Friday, January 12 Interim Chief Jenny Brake attended Corner Brook Intermediate to present Naoise White, 2023 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation Logo Contest winner with her prize. In addition to her $250 prize, Naoise also received a bag of cultural supplies, a donation was also made to the school’s lunch program. Principle Peter Burt (pictured L) received the donation, alongside contest winner Naoise White (C) and Qalipu First Nation Interim Chief Jenny Brake (R).

Attend in Person

Program Update: We are grateful for the tremendous interest in our Mi’kmaw Language Beginner Classes. The registration period for this series is now closed. The team is working to contact those who have been selected. 

We’re pleased to share that students can soon return to the classroom to continue their Mi’kmaw language learning journey! Classes will take place on Thursday evenings, 7:00-9:00 PM at the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville (registration required).

Mi’kmaw Language Facilitator Shane Snook is excited to get going and noted that students can expect a fun and relaxed learning environment.

“These reading and writing classes will be relaxed and comfortable.  In my experience, a casual and playful approach works well to keep people interested and engaged, and people must be comfortable so that they’re willing to speak and practice out loud.”

The classes will focus on the Smith-Francis orthography so that learners will be equipped with a powerful tool for self-learning and practicing.  Shane added that he will focus on pronunciation to encourage students to speak and develop muscle memory.

“Pronunciation will help people become more confident in trying to speak out loud to develop that muscle memory.  Reading in the mind doesn’t go very far.  I also hope to share tidbits about words and phrases as they arise to help demonstrate some of the interesting nuances of culture and history.”

Classes will begin on February 1, and run every Thursday up to and including March 21.

For more information, please contact Shane at ssnook@qalipu.ca

Participation Details:
To register to attend classes in person, please complete this form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N3XLNQM

Purpose

Qalipu First Nation is seeking applications from organizations who are interested in our Youth Summer Employment Program (YSEP).

Background

Education & Training administers a number of education, training and employment initiatives. One of these initiatives is the Youth Summer Employment Program (YSEP). The YSEP has been in existence for over 10 (ten) years and was introduced by the Federation of Newfoundland Indians under a funding arrangement with Service Canada. This program has been successful in improving employability skills of Aboriginal youth that will assist them to succeed in the workforce. Additionally, students are provided with tools that will help them advance their education.

Responsibilities

The Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band will be responsible for the financial management of the student. Any expenses over and above wages and MERC costs will be the responsibility of the organization. If approved, the organization will be responsible for the following:

• Recruiting and selecting a student that meets all of the eligibility criteria and ensuring the student accurately completes the student application and all necessary documentation is submitted to Qalipu First Nation;
• Ensuring student completes a Qalipu Employee Information Form and Banking Information Form before employment begins;
• Qalipu First Nation is responsible for minimum wage and MERC. Any expenses above this are the responsibility of the employer;
• Providing adequate supervision to the student and ensuring a safe work environment;
• Providing any tools or materials;
• Providing any necessary training;
• Providing weekly time sheets (due each Monday at noon);
• Providing weekly reports consisting of but not limited to: the student’s day-to-day activities and an overview of the student’s performance; and,
• Ensuring the summer student completes a survey during the last week of their employment.

Eligibility

To be eligible for summer employment through the ISETP Youth Program, a student:

• Must be between the ages of 15 and 29 (inclusive);
• Must be planning to return to full-time studies in September of the current year
• Must have been registered as a full-time student in the previous academic year; and
• Be a member of the Qalipu First Nation or Self-Identified Indigenous Person (students are asked to indicate on their cover letter their Indigenous Ancestry)

Submission

Please apply as soon as possible but no later than 12:00 P.M. the first Friday of April each year. To apply, you must fill out the YSEP Employer Application. You must also include a letter of how a summer student would be beneficial to your organization and the community. Applications can be found by clicking here

Please direct inquiries and applications to:

Education & Training Attention:
Yvonne MacDonald

PO Box 460

St. George’s, NL

A0N 1Z0

E-mail: ymacdonald@qalipu.ca

Telephone: 1-709-647-3514

Application Evaluation and Selection Process

Qalipu First Nation will target students living in each of the nine (9) wards: Benoit’s Cove, Corner Brook, Exploits, Flat Bay, Gander Bay, Glenwood, Port au Port, Stephenville and St. George’s.

Applications received by closing time will be screened for completeness. Qalipu First Nation reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine whether or not any proposal is complete. If your organization requires more than one (1) summer student, please indicate so under additional information if the job title, description, hourly wage, weekly hours and number of weeks are the same. If you’re seeking more than one (1) student for different positions, you will need to provide an application for each position.

Approvals should be finalized by the end of April . Successful organizations will be notified the following week; however, approvals may continue into June and early July to fill declines. Organizations will then be given until noon on the third Friday of May to recruit and select a student. Student application forms, student resumes and cover letter and student’s confirmation of full-time studies must be received by 4:00 P.M. on the last Friday of May. If more time is needed, please advise Qalipu First Nation immediately. If an approved student declines a placement or terminates early, the organization must notify Education & Training immediately. The organization may NOT fill the position with another student unless granted approval by Qalipu First Nation.

World Energy GH2 held a drop-in session yesterday in Stephenville at Dymond International Airport to share an update regarding an amendment to the company’s environmental assessment submission for their proposed wind energy project.  In November of last year, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador said it needed more information from the company before it could decide on the future of the project in western Newfoundland.  Interim Chief Jenny Brake attended the session on behalf of Qalipu First Nation.

“I’m happy about the additional work being done with the environmental assessment,” she said, “I know a lot of folks feel that shovels should be in the ground by now, but this is a major project, and we need to consider the impacts on the next seven generations.  This due diligence by World Energy can only lead to better outcomes.”

She noted that one example of that includes an updated plan to relocate 12 of the proposed wind turbines in Cape St. George to avoid water areas, along with a number of other adjustments to the original plan.

The gathering demonstrated a continued high level of interest from surrounding communities and was attended by local Chiefs, municipal leaders and many other stakeholders.  Interim Chief Brake noted that it was a good opportunity for her to connect and better understand the concerns of communities.

“I’m committed to understanding the unique needs of communities and I’m pleased to be engaged in the conversation.  It’s important that we move forward together, in a good way.”

Interim Chief Brake invites interested Band members to tune in to Monday Mornings Live this coming Monday at 9:00 AM on the Qalipu First Nation Facebook Page where she will chat with host Paul Pike about the event and what is coming up next for this significant project in our territory.

Earlier this fall, Qalipu launched its second annual logo contest in commemoration of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.  Children in grades K-12 were invited to reflect on the lost children and survivors of residential schools and their families and design a logo that demonstrated their thoughts and feelings about this tragic part of our history as Canadians.

We’re pleased to share that Naoise White, a grade seven student from Corner Brook Intermediate, is the winner of this year’s logo contest.  Naoise will receive a prize of $250, along with cultural supplies and books and a $500 donation to her school breakfast program.  In addition, Naoise will have her winning design featured on orange t-shirts produced by the Band for sale in advance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2024.

Naoise shared some details about her design.

“My drawing is about all Canadians being united and being committed to freedom, trust and healing.  The circle represents all Canadians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, living in harmony together. They are strong and united. Their orange shirts show that every child matters whatever their background is. They care and respect the people who went to residential schools.

 

In the middle of the circle, there is an eagle feather. It is a powerful symbol of connection, freedom, trust and wisdom. Freedom for all Canadians, trust that their lives are equal and wisdom not to allow it to happen again. This is what the feather means for my drawing.

 

The background is a medicine wheel. It is about health and healing for everyone no matter what. The four parts of the wheel are, physical, mental, spiritual and emotional. This is what my truth and reconciliation drawing is about.”

Congratulations to Naoise and all the children who took the time to participate in this contest and grow their understanding of Truth and Reconciliation.

Qalipu and the RCMP are working together to offer a unique work experience for Indigenous youth who are interested in a career in policing and/or justice. This job opportunity will give youth an insightful look at the RCMP and may help them decide if this is a career opportunity they wish to pursue.

These summer jobs are nine weeks in duration, running from June to August 2024.

Successful applicants will attend a one-week training session at the RCMP Headquarters in St. John’s, (all expenses paid) before being placed at the RCMP detachment closest to their location. This program is a great stepping stone for individuals interested in pursuing a career with the RCMP.

Visit our Youth Programs page for more information and to find the application form: https://qalipu.ca/youth-programs/

During the early days of the Qalipu First Nation, we relied on the Mi’kmaq Online Dictionary as one of the main Mi’kmaw language resources that was readily available.  We referenced this fantastic online resource when we developed our membership database.  To say “we” or “us”, we used the word “GINU”.

It wasn’t long before someone pointed out that the spelling system for that online dictionary was Listuguj, used primarily in Quebec, while Nova Scotia and Newfoundland officially use another system known as Smith-Francis.  In the Smith-Francis writing system, that same word is spelled with a K, as in “KINU”.

We held on to GINU for a while anyway but felt it was time to update to the spelling with which our membership is most familiar and to reflect our official orthography.

The next time you log in to your membership profile, you may see KINU instead of GINU where we were able to make the change (the web link and a couple of other instances can’t be changed).

The words are pronounced identically [ghee nu], and it still means “we” or “us”.

Did you Know?

Every member of the Band has a profile on the KINU database? It’s how we reach you for Elections, and how we understand the demographics of the people we represent.  Please take the time to make sure your profile is up-to-date: https://mala.qalipu.ca/ginu/login.aspx