Please be advised that the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band will hold its Annual General Assembly (AGA) to discuss the activities of the Band for the fiscal year of 2017-18. The AGA will be held on September 15 at 1:30 pm in St. George’s at the Parish Hall. All members are invited to attend and are reminded that their registration number will be required to sign in. The Annual Report will be published on our website, and copies will be available at the meeting. For your reference, please find a copy of our 2017-18 audited financial statements, which will be presented at the AGA, here: https://qalipu.ca/reports-and-financial-statements/

Throughout Mi’kma’ki (traditional Mi’kmaq lands), places were often named to describe landscape features, to aid in navigation, and to locate specific resources.  Names like Pilmuipke’katik (where mint grows along the brook) speak to a traditional way of naming lands and water features that was useful and practical for the people of the day.

The Ktaqmkuk Place Names Project aims to capture and record this information, these place names and what they mean, for our knowledge, and for future generations.  In this way, we better understand who we are, and where we come from.

The Ktaqmkuk Place Names Project has been evolving since the Federation of Newfoundland Indians (FNI) first Traditional Use Study in 1999, and through subsequent TUS completed by both the FNI and Qalipu.  Recently, Qalipu partnered with the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus to compile information into an interactive map which includes more than eighty place names collected from community members.  The map includes translations, Mi’kmaq pronunciations, and other information which is now available on our website.  We encourage you to have some fun exploring the map which you can find linked below.

As an extension to this project, we would like to make the map more interactive by adding photos, videos, audio and stories.

Are you from Nujio’qon (St. George’s) and have a story to tell about this place, the earliest recorded Mi’kmaq settlement on the island?

Or maybe you’ve spent time on the country and have pictures to share of Sko’pa’qan Pim’tin (Lookout Mountain).  What about the little-known community of Nanetetig (Muddy Hole)?

We would love to hear from you on this next phase of the Ktaqmkuk Mi’kmaq Place Names Project.  Please get in touch!

Please contact:

Nicole Travers
ntravers@qalipu.ca
tel. (709) 634-3856

Click Here to view the Ktaqmkuk Interactive Place Names Map

College of the North Atlantic is offering a 13-week Skills Link “Ready to Work” program. This program
includes 6 weeks of paid classroom training and 7 weeks of paid on-the-job training. Students are
also eligible for a $150 Completion Bonus upon successful attendance and participation.

This program will provide students the opportunity to improve their employability skills with
Professional and Personal Development seminars, Job Search Skills, and Introduction to Computers.
This program will help students recognize and build personal management skills required to transition
to the workforce. Students will become certified in Emergency First Aid, WHMIS 2015, and Back Injury
Prevention. Students will have the opportunity to explore career choices, develop job search tools such
as a resume and cover letter, and participate in a supported job search. Students will then participate in
an on-the-job training session for at least 24 hours per week over a period of 7 weeks.

Entrance Requirements: Students must be:
• between the ages of 15 and 30 (inclusive) at the time of intake/selection;
• facing barriers to employment;
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or persons who have been granted refugee status in Canada;
• legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations; and
• not in receipt of Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.
* Open to applicants who have or have not completed high school and meet the requirements
listed above.

Start Date: October 9, 2018**
Location: Bay St. George campus
Registration Deadline: September 10, 2018

**This program will be offered pending sufficient enrollment.

For further information, please contact:
Gail Dober at 709 643 7749, gail.dober@cna.nl.ca or
Deborah Jennings at 709 643 7825, deborah.jennings@cna.nl.ca

The Canadian Museum of History is currently inviting members of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities to contribute their stories and oral histories to an upcoming exhibition about the international experiences of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous Stories Beyond Borders (the exhibition’s working title) will highlight the perspectives of groups and individuals that have travelled the world as diplomats, warriors/soldiers, performers, artists, scholars and athletes, over many centuries.

Please check out their poster for more details

The consolidated financial statements linked below represent all the Band activity during the last fiscal year including the Qalipu Development Corporation, Mi’kmaq Commercial Fisheries, Qalipu Project Support Services, Qalipu Marine Holdings and Qalipu Management Services. These statements will be presented in detail at the upcoming Annual General Assembly in St. George’s on September 15. Our auditor and comptroller will be on hand to present the statements and answer questions at that time.

Please click here to view the Audited Financial Statements for the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year

On July 26, the Qalipu First Nation partnered with Sacred Heart Church and the Corner Brook Aboriginal Women’s Association (CBAWA) to celebrate St. Anne’s Day. St. Anne, the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus, is the patron Saint of the Mi’kmaq people.

The Eucharistic Celebration was presided by Father Jim Robertson, with the CBAWA providing a smudging and sharing songs. Following the service, the parishioners were invited to a feast provided by the Qalipu First Nation at St. Mary’s Anglican Church Hall where Father Leonard blessed the meal.

On June 20^th, Qalipu First Nation and the Norpen Aboriginal Women’s Circle joined Parks Canada to provide a historically and culturally rich Learn-to Camp experience at Port au Choix’s Historic Site. Here, families gathered on grounds steeped in 6000 years of history, to share in a camping experience anchored in the same barren land and rugged coastline, sculpted by the wild and bountiful ocean, that has called people to this space from time immemorial.

As a family of caribou grazed in the distance, people of all ages found themselves immersed in the richness of nature and togetherness, sharing in art, storytelling, food, songs and ceremony. With the setting of the sun, campers gathered in a circle to celebrate new experiences, new friends, and shared moments in this magical place and the sounds of an incredible Learn-to Camp experience could be heard in the singing and drumming carried by the wind.

Parks Canada’s Lean-to Camp program is a nation-wide initiative to provide opportunity for Canadians to engage in a camping experience that connects them to natural and cultural heritage.  This has been the first Indigenous focused Learn-to Camp event in the province.