Got an avataq?

Recently, Aarluk Researcher Geoff "Big Rig" Rigby had a brief summer break, which included a trip to Clear Lake (15 minutes outside of Peterborough) for his grandfather's 80th birthday. Geoff's grandfather has taken up stone carving as a hobby over the past few years, so he was almost as excited to receive his present as he was to see Geoff! On a recent trip to Sanikiluaq with Aarluk General Manager Jimmy Jacquard to help facilitate a strategic planning session for the Nunavut Impact Review Board, Geoff stopped in at the local Co-Op store and found a back room full of carvings. Many of these carvings were exceptional, but one stood in particular - a hunter with a spear, complete with rope and an avataq (sealskin float), pictured below:

After receiving the carving, Geoff's grandfather made sure that everyone who came to the festivities held it and took a look at it, so Geoff was happy he was able to successfully find something special for a special occasion. It's often not easy to shop for others, and since Geoff enjoys shopping about as much as being stuck in an elevator,  it was a win-win situation!

Story Keepers Sneak Peek

Faithful blog readers, you're seeing it here (almost!) first - the cover and inside scoop on Jennifer David's soon-to-be released book, "Original People.  Original Television: the Launching of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network."

Before joining Stonecircle, Jennifer worked as the the Director of Communications at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.  Over the course of her five years, she witnessed (and helped to manage) some of the most interesting and least known stories in Canadian broadcasting history - the transition from a small, regional broadcaster serving a handful of settlements in the North to Canada's third national network, and the world's first full-spectrum Aboriginal TV service in 1999. 

"This was a story that I thought really needed to be told," said Jennifer.  "There were so many interesting characters, so many twists and turns, so much drama. I realized that no one would ever know what went on behind the scenes unless someone wrote the book.  So that's what I did."

Original People.  Original Television is being published by Debwe Communications Inc. You can find out more about the book - including some excerpts and reviews - at the website. 

You can also join the conversation about the early days of TVNC and APTN on the Facebook page.

Jennifer is planning a book launch in Ottawa (details to be confirmed), as well as a book launch in Winnipeg, which is confirmed for Wed. Sept. 19, at McNally Robinson (Grant Park).  You can find out more details at the McNally Robinson site.

If you want to contact Jennifer regarding the book, you can email her at jdavid@debwe.ca

"Speed dating" for Aboriginal Businesses

Jennifer David took part in a new initiative, coordinated by the Assembly of First Nations, at the recent Annual General Assembly in Toronto, at which Shawn Atleo was re-elected for a second term as National Chief.

Instead of having a typical trade show booth, Stonecircle took part in the I-Nations Trade Procurement Exchange Centre.  The idea, similar to 'speed dating' provided an opportunity for Aboriginal businesses (like Stonecircle) to be matched with organizations, companies or government departments looking for the products or services of that particular company.

Here's Jennifer David with Bryan Hendry, one of the AFN organizers
of the I-Nations Trade Procurement Exchange.

Approximately 30 tables were set up in the room and each registrant received a schedule of meetings. Each meeting lasted 15 minutes, after which each group moved to a different table to talk to a different organization/company/government department.

Throughout the one-day event, Jennifer was able to meet with 8 different organizations to tell them more about services offered by Stonecircle and determine common areas of interest.

It was a beneficial marketing effort, and well worth the trip to Toronto.

Happy Birthday Patti and Chuck!

This month our very own 'conference organizer extraordinaire' Patti Black celebrated her birthday on July 12th and our other July birth person, Chuck Gilhuly, our exceptional CEO celebrates his very last year of being in the 40’s on July 24th. Many Happy Returns to two of our favourite people.

 

                  

Celebrate Canada's Parks Day this Saturday July 21!

Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park;
Source: Nunavut Parks and Special Places

This Saturday July 21st is Parks Day across Canada! Celebrated annually every third Saturday of July since 1990, Parks Day is a national event, showcasing parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas in every province and territory in Canada.

Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park;
Source: Nunavut Parks and Special Places

Special events and fun for the entire family are typically held in national, provincial, territorial, regional and community parks and historic sites across Canada, including Nunavut! Nunavut Parks and Special Places invites you to come out and celebrate at the following events:

 - Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park (Rankin Inlet, NU) from 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.;

 - Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park (Iqaluit, NU) from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; and
 - Taqaiqsirvik Territorial Campground (Kimmirut, NU) from 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

If you happen to be close to one, why not come out and share the beauty!

Taqaiqsirvik Territorial Campground;
Source: Nunavut Parks and Special Places

Happy Anniversary Clootch!

Clootch Then

Clootch Now

It’s hard to believe that 6 years ago we published our newsletter and let our faithful followers know that Christian Cloutier was the latest addition to our Consilium Consulting Group family. Christian, also known as ‘Clootch’ and of course you’ll all know him by ‘Charles Foster Clootch’ celebrates his anniversary with Consilium on July 19th. He’s our go to person for quantitative and qualitative methodology design, statistical analysis and database design. We’re all glad you came on board and continue to support us all in so many ways. Love, everyone at Consilium, Stonecircle and Aarluk.

Tough Day at the Office

On the shores of beautiful Whitefish Lake, near the pow wow grounds, on a sunny afternoon, Jennifer David took part in and helped to facilitate the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP) workshop #5. It was a tough day at the office.

Vivian Naponse, CCP Coordinator with Mamaweswen
 and Ben Buckwold, Dalhousie University

Atikameksheng is participating in a regional CCP development exercise, coordinated by the Mamaweswen, the North Shore Tribal Council and developed by the Cities and Environment Unit at Dalhousie University.

 
Jennifer has been helping with coordination and logistics for Atikameksheng.

The workshop gave community members the chance to talk about some of the projects they want to see in their community in the future and looked at maps of the territory. The afternoon was capped off with an excellent feast, particularly the fried pickerel, one of Jen's favourites!

Jennifer then stayed on in Atikameksheng for a couple of days to work on another project with the community; assisting with communication policy development.

The CONSCINEMA Review



Photo credit: Marvel Entertainment



Film: The Amazing Spider-man

The Pitch: Superhero with tortured soul fights for love and for what’s right and saves New York from a super-human lizard in the process!

Plot Summary: The Amazing Spider-Man revisits Peter Parker's origin story, but this time opens with the child Peter and his parents, who, after a break-in at their house endangering Dad's scientific secrets, rush Peter over to Uncle Ben and Aunt May's house for safekeeping. Peter Parker has always had a lot on his plate. Orphaned at a young age due to a tragic car accident, Peter has been looked after by his quirky yet stern Aunt and Uncle (Sally Field and Martin Sheen). Richard Parker, Peter's father, worked as a struggling scientist studying inter-species DNA splicing. After his passing, his work was continued by the slightly suspicious Dr. Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans. Connors, having only one arm, is fascinated with a lizard's ability to re-grow body parts. One night, a curious Parker sneaks into Connors’ laboratory, where spiders are being experimented on. The rest is as superhero cliché as it gets.

What Shines: Move over, McGuire, there’s a new Spider-Man in town. This time around, he is sporting a skateboard, an infectious high school romance, and a generosity that saves thousands. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are entirely believable as high school seniors and as a couple!

What Sucks: Bit of a bum-number, runs a little long.

Summary: this reboot is more centred on 'human relations' than the special effects that dominated Spider-Man 2002, but make no mistake the FX deliver! It has a good grasp of Stan Lee’s troubled superhero and enough stuff blowing up to keep anyone happy!

Watch For: the Spider-man cam, swinging from building to building, very cool! Stan Lee’s fondness for alliteration is present, Curt Connors, Peter Parker, etc. PLUS the funniest Stan Lee cameo yet!

The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) held a strategic planning session in the community of Sanikiluaq from June 28th to June 29th, 2012. Facilitated by Jimmy Jacquard of Aarluk, the session brought together NIRB staff and board members, and provided an opportunity for both groups to discuss the future of NIRB as an organization.

The team reviewed the NIRB mission and vision statements to affirm the focus of the organization, then identified the key Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats impacting on NIRB's future.That information enabled the group to establish and prioritize goals, and define next steps for moving forward. Below is a shot of the NIRB crew with Jimmy at the end of the session, before heading to a community feast sponsored by NIRB (where many a hotdog was consumed, in addition to country foods):

Jimmy and Geoff "Big Rig" Rigby were impressed both by the energy and dedication of the NIRB crew, and by the hospitality of the community of Sanikiluaq. Luckily there was enough of a breeze during their stay that the resident mosquito population did not give them a warm welcome as well! Aarluk hopes this is the case when our work on the Sanikiliuaq Community Economic Development commences in the near future with the Municipality of Sanikiluaq. Time will tell!

Mining Sessions, on your mark, get set, go

After months of preparation, lists, phone calls, more lists, emails and documents galore, the Stonecircle team is finally ready to hit the road to begin delivering the Mineral Exploration and Development sessions with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM).

Last week, Cindy Crowe, Daniel Wemigwans and Alex Ker flew into Ottawa to join Jennifer David, Greg Smith and Kory Goulais for our workshop team training and orientation. Stonecircle will be providing selected First Nations in north eastern and northwestern Ontario with a 'Mining 101" information session to give community members a better sense of what mining is, what kind of minerals they can expect to find in their region, what is the mining cycle or mining sequence, and what are the levels of engagement and involvement that First Nations can consider if there are mining interests in their territory. Barbara Green Parker is under another contract with MNDM to deliver workshops in the far North of Ontario and joined our workshop by teleconference for part of the day.

Tracey Dawson-Kinnonen from MNDM was there for the morning to review the powerpoint presentation that has been developed by the Ministry and the team members spent the afternoon going over planning and logistics such as community protocols, budgets, travel arrangements and reporting.


Three other team facilitators (Ron Ryan, Fred Weihs and Chris McKay) were away on other projects but will be trained by our project managers in the next week or so.

Alex Ker will be facilitating the first workshop next week in Seine River and the remainder of the workshops (up to 31 in total) will follow throughout the summer and into September. Let the road trips and airmile collecting begin!

T.I. Hosts 10th Annual Golf Tournament



Team Aarluk - Darcey Morin, Chris Grosset,
Michelle Turpin and Hunter Tootoo

"If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him." Those wise words were shared by Lou Holtz, a now retired football coach from Notre Dame...Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! Ok, I digress. However, fortunately for the golf nuts at the Consilium, Aarluk and Stonecircle office, most have never heard of the revered coach and it's OK if you want to bring your golf clubs wherever you go, such as golf tournaments.

On June 29, Tungasuvvingat Inuit (T.I.) held its 10th annual golf tournament. In attendance were Michelle Turpin and Chris Grosset from Consilium and Aarluk as well as Kory Goulais from Stonecircle. Ironically, this year, although each comes from the same office they did not play on the same team.

Kory committed to the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) team long before the tournament team for Aarluk was created. Despite seeing ill effects of his decision leading up to the tournament, Kory remained true to his initial team selection. Hunter Tootoo joined the Aarluk team for a second year in a row. With Kory defecting to team MNO, Aarluk needed a fourth player. After pulling a few strings last minute, Aarluk was able to pull in a “ringer” named Darcy Morin. Those who are very familiar with the charity golf tournament tour will know who he is.

The tournament took place at the beautiful Anderson Links golf course, on a very hot and windy Friday afternoon. In the MNO vs. Aarluk competition, Aarluk came out the victors with a 6 under par for the tournament. Team MNO finished with a 3 over par and probably about 37 lost balls. The eventual tournament winners (two teams) finished with a score of 10 under par each. This was most satisfying to Kory because if he doesn’t win he doesn’t want to know the people who do!

All in all a beautiful day of marketing, err, golf.

CCP in Action

Community members ranking  priorities

Jennifer David just returned from beautiful Manitoulin Island. While she was able to enjoy the sun and stayed at the newly opened Bayside Resort, owned by Wiky member, and part of the Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP) team, Melissa Cooper, Jennifer really was there to work!

Two community meetings were held to review the CCP and gather community input. Jennifer facilitated the sessions, asking the participants to provide their thoughts and comments on a community vision, community goals and community initiatives.
Feedback provided by the community members will be incorporated into the final CCP draft, to be presented later in July.