Akhuuqhimajara Inuinnaqtun / I'm all in for Inuinnaqtun!

“Our language is who and what we are and the health of our language lies at the core of our well-being.”  - Mary Simon, 2008 Arctic Indigenous Language Symposium

The Inuinnaqtun language—the foundation of Inuinnait culture—has less than 600 fluent speakers remaining. By most estimates, it is a language that will be extinct in two generations. The disappearance of Inuinnaqtun precipitates the loss of culturally unique knowledge, relationships and engagements with the world. It is our sole focus and intention to address this urgent need over the next decade.

We have developed a finely honed five-year Strategic Plan to lead, galvanize and connect the resources, expertise and technology critical to Inuinnait linguistic and cultural survival.

 

Who Are We? 

The Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq/Kitikmeot Heritage Society (PI/KHS) is a leader for culture and heritage in Nunavut.  We are guided by an Inuinnaq Executive Director and Board, and are among the territory’s longest established heritage organizations. We have 25 years of experience leading innovative programs and projects.

We focus on the critical needs of Inuinnait—a distinct regional group of Inuit living in the Central Canadian Arctic. 

In 2018, we launched a new Strategic Plan following an extensive review of our impact and the critical issues facing our cultural community.  With this clear identity we are:

• fostering a unified Inuinnait voice that speaks to the issues and priorities of our respective communities, and are implementing initiatives of change;
• harnessing the expertise of remaining Elders and Inuinnaqtun speakers and direct their valuable knowledge towards the renewal of our culture;
• establishing strong human and digital networks that are bringing together Inuinnait communities and creating innovative solutions to overcoming geographical, political and economic barriers to knowledge exchange.

Our mission is to preserve and renew Inuinnait knowledge, language and culture for the benefit of all Inuit.

Our vision is to concentrate and connect the resources, expertise and technology critical to Inuinnait cultural and linguistic survival.

 

The Urgent Need

In 2015, UNESCO, applied its endangered languages criteria to Inuinnaqtun and rated our language as “definitely endangered.”

While the term Inuinnaqtun most often refers to the dialect of Inuktut spoken by Inuinnait, its true meaning is much more expansive: to speak, to create, to practice, to do, to think—to be—like an Inuinnaq (a human being). Our words, phrases and sentences have deeply embedded meanings, contexts, descriptions and knowledge for the “ways of being” of Arctic ecosystems, climate, species, histories, culture, and so much more. All of which was accumulated over millennia, passed on and sustained with each new generation until this cycle was interrupted.

The residential school experience and systemic oppression of Indigenous languages and cultures continues to leave scars. Intergenerational trauma has caused language loss, shame and wellness issues. As we look to reconciliation, reclaiming and retaining our identity by passing and learning our language and culture is at the heart of our healing. Inuinnaqtun is our link to our Elders and ancestors and the knowledge, worldview and cultural continuity that is our inheritance.

 

Why Should We Lead?

We have earned the support and trust of our community, have a strong track record, and have built solid partnerships and recognition at national and international levels. We have made international contributions to research and developed innovative digital platforms to document, preserve, transmit and celebrate our culture.  Some highlights include:

• Mentor-Apprentice Program and Immersion Training – The Mentor-Apprentice approach pairs a fluent speaker (mentor) with and learner (apprentice) for 300 hours of immersion per year.
• Cultural Programming - We have spent 25 years designing and delivering oral history and traditional knowledge projects, land camps and the revitalization of traditional tools and technologies.
• Digital Atlases and Learning Portal - Our online platforms are designed to ensure that Inuit have ownership of and access to our knowledge and culture.
• Elders-in-Residence Program - Run annually since 2009, the program hires multiple Elders to work at the May Hakongak Cultural Centre in Cambridge Bay to help align the centre, our work, and the community with traditional values.

Take Your Place in History

On the occasion of our 25^th anniversary, we reconfirm our commitment to reawakening our language and culture. So many words and parts of our language are sleeping—they have fallen into disuse following massive changes to our cultural communities over the past hundred years.

Guided by Inikhaliuqatigiit, ‘the trail makers’, a group of Inuinnaqtun leaders from the four Inuinnaqtun-speaking communities, we are connecting the resources, technology and expertise critical to the survival of Inuinnaqtun and Inuinnait culture.   

We have set a goal to raise $250,000 for the renewal of Inuinnaqtun in our 25^th year.

This includes:

$50,000 to Preserve Language Domains – We are now experiencing the passing of the last of the Elders who grew up on the land speaking fluent Inuinnaqtun and have firsthand experience in the domains of traditional Inuinnait life. Working alongside Elders and fluent speakers, Community Linguists will record vocabulary in the domains for which only our oldest generations have personal experience, creating a permanent record to ensure the fullest extent of the language is documented.

$125,000 to Awaken Inuinnaqtun in Silent Speakers – Language learning must also involve individual healing. Working with Indigenous partners, we will launch a new program to target Silent Speakers, who understand much of their mother language, but do not speak it due to intergenerational language trauma. We will work in partnership with local Elders and the Cambridge Bay Wellness Centre to deliver a pilot program, using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to support Silent Speakers with the tools and coaching to retrain their brain to overcome barriers to speaking and begin speaking again.  

 

$75,000 to Expand Immersion Opportunities Across Inuinnait Communities – Initiated and piloted in Cambridge Bay, we are now looking to expand immersion opportunities across Inuinnait communities. Languages Coaches in each community will act as satellites of the PI/KHS, and work to 1) support local teams in the Inuinnaqtun Mentor-Apprentice Program (pairs a fluent speaker and a learner for 300 hours of one-on-one immersion over one year), and 2) foster language nests (Inuinnaqtun-only spaces built to uplift and support the development of learners and nurture the growth of the language). 

We’re all in for Inuinnaqtun. With your help, we will reawaken the language of our souls and strengthen the link to our ancestors.

“We want to be proud of who we are forever, and to be proud of who we are, we need to know who we are.” – Pamela Hakongak Gross, Executive Director