The Week's News: A Juno win, a new museum, a wildfire review
And watch some brave souls plunge into a hole in the ice of Great Slave Lake
Hello readers, this is Emily, Cabin Radio’s assistant editor.
It was an exciting week for news here in Yellowknife.
Stephen Richardson, a teacher at École St Joseph School in Yellowknife was named MusiCounts Teacher of the Year at the Juno Awards. He thanked his students for inspiring him to continue teaching.
A new museum opened outside the Giant Mine site this week, featuring artifacts and information from Yellowknife’s history.
Hundreds of residents came to a public engagement session on the municipality’s response to last summer’s wildfires on Wednesday night – we have a podcast that rounds up the kinds of thing they said.
And Yellowknife businesswoman Andile Pfupa, the founder of a company that sells dolls of different ethnicities and abilities, is among 30 finalists in the Black Pitch Contest.
Keep reading for news from across the Northwest Territories, from Gamètì to Sachs Harbour.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Our most important stories
A new Cabin Radio podcast
Watch the Polar Plunge
Spring carnivals
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
After eight grads last year, Gamètì preps to celebrate six more
For years, there was no grad ceremony in Gamètì. Now, it's becoming an annual event – and one graduate is adapting to life at a southern university.
Why NorthSideBaby is a big deal in northern Canada
An Indigenous rap artist from northern Alberta is amassing tens of thousands of fans through songs that have real meaning in Canada's smallest communities.
Tłı̨chǫ cannot intervene in regulatory jurisdiction court case
The Tłı̨chǫ Government cannot intervene in a court case over the decisions an NWT environmental regulator is allowed to make, a judge ruled.
Enterprise’s community garden is miraculously intact
Not much survived the wildfire that struck Enterprise head-on, but the community garden pulled through – and the fresh vegetables ahead are a success story.
The future of the Arctic Winter Games
"Decisions have to be made. People are asking questions." These are the changes the Arctic Winter Games might be about to make.
Who wants to go to Norway for the Arctic Winter Games?
Scandinavia's Sámi people expressed an interest in hosting the Arctic Winter Games. Norwegian politics and the sheer cost of going there might get in the way.
Starting a family ‘a great motivator’ for new Inuvik plumber
Ben Squirrell is a trades success story. With a young family to support, he just launched his own Inuvik plumbing firm after working his way up in the industry.
Should the GNWT do more to help people struggling with infertility?
Lana de Bastiani has spent years trying to become pregnant. She says the cost and stress of infertility could be greatly reduced if the GNWT did more to help.
What the NWT’s new Missing Persons Act would allow RCMP to do
From access to personal records to searches of premises, GNWT officials laid out the powers proposed missing persons legislation will give police.
KPMG accused of misconduct that cost First Nation millions
Global accounting firm KPMG denied allegations that its staff helped a man defraud the Łútsël K'é Dene First Nation and its business arm of millions of dollars.
Outlining his defence, Ron Barlas denies everything
Ron Barlas "did more good for the Łútsël K'é Dene First Nation community than anyone had ever done before," his lawyers said, defending him in a fraud claim.
Land acknowledgement concern will be factor in street name change
Yellowknife is considering a request to change its land acknowledgement, an issue that will affect recent calls to rename Franklin Avenue.
New power plant opens in Sachs Harbour
A new diesel plant opened in the NWT's northernmost community, billed as a more reliable and less diesel-hungry successor to the old plant.
A new Cabin Radio podcast
Hello! This is Ollie, just for this one tiny section of the newsletter.
We have a new podcast – Cabin Talks – where we put all our best spoken-word content that isn’t Mornings at the Cabin (which already has more than a thousand episodes of its own, with new ones every weekday).
Why am I excited about this? We do a lot of speech radio on our live stream but up till now, there’s been no way to listen on demand.
Now, our most important and engaging interviews have a home.
Subscribe to Cabin Talks and you’ll get a selection of audio about life in the NWT each week. Just pick the ones you’d like to listen to. You can get the podcast on a whole bunch of platforms: pick from Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music.
Here are some episodes you can try:
Get our recap: How do Yellowknifers feel about the fires?
The plan, the volunteers, the vulnerable and more. Hear directly from 10 Yellowknife residents about what happened to them last summer.
A tour of Yellowknife’s new museum with Ryan Silke
Ryan has spent more than 20 years working on a project to create a new museum about Yellowknife. He gave us a tour on the day the museum opened.
When your life’s obsession ends up 5,000 km away by mistake
What would you do if the things you collected for decades turned up half a continent away under someone else's lock and key? That situation faces Janet Pacey.
Watch: Polar Plunge
Dozens of swimmers took a dip through a hole in the ice of Great Slave Lake over the weekend.
While you’d be forgiven for thinking they had taken leave of their senses, they were freezing for a reason. They raised more than $25,000 for Special Olympics NWT.
Take a look.
Watch: Dene yoga, terriers and tiaras
Spring in the Northwest Territories means festival time.
In last week’s newsletter, we shared videos from Snowkings’ Winter Festival in Yellowknife and the Beavertail Jamboree in Fort Simpson. This week, we bring you highlights from the Bison Jamboree in Fort Providence.
Next week, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation will be hosting its Spring Carnival with hand games, a fishing derby, drum dance, feast and more.
What we’re reading
Fire forces Nunatsiaq to make itself the story
Earlier this week a fire destroyed the building that houses Nunatsiaq News’ office in Iqaluit, alongside an apartment and other businesses. Managing editor Corey Larocque wrote about the strange experience of having to report on yourself.
‘I think I’ve figured it out’: Author prowls mystery of Franklin expedition
For Nunatsiaq News, Madalyn Howitt writes about a new book on the shipwrecked 1845 Franklin expedition. In Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery, historian Ken McGoogan posits that infected polar bear meat led to crew members’ deaths.
The Rise and Fall of MuchMusic
Growing up, MuchMusic was my window into the world of music and big city life in Toronto – and the start of my unending crush on George Stroumboulopoulos. For The Walrus, Sara Black McCulloch writes about the channel’s legacy and its demise.
The deadly dive to the Titanic
In June 2023, the world was gripped by news of the Titan submersible implosion in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. The team at CBC’s The Fifth Estate delved into the disaster.