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Safe house in tiny Nunavik village aims to break generations of trauma for Inuit

Published

2 years ago

May 12, 2022

KANGIQSUALUJJUAQ, Que. — On any given day in Kingaqsualujjuak, Que., a person or family in crisis can call a 24-hour number and speak to a community member who can help.

Qarmaapik House offers a safe house for parents and children, and its goal is to keep families together, ensuring Inuit resources intervene when families need help.

“We use our language and we do the research on what we can do to help them out, for their family, for their children, or for individuals,” said Ellasie Annanack, a counsellor at Qarmaapik House.

“I feel it’s really important as a local to work with local families.”

The Qarmaapik House staff and board of directors gave a presentation to Mary Simon, her husband Whit Fraser and their team on Tuesday as part of the Governor General’s trip to Nunavik, highlighting the challenges they had in getting the program started back in 2016.

The program’s founders wanted to reduce the number of Inuit children who are taken from their homes and communities and placed in care because of issues with violence, neglect or substance abuse at home.

“That’s been one of our goals since Day 1, to be able to break the cycle with violence or (foster care) placements, because that’s creating traumas over and over again,” Annanack said.

Indigenous kids are overrepresented in foster care across Canada, making up 52.2 per cent of placements, according to 2016 census data, even though only seven per cent of Canadian children are Indigenous.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report said that is “related to the intractable legacies of residential schools including poverty, addictions and domestic and sexual violence.”

The federal government has committed to working with Indigenous groups, including Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, to overhaul the system to be “child-centered, community-directed, and focused on prevention.”

A law passed in 2019 affirms the rights and jurisdiction of Indigenous Peoples in child and family services. Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan has since launched its own Indigenous-led child-welfare system for band members.

In Nunavik, getting the safe house started and ensuring it’s recognized as a critical resource hasn’t been easy. Funding comes from the Nunavik board of health and social services, the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau and Kativik Regional Government, but the safe house is run by the community. It now offers psychological services and a community kitchen, among other programming.

After touring the safe house, Simon told a member of her staff, “It took them four years to get this going. That’s a bit much.”

Those challenges didn’t end after the launch. There was “a flood of people” in need of help. Staff had to learn to navigate the often complex child-welfare and youth criminal justice systems on their own, because the overburdened workers in the area were unable to help, Annanack said.

“Sometimes we would feel we were the cause of placement, because we didn’t know the system,” she said.

They also needed to build relationships with those working in child protection and policing. But with so many transient workers in the North, even that is difficult.

Qarmaapik is still working to build awareness of its services among officials including police, and staff say they spend a great deal of time and energy reintroducing themselves and their offerings to people who come and go every few weeks or months.

There are also challenges with housing, as in many northern communities. The safe house itself is in an aging building in need of upgrades.

Annanack believes Inuit-led intervention will help break those cycles of intergenerational trauma, and that in turn will help empower local kids to become the social workers, teachers and other professionals who serve their communities in the future.

Qarmaapik House staff have begun training workers in other Nunavik communities, hoping to share what they’ve learned.

“I hope there’s more people that are inspired for this service, because we need it in all the communities,” Annanack said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2022.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press

News

Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

4 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

Published

4 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

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AP NFL:

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NHL roundup: Kuemper helps visiting Kings shut out Predators 3-0

Published

4 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.

Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.

Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.

Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.

The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:

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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.

Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.

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