One chapter is closed . . . and more questions remain. After several months delay, and a cabinet reshuffle, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has finally given some direction to the rush for mineral exploration in the Northwest Territories on lands in the Upper Thelon River Basin. Ur-Energy Inc. (a junior mining company […]

I just received the first issue of the newsletter from Parks Canada on the Nahanni Park Expansion (summer 2007). It contains pullouts on a Nahanni Dall Sheep Study, Grizzly Bear Research, Woodland Caribou Research, the North Karst, and Glacier Retreat Monitoring. It contains updates on the Deh Cho and Sahtu processes, protecting heritage and traditional […]

Kinngait Studios (the graphics program of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative) is a printmaking co-operative that has provided 50 years of support to independent community artists in the North, and was influential in reshaping community development approaches in Nunavut and beyond. “Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective” examines the 50 year history of this dynamic Inuit […]

The expedition is a third of it’s kind, and will retrace historic voyageur routes in Ontario and the Prairies in a 26-foot replica birchbark canoe. The web site features extensive information on previous expeditions: member biographies, photo galleries, videos, press release, journals. Here is the full announcement: Métis Canoe Expedition Seeking Young Adventurers In 2003 […]

Uravan Minerals Inc. (“Uravan”) and Cameco Corporation (“Cameco”) continue uranium exploration activities in the Thelon Basin this summer with a total of four diamond drill holes completed, and three more scheduled. Their current land use permit covers the 2007-2008 season, and they seek to extend their permit to cover a larger area of the Boomerang […]

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Review Board has reviewed the request of Ur-Energy for a Land Use Permit on an exploratory drilling program at Screech Lake in the Thelon Basin, NWT, and has recommended that the project not be approved. It is only the second time that the Review Board has not recommended a project. As […]

Six people were awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize this year for their protection of the environment and grassroots organizing in their communities. The prize brings international recognition to environmental issues around the world, and a cash award of $125,000 in support of local environmental initiatives. The recipient from Canada, Sophia Rabliauskas, has worked in […]

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency announced last week that an all-weather road proposal to Wollaston Lake in northern Saskatchewan will undergo a comprehensive environmental assessment review. Wollaston is a frequent starting off point for canoers looking for overland routes to the southern Barrenlands via the Fond du Lac River to Black Lake, and the historic […]

A new totem pole at the Chicago Field Museum draws on historical connections both near and far. The work is a collaboration of master Chilkoot-Tlingit carver Nathan Jackson and family, and is presented to the Field Museum as a gift of the Cape Fox Corporation and the Tlingit community of Saxman, Alaska. In 2001, the […]

The first exhibit, “Thin Ice: Inuit Traditions within a Changing Environment” (January 27 – May 13, 2007) highlights Dartmouth College’s long involvement in Arctic Studies and features 19th and 20th century Inuit art and artifacts from the museum’s collection. “With the understanding that the Arctic environment is undergoing rapid transformation from climate change and the […]