Our Featured Celebration
 It gives us great pleasure to wish you all a happy "Boost Your Brain Day", celebrated October 18th. There are many sensible and extremely boring ways to boost your brain - taking Ginkgo Biloba or doing Sudoku or exercise. Yawn. OR, you can skip all that and simply purchase the Super IQ7 Mind Machine with Deluxe IQ Enhancing Brainmaster Mind Glasses and Bonus CD Carrying Case (pictured left). Its inventor, Raj Bapna, promises that "not only will your vocab learnings will become, but anything you wish to learn will become better too!" A bargain at only $359.00 Canadian. Batteries not included. Offer void where prohibited by sanity.
NEW FACES
We have a new addition to the CCG family. Introducing Kory Goulais, Stonecircle’s new Researcher! Kory hails from North Bay, Ontario and is a member of Nipissing First Nation. He has a background in business administration, sociology and education. He’s also 6’3” and plays a mean game of baseball (including with Team Ontario for the North American Indigenous Games), but we’re not sure how to incorporate that into Stonecircle’s marketing plan and areas of expertise. Stay tuned. And meanwhile, welcome Kory! We look forward to working with you.
And just to build a bit of suspense: keep your eyes open for a very exciting announcement in this section next month. One more person on the planet is about to render him/herself ineligible to compete in our jolly newsletter competitions by joining the team, but we can't tell you yet. Stay tuned - you'll be surprised.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Mark your calendars for November 24 to 26, 2009 and plan to be in Ottawa to explore recent innovations and emerging trends in population health research as they relate to reducing disparities among First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The National Aboriginal Health Organization’s “Our People, Our Health” conference, coordinated by our own Patti Black, Jennifer David and the aforementioned very tall Kory Goulais, will bring together over 700 health professionals from across Canada in what promises to be the largest and most important Aboriginal Health event in 2009. More information and on-line registration is available at www.naho.ca/conference.
NEW BEGINNINGS
Terry Forth, Victor Tootoo, Christian “Clootch” Cloutier and George Stonyk from the Hay Group, have begun work on a Compensation Review for the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB). The review will cover all staff positions within the NWMB and will use comparisons with positions in other organizations with a similar mandate in Nunavut as part of their analysis. The report should be completed in November.
ONGOING PROJECTS
Clootch is working with Stonecircle and recently developed a survey for an Environmental Scan as part of the Chiefs of Ontario health promotion report. The surveys will be going out to every First Nation in Ontario. Team members include Jennifer David and Wanda Brascoupe-Peters.
Dr. Valerie Assinewe has written the draft report from the Canadian Institute for Health Research workshop on traditional medicine and diabetes. The meeting brought together scientists, healers, community members, and presenters (see below), and addressed a wide range of issues including the protection of Traditional Knowledge. A final report will be presented later in October.
Ron Ryan is heading up an Aarluk team to help the Nunavut Housing Corporation develop a housing strategy for Nunavut. The team will assist NHC to develop a long term planning framework to address the huge housing backlog in Nunavut. Funding for housing in Nunavut is heavily dependent on the federal government. The 2004 Inuit Ten-Year Housing Action Plan identified a shortfall of 3000 new homes to meet current needs and an additional 2730 new homes over ten years to keep up with population growth. Other members of the Aarluk team include David Boult, Greg Smith and Chuck Gilhuly, with input from Fred Weihs.
Aarluk’s Chris Grosset and Marla Limousin are continuing work on the feasibility study for a territorial park in Kugaaruk with the Government of Nunavut’s Parks and Special Places Division. In August Chris and Marla travelled through the study area with local guides Jessie Apsaktaun, Barthelemy Nirlungayuk and Clayton Apsaktaun; and Nunavut Park’s Coordinators Becky Torretti and Nick Burnaby. Data on the cultural landscape resources of the Pelly Bay region was inventoried during the trip, along with additional research in the community of Kugaaruk on the Stone Church. The data collected through fieldwork and research has been mapped in ArcGIS by Julie Beaulieu, and Chris and Marla are now assembling the report on the cultural landscape, heritage and recreational values of the study area to provide direction for the community and Nunavut Parks in the selection of the preferred park location. (Pictured below, left to right: Chris Grosset, Becky Torretti, Jessie Apsaktaun, Barthelemy Nirlunggayuk, Marla Limousin, and Nick Burnaby. Missing: Clayton Apsaktaun.)
Work continues on the update of the Nunavut Heritage Network five-year strategic plan. Chris Grosset, Galin Kora and Clootch are consolidating and analyzing the survey data collected during the summer from heritage organizations in the territory. Many thanks to Jennifer Bradshaw for her help in collecting the completed surveys from the various heritage groups that have participated in this project. In 2004-2005 Aarluk worked with these heritage organizations to conduct a needs assessment survey and develop the Network’s first five year plan. Now in the final year of the original plan, Aarluk is working with project manager Ericka Chemko, of Inuit Heritage Trust, to update the needs assessment and prepare heritage sector goals for the next five years.
HAPPY ENDINGS
The Department of Environment, Nunavut Parks and Special Places Division, recently completed the installation of the Northwest Passage Trail cairn signage that was installed in Gjoa Haven. Aarluk’s Chris Grosset and Marla Limousin worked with the community to realize their dream of telling their Northwest Passage story to visitors. Chris and Marla worked with Elders and grade ten students to plan and write the interpretive signage, and then prepared the designs for the panels and cairn structure with our friends at Beat Studios. Other signs along the trail were installed in the fall of 2008, however the cairn required some additional hardware and has only recently been able to be installed around an existing concrete structure that the community created on the 100th anniversary of explorer Roald Amundsen’s arrival in Gjoa Haven. Amundsen went on to become the first European to navigate the Northwest Passage. The new cairn incorporates a bronze plaque commemorating the connection between Amundsen and the people of Gjoa Haven. Thanks to DoE Conservation Officer Jacob Keanik, and John Keknek, the signage project is now complete and can be enjoyed by community members and visitors alike.
 
The annual report of the Nunavut Implementation Training Committee has been completed, with the usual splendid design assistance of the folks at Earthlore. It will be published on the NITC website at www.nitc.ca later this month. Hard copies are available upon request from Charlotte Pilakapsi at NITC, P.O. Box 469, Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0.
BIRTHDAYS
Birthday honours this month go out to our receptionist extraordinaire Jennifer “Mrs. Orbison” Bradshaw on the 18th; new Stonecircle Researcher Kory “this is my first month and I’m already a contender for the ‘Most appearances in the newsletter, and did they mention that I'm very tall’ Crispie” Goulais on the 19th; and Stonecircle President Valerie “hold on there Kory, there are 11 newsletters to go” Assinewe on the 22nd.
GOSSIP
After months and months of sitting confined in a lonely corner of the Aarluk Head Office (work and life DO get in the way of decorating), the new signage is finally up at the Innirvik building and basking in the crisp cold refreshing air of the Arctic.
 
Valerie Assinewe and Terry Rudden spent a wonderful weekend at the first ever Assinewe-Oak family reunion, a blur of friends, hugs, great food, baby showers, family meetings, karaoke, intense discussions, wine, zillions of kids, catching up with everyone, meeting new aunties, and winning at bingo. Couldn't have been better. (Pictured left: Birthday Celebrant Valerie demonstrating that youth and speed are no match for age and guile when it comes to Musical Chairs.)
Our dedicated readers might remember last month’s Special Feature “Pair the Consiliumite with their Canine!”. The Editorial Team received several responses, but only one was 100% correct. Here's the scoop:
Congratulations to Alex Ker! Unfortunately, as a beloved member of the CCG family, you are ineligible and win nothing except our ongoing esteem and affection.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Last month's innocent little quiz triggered the following threat, pinned to the front door the morning after our last newsletter publication:
We are feeling annoyed, persecuted, ignored, and otherwise ticked that we were not included in the LARGE breed, canine-centric and decidedly Size-ist Newsletter of yours. We plan to use the current issue of your newspaper for one of its eco-alternative purposes.
Since we are peaceful folk (and the last thing we need are our servers to fry), we are pleased to present a sequel: “Pair the Consiliumite with their feline (or other hairy friend)”, featuring the maligned quadrupeds:
Consiliumite
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Feline / Other Hairy Friend
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| 1. Fred |
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A. Fox |
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| 2. Geoff |
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B. Bunny |
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| 3. Jennifer |
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C. Aidan |
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| 4. Leslie |
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D. Ruskulnikov |
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| 5. Alex |
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E. Miki |
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| 6. Jennifer |
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F. Monty |
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The usual exciting prize, an authentic Stonecircle bag, is up for grabs to the first correct answer. Please email your answers to ourtimes@consilium.ca!
CHECK BACK EVERY MONTH FOR MORE CONSILIUM, STONECIRCLE AND AARLUK NEWS, TOOLS, AND GOSSIP.
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