poison is enough to make birds sick enough to scare them off.

But higher concentrations of the poison may not only kill ravens, contrary to the Wildlife Act. It could also harm children or dogs who happen to eat the feed.

“I guess someone out there has it out for ravens. People just get angry,” Curtis Didham, a conservation officer with the Government of Nunavut’s wildlife department, said on Wednesday.

Someone caught poisoning birds would likely face a $350 fine, Didham said. But if scattering poisoned feed led to personal injury, the fine could increase up to $500,000, or more, if a corporation is found to be responsible.

Anyone with information is asked to phone a conservation officer, at 979-7800.

To have your event listed, free of charge, please call 979-5357, fax 979-4763, or send an email to johnt@nunatsiaq.com.