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PITQUHIRNIKKUT ILIHAUTINIQ / KITIKMEOT HERITAGE SOCIETY E-NEWSLETTER |
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SUMMER 2024 | |
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Program participants watch Elder Annie Atighioyak during a sewing program. |
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Unveiling our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan
Five years ago, when we drafted our 2018-2024 Strategic Plan, we adopted Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq as our organizational Inuit name, which means learning through culture. Since 2018, we have demonstrated our commitment to linguistic and cultural revitalization in Cambridge Bay and across the Inuinnaqtun-speaking communities. We exceeded the goals we set out for ourselves, built new relationships, strengthened our team, and approached Inuinnaqtun revitalization from multiple angles, setting a strong course for continuity through 2024-2029.
Today, we are excited to unveil our refreshed mandate for the next five years. This half decade will be crucial for our refocused efforts.
The current generation of Elders is the last to have been raised to adulthood out on the land. The critical need to learn from these remaining experts has grown to such an extent that we have aligned the rest of our work behind one single strategic priority: Inuinnaqtun Immersion.
Under our new mission, we will work as one to revitalize intergenerational language and cultural transmission by developing programming and resources immersed in Inuinnait values, beliefs, direction, and ways of knowing and being.
We are approaching revitalization holistically, not simply in parts or pieces at a time. The term Inuinnaqtun is most often associated with the spoken language, but the full meaning of the word is "to be or to live like an Inuinnaq". Over the next five years, our team will work to rebuild the ecosystem of Inuinnaqtun around Inuinnait, by developing and delivering fully immersive programming that supports what it means to be Inuinnaq. What will this look like? Hands-on cultural activities, indoors and on the land, with our language and values at the forefront.
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Supporting
Cultural Reconnection |
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| ABOVE: (Left) Making puhitaq (fur trim for a parka). (Right) Elder Mabel Etegik watches as workshop participants scrape a skin. BELOW: Our Elders-in-Residence process caribou after a successful multi-week hunt. |
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ABOVE: (Left) Charlie Ikkutisluk demonstrates during a toolmaking workshop. (Right) Testing out new fishing spears made during a workshop. BELOW: (Left) Preparing seal skins during a two-week Land and Survival Skills workshop for families. (Right) A workshop participant shows their handmade qulliq (soapstone lamp).
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Working as One
to Revitalize Inuinnaqtun
|  | | ABOVE: The Inikhaliuqatigiit working group during an intensive session in Cambridge Bay. | Since we initially gathered the Inikhaliuqatigiit team in 2021, we have logged many hours together, both in-person, and virtual, and worked as one to create resources that will support revitalization.
A quick breakdown of our successes in the last year:
- We developed an Inuinnaqtun Dictionary App (which will be publicly available soon!).
- We developed a beginner Inuinnaqtun curriculum called Inuinnaujunga, and are continuing to work towards Intermediate and Advanced level lessons.
- We're working with linguist Richard Compton at the Université de Quebec à Montreal to develop a Community Grammar of Inuinnaqtun.
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Creating Safe Spaces and
Building for a Sustainable Future |  | ABOVE: Annie Atighioyak, Bessie Omilgoetok, Mary Kaotalok, and Mabel Etegik stand in front of Kuugalaaq.
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Year 1 of our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan, and refined mission and vision, coincides with the long-awaited completion of our new purpose-built space designed specifically for cultural and linguistic immersion and broad community revitalization. This self-contained hub will support hands-on community engagement, immersion in traditional activities, and become a site of ongoing Inuinnait innovation.
Over the years, you have probably heard us refer to this space as Kuugalak. As an organization dedicated to leading Inuinnaqtun revitalization, we are constantly navigating the complexities of language loss and reawakening. Since time immemorial, Inuinnaqtun has been an oral language. Only in the last century has our language been converted to a written form. Multiple orthographies (the spelling system for a language) exist, and our translators and speakers do not always follow the same system, but we are all doing our best to support Inuinnaqtun use and revitalization. The PI/KHS is committed to recognizing the ICI Standardized Orthography, and for that reason, we will be changing the spelling of our new Cultural Campus to Kuugalaaq—a spelling that we feel more closely represents how our Elders speak this word, which means little stream. During conversations back in 2021, our Elders chose Kuugalaaq, named after the waterway that runs adjacent to the Campus. While it used to run wide and deep, climate change has reduced it to a small creek. Our aim has always been that Kuugalaaq is both a symbol and a place where our knowledge and connection to the landscape flows deep through the community once again. We cannot wait to welcome you in.
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Together, we can support the resurgence of our language and culture. Every day, we're working pass our values and worldview on to the next generation.
100% of donations support the development and delivery of immersion programs.
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Inuit polar bear experts share their knowledge in ground-breaking new study
1970s recordings from Nunavut include stories of contact with early explorers and Inuinnait daily life |
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We focus on the critical needs of Inuinnait—a distinct regional group of Inuit living in the Central Canadian Arctic.
Guided by an Inuinnaq Executive Director and Inuinnait Board, our mission is to work as one to revitalize intergenerational language and cultural transmission by developing programming and resources immersed in Inuinnait values, beliefs, direction, and ways of knowing and being.
Our vision is for our future generations to be nurtured and mentored to think and respond in their language, to be secure in their identity, and to live a balanced life according to the wisdom of our ancestors.
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