News

The Still Dark Festival has just released the second wave of artists slated to perform at the Still Dark Festival beginning Feb. 5 and running to Feb. 8.

As the community of Tuktoyaktuk braces for a weekend of blizzard conditions, predicted to begin this morning, more communities in the Aklavik, Inuvik and Paulatuk region are facing extreme weather and warnings. Originally the federal agency had predicted that a blizzard would begin late Friday in Tuktoyaktuk, but according to reports, conditions intensified earlier than expected and the storm is predicted to begin this morning.

Chris Paci, a lead researcher and the vice president of research at Aurora College says the college has doubled their research projects to over 70 in the last year alone. The college is looking to continue expanding their research capacity and continue to build a base in Yellowknife.

The GNWT says their language mentor apprentice program pairs Indigenous language learners who must agree to spend five to seven hours per week together over about nine months. This year’s program has 53 pairs. The initiative brings together a fluent speaker of the language, who teaches a committed language learner, by doing everyday activities using only their Indigenous language.

Rio Tinto says that the agreement signed with the North Slave Métis Alliance is the international mining mogul’s first ever with a partner Indigenous government related to a mine closure. Rio Tinto owns mining operations in 35 countries across the globe and says they plan to continue to offer closure agreements with more mine closure agreements with Indigenous governments, continuing first in the territory.

Matthew Bossons of Northwestel says the company is continuing to invest in expanding and improving connectivity across the North. Recently the company completed a fibre line between the Arctic communities of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. “Connectivity has been a huge piece,” says Minister Lesa Semmlar, a sentiment that was also recently echoed by Minister Lucy Kuptana regarding internet technology applications for healthcare and emergency situations.

The community of Tuktoyaktuk is bracing for a weekend of blizzard conditions predicted to begin Friday, with winds gusting up to 90 km per hour. Snow and blowing snow is predicted to reduce visibility to “near zero.”  Environment Canada has issued a storm surge and an orange watch for the area. Orange watches are part of the federal agency's new color coded system introduced in late November, warning that severe weather is likely to cause major damage, disruption or health impacts.

The GNWT announced that they received lead testing results for Chief T’Selehye School in Fort Good Hope that “confirmed” that “several” drinking water sources had lead levels above the maximum acceptable guidelines for drinking water. This is the sixth school in the territory to test positive for elevated levels of lead in drinking water since a comprehensive testing protocol was launched this fall.

“It is important for the Dene to be self-determined and self-sufficient. Long gone are the days when outsiders can make decisions on our behalf.” Dene National Chief George Mackenzie, alongside Chiefs from Denendeh, are calling for major reforms in how child and family social programs are overseen. Chief Mackenzie says that it is just the beginning of a movement towards acknowledging the sovereignty of the Dene Nation.