Of the 15 finalists up for $3.7 million in cash prizes through the Arctic Inspiration Prize, eight projects are wholly or partially Nunavut-based.
Nunavut News interviewed three Nunavut-based project organizers about their inspirations and objectives.
Arctic Inspiration youth prize finalist (up to $100,000): Investing in the Futures of Inuit Women
This youth-based initiative is an offshoot of volunteers and other team members associated with the non-profit organization One Plane Away, which provides baby clothing and supplies to Nunavut communities.
Aneeka Anderson, team lead, and Kennedy Haines, team member, and their colleagues, got the idea for the project after a particularly successful traditional sewing group initiative that took place in Arviat during spring 2021.
鈥淲omen still meet and sell their work [there],鈥� said Haines, 鈥渁nd we thought, 鈥楬ow can we do this in a larger way?鈥�
Getting together with seven other women involved in One Plane Away who are acting as mentors and local community coordinators in Iqaluit, Arviat, and Pangnirtung, the Inuit women team plan to use the prize money to hire two or three part-time employees in Iqaluit (including one high school student already involved 鈥� Geena Veevee) in order to employ them while teaching them essential skills to work in the non-profit sector. The objective is to build a sustainable program designed to uplift Inuit women and mothers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited to partner with One Plane Away to support the community 鈥� and Inuit women, in particular 鈥� in an expanded way,鈥� Anderson stated, 鈥渢hinking of things like mentorship, non-profit skill-building, and cultural skill-building.鈥�
AIP category finalists (up to $500,000): Learning, Harvesting, Earning
Project leader Teman Avingaq was unavailable while helping his son at the Nunavut Quest dog sled race, so Nunavut News spoke with Sam Arfin, project coordinator for Learning, Harvesting, Earning.
鈥淚鈥檝e known Teman for 10 years, since I first went to Nunavut back in 2014. Teman already trains young men and boys how to hunt and fish and has been doing so for many years as he was taught in his youth. It鈥檚 a tradition to pass on knowledge to the next generation. I was inspired by his selflessness.
鈥淯ntil AIP, it鈥檚 been a struggle to train youth and live on your catch without the proper equipment. We felt that with the right support, hunters in the High Arctic would be able to devote themselves to training.
鈥淚t鈥檚 well known that in Nunavut, food security is a difficult and multifaceted issue. With our project, fishers and trainees will be able to keep what they catch as one way to get more food into homes. Hunters will be able to sell their catch, as we know that there鈥檚 more to food security than char alone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a cliche, but we feel that it really encapsulates the project: Give someone a fish and they鈥檒l eat for a day. Teach them to fish, and they鈥檒l eat for a lifetime.鈥�
$1 million category: Ajunngittutit
This is 鈥渁 longtime dream鈥� for Shuvinai Mike, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and linguistics advisor, who has been an educator in Nunavut as long as it has been a territory.
鈥淭his is a program for children who really fall through the cracks of the education system,鈥� she said.
Mike noticed during her time as an educator that the three streams of education in Nunavut high schools were not always adequately meeting the needs of neurodiverse or trauma-informed youth.
鈥淲e are losing kids,鈥� she emphasized, 鈥渆ven starting in middle school.鈥�
The program is a shared dream with Jennifer Noah, founding director and education lead.
鈥淭he focus is to add to the options of Nunavut learners, especially those who have not been able to attend, or may not be able to return to school because they may have challenging behaviour and haven鈥檛 been able to thrive in that mainstream system,鈥� Noah said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e really trying to create a Nunavut-specific, Inuit-led, tactile, hands-on learning opportunities for kids to thrive in and feel included, and to actually experience some successes鈥�
鈥淲e want our program to help prevent adverse outcomes for very marginalized learners. Hopefully this will become the direction that becomes the alternative that the Department of Education looks at, that there are these types of alternative programs within schools. Kids need to thrive, and they shouldn鈥檛 not be at school. So let鈥檚 create these pockets of learning opportunities that are based on Inuit ways of knowing and doing. Inuit already know this. We鈥檙e just turning to Inuit knowledge, and hopefully turning back towards this in the mainstream system, if it鈥檚 appropriate.鈥�
The 12th annual Arctic Inspiration Prize award ceremony, celebrating all finalists and announcing the winners, will be held in Whitehorse on May 7 in partnership with the Arctic Ingenious Investment Conference.
