Newsletter – June 2015

,
Mahla'asgum Sawinsk
Gitlax- t’aamiks Village Government
Aboriginal Day June 19, 2015
June 2015
All West GlassHawkair
Sight & Sound
A&W
Mr. MikesDulux
Canadian TireCooks Jewellery
McCarthy’s GMSafeway
Northern Industrial
Ella’s
Gemma’sMichelin Tire
Nisga’a Pacific Ventures
Gitlax’taamiks Village Government
Tillicum Twin Theaters
Gitlax’taamiks Village Government would also like to
acknowledge the following entities that participated in
the parade:
Lisims RCMP, Nisga’a Lisims Government, School
District #92, Sii Tax’ Development Corporation, Terrace City Hall, UPIC Training Centre, Mass Nass
Marching Band, Gitwinksihlkw Search & Rescue,
Kitsumkalum Dance group, Camp Mountain View,
Canoe Journey Group, Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government, Nursery/Headstart, Gitlaxt’aamiks Public Works
and Gitlaxt’aamiks Fire Department.
On Friday, June 19, 2015 the community of Gitlaxt’aamiks hosted the 10th Annual Aboriginal Day Celebrations. This event is held annually on behalf of the
Gitlaxt’aamiks Elders Association.
The entire community and local entities come
together to make the event a success. Throughout the
year the Elders Association members continually support community initiatives and fund raise for all groups
in Gitlaxt’aamiks, in return, the community hosts the
Aboriginal Day Event for them.
All proceeds raised from the event is given to the
Gitlaxt’aamiks Elders Association for their annual field
trip. Total funds raised this year was $5,726.90.
We want to extend our sincere appreciation to
the business’ in Terrace who contribute prizes each
year to help make our event a success. This year we
received donations from the following:
PetlandGraydon Security
OpusSilvertip
Elan TravelAllstar Shoes
Xanders Coffee
Grace Fell Florist
Fior DesignCedars Motel
Sandman Hotel
Ruins Board Shop
In May of this year GVG purchased a 2010 Finning
Home Hardware
Save on foods
Cat 2010 962G Series II Frontend Loader. It will be
Sonny’s Collectables
A-Z Engraving
used primarily at the refuse dump. Rueben Gonu says
Canadian Wholesale
The Brick
that it has state of the art controls and that it handles
Creative Zone
Misty River Books
way better then the old one.
New Equipment
New Lights At Recreation Centre
Some you that have been up to the Gitlaxt’aamiks
Recreation Centre may have noticed the new improved lighting inside.
LED lights were installed in March of this year
along with the dimmer switches.
Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government (GVG) was
able to get the funding for the upgrade to the lighting
system through Nisga’a Lisims Government’s (NLG)
Capital Projects program. The lighting upgrade cost
around $83,000.00.
GVG went through the BC Hydro Power Smart
Initiative to get the discount for the new upgrade.
Included with the upgrade is the outside lights and
the foyer area. Safety reasons inside of the building
especially the foyer area which was dark and hard to
see the stairs.
A lot of public meetings are held at the rec centre
and we wanted the gymnasium lights to go on right
away instead of waiting 15 to 20 minutes for the lights
to go back on. In the main gym area they installed
LED lights and are energy efficient and require less
energy and cost less to operate.
The LED lights replaced the metal halide lamps
which cost about $250.00 to $400.00 per bulb to replace and they had to replace them every 2 months to
little less than a year.
A new boiler system for heating was installed late
last year and the GVG maintenance crew received
training to operate them.
We couldn’t find parts for the boiler system that
was installed when the building was new and the
propane bill for last year was about $80,000.00 just
for heating.
Since the new boiler system was installed in November of last year the propane bill is almost half of
what it was before.
The new boiler system senses how much energy
is being utilized and automatically makes adjustments.
The old boiler system used to go 24/7 and the
new system will go on at a certain times because of
the heating efficiencies that are in there now.
The installed light sensors detect when there is no
activity in the building and automatically turns off all
the lights.
Applications are in to replace the lighting in the
Gitmidiik Auditorium, GVG administration building,
Arts & Cultural building and it’s all going through BC
Hydro’s Power Smart Initiative and NLG Capital Projects.
North Central Heating tested the rec centre for
heat escapement. They checked the gym, downstairs,
the attic, all the windows for any heat loss and they
have determined that the rec centre is sealed as
much as it can.
They even went underneath the gym floor and
around the foundation and the roof to see if there
were any cracks that heat might escape.
Submitted by Walter Nisyok
GVG Housing/Capital Projects
Gitsegukla Soccer
Tournament
Nisga’a Braves from New Aiyansh placed second in
the Gitsegukla Soccer Tournament on July 10, 11 &
12, 2015. The Nisga’a Braves have a young team this
year the youngest being 12 years old. Phillip Clayton
received an award for Best Halfback, Quinton Nisyok got the Most Inspirational Youth Award, Chester
Munroe got the Most Inspirational Player Award and
Donald Vickers received an All-Star Award. .
Nursery School Graduation 2015
On June 24, 2015 the Gitlaxt’aamiks Nursery School
Graduation was held at the Gitmidiik Auditorium. A
luncheon has held afterwards.
GVG Summertime Hire Employment Opportunities
Site C Clean Energy Project and Prince Rupert Gas
Transmission are now accepting job applications.
Please email resumes to:
Site C: [email protected] and;
Prince Rupert Gas Transmission:
George Hemeon
[email protected]
Barbara Gonu On
Short-Term Disability
Genna Leeson is originally from Laxgalta’ap and
is the youngest daughter of Alison Stewart and Peter
Leeson.
She is the successful Post Secondary Internship
applicant who started work on June 29, 2015 for
Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government (GVG). She will
work for GVG for 8 weeks. Genna is the Summer
Student Coordinator and is the Team Leader for the
GVG summer student program. She is responsible for
placing the summer students, monitoring them and
she will do a full report during the last week of her
employment.
She resides in Port Coquitlam and attends Langara College in Vancouver. Genna is in her 2nd year of
a 4 year Bachelor of Business Administration with a
focus on Accounting.
She finds the work environment is a lot better here
at Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government. Genna knows a
lot of people here and she gets along with them really
well.
Genna is a Laxgibuu and she belongs to the
House of Ksdiyaawak.
Please join us in welcoming Genna to her new
job. Si’aamhl wilin.
Quote Of The Month
Believe you can and you are halfway there.
Theodore Roosevelt
After 20 years service to Gitlaxt’aamiks Village
Government (GVG) Barbara Gonu is on short-term
disability.
She has dedicted herself to being an exceptional
Homemaker for the Gitlaxt’aamiks elders. Barb has
always gone above and beyond the call of duty and
that will be sadly missed especially by the elders of
this community.
Her smile and good nature will be missed by her
co-workers and GVG staff.
Barb said she will be availble for special occassion functions especially those involving our community elders.
A luncheon and a cake was provided by GVG
Programs and Services for Barb’s last day of work on
July 3, 2015.
Si’aamhl Wilin Barbara.
Pauline Grandison
Turns 90
On June 18, 2015 Pauline Grandison turned 90
years old which makes her one of the oldest members
of New Aiyansh and the Nisga’a Nation.
She has raised 9 children most notably with a
vision disability which has gotten progressively worse
over the years.
This past year she wasn’t able to work in her
smokehouse and help prepare oolicans and salmon
like she always does.
Pauline keeps herself busy these days knitting
and when her vision allows her to crocheting.
Happy Birthday Pauline and many more to come.
From Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government and staff
Nathan Lynn
Nathan Lynn is a
Gitlaxt’aamiks Village
Government post
secondary student.
He is the only son
of Dave & Debbie
(Nee: Grandison)
Lynn.
He was born and
raised in Kamloops
but has extended
family in New Aiyansh.
Nathan is in his
4th and last year of a
Bachelors Degree in
Psychology Major at
Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. He graduated from high school in 2009 and took 2 years off.
Nathan hopes to go on to get his Masters Degree
in Psychology when he’s done.
Nikeisha Clayton
Nikeisha
was hired by
Gitlaxt’aamiks
Village Government (GVG) as
the Post-Secondary Internship summer
student employee.
She is the
daughter of Karen Clayton and
Zachary Munroe, Sr. Nikeisha
is a Ganada and
from the House
of Ksim Xsan.
Her first day
of work with GVG was Monday, June 1, 2015. She
has done her first year post-secondary education at
Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute (WWNI) and is
moving to the Fraser Valley University in Chilliwack in
September. Nikeisha will be doing a 4 year Bachelor
of Arts in Kinesiology & Physical Education.
She has been working with Nisga’a archival documents, digitizing and filing them. Most of the Nisga’a
stories are from the Late Harold Wright, Sr. (Sim’oogit
Gwal Axdi Gax Anuhl) and the Late Emma Wright.
The oldest document that she has come across is
from 1917 and is an original hand written one.
Through this job she has learned much about the
Nisga’a Culture & Language. She has taken Nisga’a
Language & Culture in high school and WWNI and
the documents that she’s digitizing for GVG are about
what she was taught.
Now she sees the Nisga’a Language & Culture
from a different perspective and that is really awesome for her.
Nikeisha finds her summer employment very
enjoyable and the GVG staff are very friendly. She
said that this is her first real job and she was terrified
on the first day. One of the staff members commented
that, we won’t bite you.
She was also the Master of Ceremonies for
the GVG Aboriginal Days on June 19, 2015 in New
Aiyansh. For her first time being an MC she did an
awesome job.
Welcome aboard Nikeisha. Si’aamhl wilin.