inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfclimate...

8
Inuvik marches in solidarity Climate protest supports southern action against pipeline Publication mail Contract #40012157 Volume 56 Issue 7 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 75 CENTS Eric Bowling/NNSL photo "I think it's safe to say the people who pushed this through didn't anticipate this much solidarity." Inuvik Drum editor Eric Bowling on Canada-wide demonstrations for Wet'suwet'en, page 6. Top shelf snipe Photos: 19th annual Gwich'in Cup Woman convicted for theft and assault Keeping Gwich'in culture alive in the classroom Calle Gruben of the Delta Dynamos celebrates after scoring on Northern Lights goaltender Donald Charlie during a penalty shot in a Novice game Feb. 15 at the 19th annual Gwich'in cup.

Upload: others

Post on 30-Jun-2020

3 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

Inuvik marches in solidarity

Climate protest supports southern action against pipeline

Publication mail Contract #40012157

Volume 56 Issue 7 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 75 CENTS

Eric Bowling/NNSL photo

"I think it's safe to say the people who pushed this through didn't anticipate this much solidarity."– Inuvik Drum editor Eric Bowling on Canada-wide demonstrations for Wet'suwet'en, page 6.

Top shelfsnipe

Photos: 19th annual Gwich'in Cup

Woman convicted for theft and assault

Keeping Gwich'in culture alive in the classroom

Calle Gruben of the Delta Dynamos celebrates after scoring on Northern Lights goaltender Donald Charlie during a penalty shot in a Novice game Feb. 15 at the 19th annual Gwich'in cup.

Page 2: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

2 INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020

Environment Canada was issu-ing extreme cold alerts all week and projecting -40C wind chills, but that didn't stop eight members of Climate Action Inuvik from taking to the streets for their weekly march Feb. 14.

Although they took the holi-day season off, the group has been marching every Friday in support of a more climate-friendly Canada for the last year.

This week there was a bit more weight to it, as the group made use of their march to draw atten-tion to the events occurring in the Wet'suwet'en nation in B.C.

"It's important to me so that everyone is aware of the situation," said Tessa Jenks.  "We will keep on doing this until more and more people know."

Organizer Abe Drennan noted there were a lot of facets to the conflict, but felt it was needed to speak out about the way events have unfolded.

He added he felt it was important as a beneficiary of colonialism to help the people affected.

"Why we're marching today is in solidarity in the bigger picture of climate action on a pipeline but also in recognizing the ancestral laws the hereditary chiefs uphold," said Dren-

nan. "That's so the lands that are not owned by the Crown of the B.C. province are kept clean and the eco-systems are healthy for generations.

"By the Canadian government not acknowledging their ancestral rights to those lands and forcibly removing people, that's not a way to reconciliation or to de-colonizie Canada."

Drawing dozens of honks from passerbys, the team of eight made their way from East Three School down Mackenzie Road and back. Drennan said the group wanted people to recognize that responding to climate change and reconciling historical wrongs with Indigenous peoples went hand in hand.

"Canada has got climate change on its doorstep but it also got Indigen-ous rights needing to be upheld and honoured," he said. "The colonial effects that Canada has impressed on people for hundreds of years has to stop. I think as non-Indigenous Canadians, we need to do our part to break down the colonial mindsets of power over another, or economic growth over environmental sustain-ability.

"We have to stand against oppres-sion whenever we see it and I think there's a majority of people who feel that's their responsibility as well and the uprising we're seeing around the world is due to that."

Protests and blockades have erupted across Canada after 28 people were arrested in the enforce-ment of an injunction against a blockade set up by hereditary chiefs to prevent the construction of a $6.6 billion liquefied natural gas pipeline

to the port of Kitimat on the B.C. coast. All the gas moved through the pipe would be exported to mar-kets in Asia. A 27-kilometre exclu-sion zone was set up during the enforcement limiting the ability of the reporters to cover the events hap-

pening within it.Since the arrests, a number of

members of the blockade camp have said they have returned to the site and are maintaining their eviction notice on Coastal GasLink, the com-pany building the pipeline.

Eric Bowling/NNSL photo

Members of Climate Action Inuvik took to the streets in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en Nation Feb. 14, in spite of -40 C windchills. From the left, Tessa, Anick, Winnie and Gene Jenks, Abe Drennan, Lyndsay Tuplin, Brittany Pomroy and Brad Wade.

news

Eight activists brave -40C wind chill to voice their support for hereditary chiefs

Climate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation

by Eric Bowling Northern News Services

Page 3: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020 3news

A group of toddlers sits trans-fixed on the hands of an elder as she kneads dough and sings to herself in Gwich'in. Finally, once it is flattened, she walks out of the room to cook it and the children scatter around the room, only to gather around her once more with wide-eyed-wonder as she emerges from the back room with a traditional drum.

Before long, she is leading the kids around the room in a trad-itional drum dance as they ask her questions about the drum, the dance and the Gwich'in lan-guage.

Every Monday through Fri-day, 'Jijuu' (grandma) Mabel English spends her morning teaching Gwich'in to the class of eight kids, aged from one-and-a-half to three years old. Aside from helping the kids learn the traditional names for animals, people and plants, she also shows them traditional dancing, sings classic songs and tells old stories to help immerse the children in her culture.

For a Feb. 12 open house, English and the kids made ban-nock, with each of the kids tak-ing a try at rolling the dough and kneading it. Then, after the food was in the oven the kids took turns teaching each other words as she observed.

Part of what draws her here every day is the love of being jijuu, but English noted there is a deeper purpose to her daily lessons. She wants to connect

the children with opportun-ities many of their parents were denied.

"I remember when they were working on the Alaska Highway, all the girls who were raised in the residential school were taken out there to cook," said English. "They didn't know how to sew, or trap or anything."

Getting people back in touch with their culture has to start with the language, so English is getting the kids hooked while they're young.

Started just this last October, the Gwich'in Language Immer-sion program has blown past expectations. From having never spoken a word of Gwich'in when they began, many of the kids are now picking up the language and speaking it to each other.

"They'll tell each other to come sit in Gwich'in and talk about washing their hands or inviting their friends to come to the door so they can go to the gym, they're using all those phrases in Gwich'in," said Chil-dren First executive director Patricia Davison. "They'll go up to the pictures on the wall and say the names of the animals and the colours, they'll even teach each other and role model what they're learning in the class."

She also noted the kids were developing greater confidence in their social skills as they got a better handle on the language.

It's not just the children learn-ing either. While many of the staff are skilled speakers of the language, none of them have the

command of it that English does."We're so fortunate to have

Elder Mabel English in," added Davison. "She really supports the children and the staff, so the staff who aren't quite as fluent are learning the language along-side the children.

"The staff sent little cheat sheets home to the families so the parents can use Gwich'in and know what their children are working on."

Davison added the next step was to set up evening and week-end classes for the children's families so they can keep up with the young keeners. Though she noted the kids were getting a distinct jump on the language by learning it at their age.

"Right now, their brains are wired for language. This is the optimum time to learn it," she

said. "Whatever language they're exposed to, they will learn. If they're exposed to the sounds now, they will retain those sounds.

"Our brains starts losing the ability to pick up new sounds, but at this age they are pick-ing up and learning everything they're hearing."

She noted the Children First Centre had recently secured funding to keep the program going until March 31 and had located an additional funder to keep the program going until June. But securing long term funding was still distant on the horizon.

"Our goal is that this group will have time to be immersed in Gwich'in and come away strong in the language before they enter the school system," said Davison.

Did we get it wrong?Inuvik Drum is committed to getting facts and

names right. With that goes a commitment to acknow-ledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in Inuvik Drum, contact the editor at (867) 777-4545 or email [email protected].

'Jijuu' Mabel English spends five days a week teaching pre-schoolers Gwich'in language and culture

Gwich'in Immersion program helping youth take root in their culture

by Eric Bowling Northern News Services

Eric Bowling/NNSL photo

'Jijuu' Mabel English oversees Shamrym Starr-Nerysoo giving her pre-school classmates a lesson in Gwich'in. Front, left to right looking on are Bristol Kasook, Payton and Skyler Inglangasuk, and Theodore McLeod.

NEWSBriefs

Update on Jim Koe Park and Gateway Sign upgradesInuvik Town Council has reviewed updated

plans for several capital projects and returned them to their respective contractors with feed-back.

Councillors voted unanimously Feb. 12 to recommend designers go with a visitor centre located close to MacKenzie Road with an open design (aka a "horse stable" concept) across from the parking lot between the Post Office and the Aurora Research Institute, as well as integrating further opportunities for using renewable energy and to bring the refined concept back to council for review ... and to ensure the building is not coloured grey.

Part of the cost saving measures for the new park design and visitors centre will be enlisting the help of Aurora Colleges building trades programs. The college is anticipating it will be able to turn the project into a course for up to 10 students to cover the surveying, concrete forming, basic wood framing, insula-tion, dry walling, painting and roof construc-tion.

Councillors also gave feedback on the proposed new Gateway sign, with the added recommendations to not overpower the sign with animal motifs, including a small sized sticker board for tourists to tag and to use local resources and labour whenever possible.

Jim Koe Park's new look is expected to begin construction this April. Construction of the new Gateway sign is expected to be com-pleted this summer.

Town revisiting passenger transport bylaw

A revision to the town's passenger trans-port bylaw could extend the maximum age of a commercial taxi cab from 10 years to 15 years. Councillors voted 5-0, with Couns. Clarence Wood and Paul MacDonald absent and deputy mayor Steve Baryluk chairing to move the bylaw to second reading. It will be voted on a third and final time at an upcom-ing meeting.

Director of public safety Cynthia Ham-mond noted the previous bylaw held the max-imum age at 10 years for safety reasons, but in actuality regular scheduled vehicle inspec-tions were a far better indicator of whether a vehicle is safe for public transport.

Council had previously defeated a bylaw that would have extended the provision to wheelchair accessible vehicles only, but if this bylaw passes the provision would apply to all cabs on the road.

Public Behaviour bylaw on the books

Spitting in public could soon net you a $50 fine if a newly proposed public behaviour bylaw passes third reading. Council voted unanimously to move the bylaw to second reading at its Feb. 12 meeting.

Also part of the new bylaw are increases in penalties for fighting in public, increasing to a $250 fine from $100 as well as for urinating and defecating in public, increasing to $150 from $100.

Loitering has also been added to the fee schedule, with the potential of a $75 fine. Offences related to loitering include standing or resting feet on any public structure such as a bench, sculpture, table or planter.

Littering on Town property can lead to a $500 fine, failure to remove that litter could result in an additional $500 fine and obstruct-ing a peace officer can lead to $500 in fines.

Council will vote on the bylaw's third read-ing at an upcoming meeting.

Page 4: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

4 INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020 opinions

This week members of Climate Action Inuvik didn't let below -40 C windchills stop them from taking to the streets and standing up for what they believed in.

They have been doing Friday afternoon marches to raise awareness about issues related to climate change since last Janu-ary. This time around, they were focused on the Wet'suwet'en nation in B.C. where Coastal GasLink (CGL) is preparing to install a Liquified Natu-ral Gas (LNG) pipeline to facili-tate shipping from the port town Kitimat.

Like most things involving lots of money, the people who want to make the money have spent a lot of it to advance a narrative that promotes their view, making getting the basic facts to form an opinion on the matter very difficult.

There are several groups of hereditary chiefs of Wet'suwet'en nation – each has authority over a certain portion of the unceded lands.

The chiefs being removed have not signed an agreement with CGL for their specific lands and nei-ther has the elected band office of the correspond-ing reserve, who said it was the hereditary chief's jurisdiction. There have been agreements signed with some other nations further up and down the

line. The chiefs also offered two alternate routes for the pipeline through their lands that were rejected by CGL.

No agreement between the Wet'suwet'en nation and the monarchy has even been inked. So decisions usually require courts to navigate the murky legal framework.

A simple analogy would be the government making a deal with some of your neighbours to dig up all the front yards in your neigh-bourhood and then telling

the entire com-munity you're preventing them from creating jobs when you object.

Given the rail blockades and demonstrations erupting from coast to coast to coast, I think it's safe to say the people who

pushed this through didn't anticipate this much soli-darity between Indigenous residents of Turtle Island and eco-conscious Canadi-ans.

The responses from Canada's current crop of leaders speak volumes.

Conservative Party lead-er Andrew Scheer demand-ed police shut down the blockades, offering a glimpse into an alternate timeline that branched off last October and Alberta premier Jason Kenney sug-gested the suppression of protests was a 'dress rehearsal' for the building of the TransMountain pipe-line expansion, surely the way to get people on the

fence to your side.Meanwhile, the adults in

charge seem to have sec-ond guessed themselves with the federal and B.C. governments reaching out to talk with the protes-tors, apparently mindful of past incidents like Oka. It's almost as if "Reconciliation is dead" had a real effect on the prime minister.

But it's true. If, at the end of the day when the white men in Calgary don't get their way out come the guns and the 19th century rhetoric, then nothing has changed and all the recon-ciliation put forward so far starts sounding an awful lot like all of the other promises made over the last three centuries.

Nothing is going to change unless it has to. For Indigenous people across

the planet it has to change and it has to now. They're tired of waiting and right-fully so.

Addendum to last week's editorial: After some reflec-tion, our staff decided it would be best to make a clarification to naming people convicted of a crime. We will publish the names in convictions for first (or later) offences in serious crimes like murder, arson, drug dealings, fraud and such. Essentially, mental health issues are a factor in our decision not to name people before the courts and we typically won't name people charged with minor, non-violent offences but serious charges may result in a charged person being named depending on the severity and public interest in doing so.

Some things only change when they have to Published Thursdays

SEND US YOUR COMMENTSLetters to the editor are welcomed by the Drum, especially new contributors. We attempt to pub-lish a cross-section of public opinion. Not all let-ters will necessarily be published. Preference is given to short letters of broad interest or concern. Letters of over 200 words, open letters and those published elsewhere are seldom used. We reserve the right to publish excerpts, to edit for length or taste and to eliminate inaccurate or libellous statements. We may also choose to use a letter as the basis for a story. All letters submitted must be signed with a return address and daytime phone number. Opinions expressed in letters and by columnists are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the editor or publisher.

NORTHERN NEWS SERVICES LIMITED 100% Northern owned and operatedPublishers of: • Nunavut News/North • Inuvik Drum • Kivalliq News • Yellowknifer • NWT News/North • Hay River HubMember of:• Manitoba Community Newspapers Association• Canadian Community Newspapers Association• Alberta Press Council

INUVIK OFFICE:

EDITOR: Eric Bowling

Phone: (867) 777-4545 Fax: (867) 777-4412

Toll free: (855) 873-6675 E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.nnsl.com/inuvik

FOUNDER (1934-2018): J.W. (Sig) Sigvaldason PUBLISHER, CEO: Bruce Valpy

[email protected] CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Judy Triffo

MANAGING EDITOR: Mike W. Bryant [email protected] ADVERTISING

[email protected] Call collect (867) 766-8233

PUBLISHING OFFICE: Box 2820, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2R1

Phone: (867) 873-4031 Fax: (867) 873-8507 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nnsl.com

Contents copyright. Printed in the North by Canarctic Graphics Limited. No photos, stories, advertisements or graphics may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written approval of the publisher.Subscriptions One year mail $65 Online (entire content) $50/year

Also read in Aklavik • Fort McPherson • Ulukhaktok • Sachs Harbour • Tsiigehtchic • Tuktoyaktuk

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Nous reconnaissons l'appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.

Nun

avut

Wes

tern

Ter

ritor

y

NWT

CANADA

ALASKA

UNITED STATES

Arctic Circle

Arctic

Circle

Baker Lake

Kimmirut(Lake Harbour)

Iqaluit

Snare Lake

DawsonCity

Kugluktuk(Coppermine)

Whitehorse

ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN MANITOBA

QUEBEC

BRITISH COLUMBIA

YUKON

ALASKAHerschelIsland

YELLOWKNIFE

Hay River

Fort Smith

GreatSlave Lake

GreatBear Lake

Beaufort Sea

Arctic Ocean

Baffin Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Strait

Foxe Basin

NorthMagnetic Pole

GREENLAND

Baffin Island

Victoria Island

BanksIsland

Mackenzie

River

Treeline

Treeline

Cambridge Bay

Arviat

Rankin Inlet

Nahanni Butte

Tulita(Fort Norman)

Deline

RaeEdzo

Fort Liard

Wrigley

Fort Simpson

Bathurst Inlet

Kakisa

Jean Marie River

Trout LakeEnterprise

Sachs Harbour

Ulukhaktok

Umingmaktok

Dettah

Rae Lakes

Wha Ti

RelianceFortProvidence

Fort Resolution

Lutselk’e

Igloolik

Clyde RiverPond Inlet

Resolute

Nanisivik

Grise Fiord

Taloyoak

Pelly Bay

Hall Beach

Arctic Bay

Gjoa Haven

Whale Cove

Chesterfield Inlet

Cape Dorset

Pangnirtung

Broughton Island

WatsonLake

Fort Nelson

Repulse Bay

Coral Harbour

Sanikiluaq

AuyuittuqNational Park

Reserve

KatannilikTerritorialPark

AulavikNational Park

Nahanni National Park Reserve

WoodBuffalo

NationalPark

Thelon Game Sanctuary

EllesmereIsland

National ParkReserve

IvvavikNational

Aklavik INUVIK

Fort McPhersonTsiigehtchic

TuktoyaktukEskimo

Lakes

Anderson River

Horton RiverMackenzie R

iver

Peel R

iver

Mackenzie

Bay

Cape Bathurst

Youth of the week

THEODORE MCLEOD

Our youth of the week is Theodore McLeod, an avid drumming enthusiast. McLeod is one of a handful of lucky kids attending the Gwich'in Lan-guage pre-school, learning both the traditional language and cultural practices. As you can see, Theodore doesn't have to tell you how much he's enjoying the learning from Jijuu Mabel.

ERIC BOWLING

Northern News Services

Page 5: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020 5

Inuvik's Midnight Sun Complex was host to the 19th annual Gwich'in Cup tour-nament, a gathering of play-

ers from the Initiate to the Midget level. Running Feb. 13 to 16 this year, the complex was bustling as 15 teams were formed for four days of hockey.

Alyana McLeod of the Delta Dynamos races around the net during a Feb. 15 game with the Northern Lights' Ashlyn Martin-Kelly in hot pursuit.

Tyren Kisoun of the Arctic Storm approaches Delta Heat goaltender Julian Green as his teammate Edwin Kay stands ready for a rebound.

Jacob Lafferty of the Delta Heat rushes Arctic Storm goaltender Jason Nasogaluak's net during the dying seconds of the first half of a Feb. 15 game.

Leesha Setzer passes the puck to fellow Delta Heat teammate Keegan Greenland during a Feb. 15 game.

Davie Kuptana of the Delta Heat reaches out to keep the puck away from Tyren Kisoun of the Arctic Storm during a midget game Feb. 15.

Northern News Services

19th Gwich'in Cupphoto story

by Eric Bowling

HOCKEYFeature

Page 6: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

6 INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020 alternatives

"What's your favourite animal in Gwich'in?"

Shamryn Starr-Nerysoo:"Vadzaih." (Caribou)

Theodore McLeod:"Neegoo!" (Fox)

Harlyn Jerome-Lucas:"Zhoh." (Wolf)

Athena Blake:"Geh!" (Rabbit)

Payton Inglangasuk:"Deetrìn'." (Raven)

Skyler Inglangasuk:"Shih." (Grizzly Bear)

STREET talkwith Eric Bowling

[email protected]

Thursday, February 20RITE – An initiation into the ancient art of Flamenco7:30 p.m.Igloo ChurchFeaturing the performance group and dance company La Otra Orilla. RITE is a combination of traditional flamenco music and artistic dance. Presented by Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.

Thursday, March 5 to 832nd Annual IRC Native Hockey TournamentRoy "Sugaloo" Ipana Memorial ArenaContact Donald Hendrick at (867) 678 4643 to register a team.

Friday, March 6 to 8Our Climate Our Arctic 2020 Youth SummitInuvikYouth lead conference to address regional concerns, climate initiatives and sustainable development goals.

Community Calendar

To have an event listed in this free feature, call (867) 777-4545, or email [email protected]. Submissions should be received two weeks prior to the event. Non-profit or community events only please. There is no guarantee submissions will be published.

Eric Bowling is editor of the Inuvik Drum. Send your ideas

to [email protected]

NEIGHBOURLYNews

Free estate preparation workshop for elders

TuktoyaktukInuvialuit Regional Corporation is providing free assist-

ance to elders in need of writing a proper will and/or seeking power of attorney. Because of limited funding, the IRC is hoping to assist people without either of those in place first.

Anyone who is an IRC beneficiary and is born before 1960 who would like assistance is asked to pick up a pre-questionnaire at the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation to help the legal team complete the will.

Assistance will be provided Feb. 24 at Smitty's Bed and Breakfast starting at 9:00 a.m. Appointment enquiries and further questions can be directed to Amanda Shortreed at (780) 243-3603.

Community hunt and butchering workshop

TsiigehtchicA Tsiigehtchic community hunt is seeking recruits and

taking expressions of interest for a butchering workshop.Both initiatives are being overseen by the Gwich'ya

Gwich'in Renewable Resources Council (GGRRC.) The community hunt's deadline to sign up had first been set at Feb. 14 but because of the cold weather the deadline has been extended.

Meanwhile, the GGRRC is also looking to hire butchers to teach a workshop on the proper method to skin and cut up meat, with the expressed interest in reducing meat waste from the annual harvest. Participants in the workshop will get the first pick of meat, innards and heads.

Anyone interested in the hunt should contact the designat-ed governing office at (867) 953-3011 and anyone interested in the butchering workshop can call (867) 953-3608.

Make your own T-ShirtUlukhaktok

Artistic minded folks are invited to a 3.5-hour workshop at Ulukhaktok Community Learning Centre Feb. 21, where a demonstration will be given on how to use a cricut to cut vinyl for making T-shirts.

Also part of the lesson will be the basics of image design and editing, as well as a primer on digital copyright.

The class is limited to five people. Anyone interested should contact Elizabeth Kiy at (867) 396-4213.

Prenatal nutrition programAklavik

Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is hosting cooking class-es for expecting parents and parents with children under two years old.

Part of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, the class-es are held every Tuesday at Moose Kerr School Kitchen, starting at 6 p.m. It's intended to help improve the diets of pregnant and breast feeding mothers, as well as provide them with nutritional information for cooking for their newborn.

Funded by Health Canada, the CPNP is a nation-wide initiative aiming to ensure more babies are born with healthy birth weights to healthy mothers and to establish better con-nections between mothers, community groups, nutritionists and health professionals.

Food hampers and shopping groups are also available to regular attendees of the program. For more information con-tact Shauna Charlie at (867) 978-2143.

Eric bowling/nnsl photo

COLON CAUTIONInuvik Hospital nurse practionioner Kathleen Cleary shows the various types of unwanted growths that develop in people's colons with a gigantic inflated example. The larger object is coloroectal cancer, which requires surgery to treat, whereas the smaller, mushroom-looking objects are polyps, which can be treated in town with a colonoscopy.

Page 7: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020 7sports & recreation

SPORTS CARDHOCKEY

CALLE GRUBEN

Our athlete of the week is Calle Gruben, taking a victory lap after scoring a goal on a penalty shot. Gruben was one of 44 athletes to put their name into the Novice pool to be chosen by one of three teams. Though he's still new to the sport, Gruben clearly has the celebration part of the game worked out.

Four days, 38 games, 17 teams, nine communities, 201 athletes, as many medals and a new record for females ath-letes – 40 girls from age five to 18 – all converged for the 19th Annual Gwich'in Cup hockey tournament, which ran Feb. 13 to 16 at the Midnight Sun Complex.

From 8 a.m. to past mid-night, it was non-stop hockey for the entire weekend.

"It's a huge event in the region. I dare say probably it's the largest regional youth event that takes place in Inuvik," said Inuvik Minor Hockey Association (IMHA) president Caroline Hunter. "It's a long tradition too. I was talking to the vice-principal of East Three school and he said Monday was a day where the kids bring their medals to school."

Since the turn of the cen-tury, the Gwich'in Cup has presented local hockey players of all backgrounds a chance at a competitive but friendly tournament to hone their skills and meet new friends.

But this year is a mile-stone, not just for the amount

of female athletes that hit the ice with the boys but also the range in which the tour-nament drew athletes from, with players making the trek from Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik and Fort McPherson as per tradition, but athletes from Old Crow and Dawson City further down the Demp-ster also made the trip. 

Once they arrive, however, the regional differences get left outside the locker room. All players are entered into a pool based on their age cat-egory and are then drafted into three teams apiece – except for the Initiation kids, who were split into two teams.

Since there's only three teams in each tier, everyone leaves with a medal. On top of that, each team also names a top player for each game recognizing things like sports-manship, athleticism and spirit.

But in the end, the Delta Dynamos took first in the novice division, the Northern Wolf Pack took the atoms, the Delta Raptors were the top peewees, the Ice Bandits dominated the bantam tier and the Delta Heat lit up the

midget division.Hunter noted over the time

she has worked with IMHA she has watched groups of players form strong friend-ships through the tournament which has informed their growth in the sport.

"We combine kids from all communities on different teams. It's really created a camaraderie among the kids throughout the region," she said. "And then you see it among the midget-aged kids who are now entering a team in the IRC Native Hockey Tournament comprised of their friends in the region.

"It's competitive but it's a healthy competition."

She expressed her thanks to the Gwich'in Tribal Council for its ongoing support for the annual tournament.

"Bobbie Jo Greenland Morgan has given unwaver-ing support of the concept of youth engagement in posi-tive activity regionally," said Hunter. "Her support has been fabulous.

"And it takes many, many volunteers lots of time to put on something like this, so thanks to everyone who helped out."

Just over 200 kids aged 5 to 18 take part in regional classic

Gwich'in Cup storms Inuvikby Eric Bowling

Northern News Services

Eric Bowling/NNSL photo

AnnaLee McLeod leads a group of her students in the Gwich'in version of O Canada during the opening ceremonies. Joining her, from the left, Kawehya Blake, Alyana McLeod, Fraydee Greenland and Emery McLeod.

Eric Bowling/NNSL photo

Anthony Pokiak barely gets out of the way of a slapshot by fellow Arctic Storm player Maurice Blake during a Feb. 15 game.

Page 8: Inuvik marches in solidarity › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 02 › inu_20200220.pdfClimate Action Inuvik marches in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en nation by Eric Bowling Northern

8 INUVIK DRUM, Thursday, February 20, 2020

A woman was released on time served and put on 12 months probation for a series of thefts and attacking another woman at the Inuvik library.

Appearing in custody before Inuvik Territorial Court Feb. 18, Heather Marie Kendi, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of assault, two counts of pos-session of property obtained by crime and one count of failure to attend court. Chief Judge Robert Gorin sentenced her to 151 days in prison and ordered her to pay $200 restitution.

Because she had been in custody for 158 days, she receives 237 days credit and was released on time served. She will be on probation for 12 months and is not to enter the Inuvik Centennial Library if she has consumed alcohol within the last 24 hours.

"I just want to apologize to all the people," said Kendi in her defence.

Crown prosecutor Duane Praught told court on Dec. 6, 2018 RCMP received a com-plaint from a woman saying Kendi had gone into her office and stolen her purse from the Inuvik Library. Police reviewed the security foot-age and spotted Kendi leaving with the purse and arrested her. When they recovered the purse, two gift cards, some lottery tickets, cigarettes and sealed envelopes were missing from it.

Defense lawyer Charles Davison said Kendi admitted to taking the purse.

"While she was under the influence of alcohol at the time, she does recall being in possession of a purse that wasn't hers," he said.

Praught then told court Kendi attacked another women from behind outside the Inuvik Library doors on Aug. 2, 2019. She pulled the woman down by the hair, punching and kicking her. Praught said the victim fled into the library, but Kendi followed her in and pinned her to the ground, punching and kicking her in the head until someone pulled her off.

She was arrested further down the street. Praught added Kendi had failed to show up at court Sept. 10.

Kendi was also caught on surveillance footage and was spotted by employees steal-ing $70.10 worth of meat from a grocery store in Inuvik on Aug. 22.

Then, on Sept. 27 Inuvik RCMP were called about a theft in progress. Praught con-tinued that police found Kendi along Bonnetplume Road dragging a barbecue behind her. The barbecue had been stolen from a nearby elders' residence. Police arrested her and she remained in custody until her court appearance.

Davison said she did not remember the last two inci-dents.

"She was on probation dur-ing the entirety of these crimes being committed," said Gorin in his judgement. "Miss Kendi, you've got to realize if you continue to drink, you will continue to get into trouble."

Court has barred her from library within 24 hours of

consuming alcohol

Woman attacked person in library

by Eric Bowling Northern News Services

New rules governing how the town deals with individ-uals wanting to scavenge the Inuvik Landfill have been put forward.

Councillors voted unani-mously to move the bylaw to second reading. A third read-ing will be conducted at a future meeting.

Under the proposed new rules, anyone wanting to col-lect from the town's domestic waste facility must first obtain

a permit from the town. Any-one caught scavenging without a permit can be fined $100 and anyone caught on the premise after houses can be fined $500.

Senior Administrative Offi-cer Grant Hood noted the town also was in communication with Environment and Natural Resources to ensure the town is taking safety precautions with the bears that also scav-enge the landfill.

–Eric Bowling

Scavenging rules

news

NEWS Briefs