Aaju Peter

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Aaju Peter at the opening ceremony at Riddu Riddu 2019. Aaju Peter at the Opening ceremony at Riddu Riddu 2019 (cropped).jpg
Aaju Peter at the opening ceremony at Riddu Riđđu 2019.

Aaju Peter CM (born 1960 in Arkisserniaq, Greenland) [1] is an Inuk lawyer, activist and sealskin clothes designer. In 2012, she received the Order of Canada. [2] She has appeared in the documentary films Arctic Defenders (2013) and Angry Inuk (2016). [3] [4] She was also profiled in the 2023 documentary film Twice Colonized . [5]

Contents

Biography

Peter was born in Arkisserniaq, Greenland in 1960 to an Inuit family. Her father was a teacher and pastor. At the age of eleven, she was sent to study in Denmark. In the 1980s Peter married a man from Nunavut and moved to Frobisher Bay, now Iqaluit. She raised five children on her own and still resides in Iqaluit. [1] [6]

Peter was awards the Order of Canada on May 26, 2011. [7]

She has travelled across Greenland, Europe, and Canada, performing modern drum dance and traditional singing and displaying sealskin fashions. She graduated from Akitsiraq Law School in 2005 and was called to the bar in 2007.

In 2019, Aaju Peter was a guest of the Université du Québec à Montréal, and a video was produced about her visit. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Peter, Aaju | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  2. ↑ "NunatsiaqOnline 2012-11-22: NEWS: Aaju Peter becomes member of Order of Canada Nov. 23". Nunatsiaq News . Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  3. ↑ Mullen, Patrick (11 May 2016). "Review: 'Angry Inuk'". Point of View. Documentary Organization of Canada . Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  4. ↑ McLaughlin, Paul (17 February 2010). "Interview: sealskin clothing designer and lawyer Aaju Peter". This magazine . No. January–February 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Guy Lodge, "‘Twice Colonized’ Review: An Indigenous Activist Defends Her People’s Rights While Tending to Personal Wounds". Variety , April 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ Ayed, Nahlah (Feb 6, 2025). "'So much more to learn:' Inuk rights defender Aaju Peter on becoming a student again". CBC Radio . Retrieved December 30, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ "Ms. Aaju Peter". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  8. ↑ "Video: Inuktut, the language of the Inuit | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved Mar 8, 2023.

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