The Arctic Inspiration Prize is a $1 million CAD annual Canadian prize awarded to up to five diverse teams who have made a substantial, demonstrated and distinguished contribution to the gathering of Arctic knowledge and who have provided a concrete plan and commitment to implement their knowledge into real world application for the benefit of the Canadian Arctic and its Peoples. The Arctic Inspiration Prize defines the Canadian Arctic as the region including the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut.[1][2]
The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Alaska, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Northern Canada, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost -containing tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places.
The Arctic Inspiration Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of the North, accepts nominations that address causes rather than symptoms of one or more of the following priority areas in the Canadian Arctic: Education, Human Health, Socio-Cultural Issues, Environment and Economy. The Prize recognizes and encourages teamwork and collaboration among diverse groups and organizations, from North and South. Prizes, with associated awards totaling $1 million CAD, are presented annually to distinguished teams on a competitive basis. The awards are to be used towards the proposed knowledge implementation plan; they are not personal cash prizes. The Prize is not intended as a "lifetime achievement" award or to give appreciation for one great accomplishment. It does not recognize individual achievements but encourages team efforts in transforming Arctic knowledge into tangible outcomes.[3]
The Arctic Inspiration Prize is managed on a voluntary basis by the ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada.[4] The Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP) was launched at the International Polar Year conference held in Montreal in April 2012.[5][6]
ArcticNet is a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada. Its objective is to study the impacts of climate change and modernization in the coastal Canadian Arctic.
Selection Committee
The Arctic Inspiration Prize Selection Committee is made up of individuals known for their commitment to the Canadian Arctic and its Peoples.[7] Members of the Selection Committee include:
Michel Allard (Professor, Centre for Northern Studies, University Laval)
Nellie J. Cournoyea (Chair and chief executive officer, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), former premier of the Northwest Territories)
Martin Fortier (Executive Director, Arctic Inspiration Prize and ArcticNet)[9]
Thomas Anguti Johnston (former president, National Inuit Youth Council)
Kyla Kakfwi-Scott (Senior Advisor (Department of Health and Social Services)[10]
Peter Mansbridge (Chief Correspondent, CBC News and Anchor, The National)
Tom Paddon, (Chairman, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation)[11]
Jobie Tukkiapik (President, Makivik Corporation)
Geraldine Van Bibber (Senior Community Advisor, office of the premier, Yukon; former commissioner of Yukon)
Arnold Witzig (director, S. and A. Inspiration Foundation)[12]
Eva Qamaniq Aariak is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. She was subsequently chosen as the second Premier of Nunavut, under the territory's consensus government system, on November 14, 2008. Aariak was the fifth woman to serve as a premier in Canada.
Nellie Cournoyea is a Canadian politician, who served as the sixth Premier of the Northwest Territories from 1991 to 1995. She was the first female premier of a Canadian territory and the second female premier in Canadian history after Rita Johnston of British Columbia.
Peter Mansbridge, is an English-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CBC News Network's Mansbridge One on One. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University where he served as chancellor until the end of 2017. On September 5, 2016, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced that Mansbridge would be stepping down as chief correspondent and anchor on July 1, 2017, following coverage of Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Past Members
Susan Aglukark (Inuk singer, songwriter and Juno Award winner)
Erin Freeland Ballantyne (Rhodes Scholar and founder of Dechinta: Bush University Center for Research and Learning)
Susan Aglukark,, is an Inuit musician whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording star in Canada. Her most successful song/single is "O Siem", which reached No. 1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995. Overall, she has released seven studio albums and has won three Juno Awards.
p* Peter Harrison (Professor, Stauffer-Dunning Chair and director, School of Policy Studies, Queen's University)[13]
Candidates must be nominated by third party Arctic Inspiration Prize Ambassadors who are knowledgeable about the team's activities. Ambassadors include various groups, organizations, companies and governmental agencies and whose engaged participation ensures that groups from diverse Northern communities can be nominated. Ambassadors voluntarily invest their time seeking out, encouraging, and mentoring eligible teams and putting together their nominations. AIP Ambassadors make sure that information about the Prize is available at the grass roots level across diverse communities, actively seek out teams and projects, and encourage/help/mentor/nominate teams.[14]
The first Arctic Inspiration Prize ceremony was held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on 13 December 2012. Four teams shared the $1 million award: The Arctic Food Network, the Nunavut Literacy Council, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Thaidene Nene Initiative.[15]
The Arctic Food Network set out to help develop country food-gathering systems to alleviate food insecurity in Nunavut: "The Arctic Food Network received $360,000 to assist with its food-gathering system that enables communities to strengthen traditions of hunting and sharing. Comprised of a variety of cabins, sheds and supporting infrastructure that merge architecture, landscape, cold climate technology and Inuit culture, the network will lead to the acquisition, storage, preparation, distribution, and celebration of country food, and other locally-sourced food."[16]
Team members: Lucassie Arragutainaq, Bert Dean, Alan Everard, James Ford, Morgan Ip, Jack Kabvitok, Lola Sheppard, Mason White (Team leader)
The Nunavut Literacy Council set out to embed literacy skill development in non-formal education programs for youth: "The Nunavut Literacy Council received $300,000 in recognition of their knowledge to action plan to embed literacy into high-quality, culturally-based programming for the benefit of individuals, families, and communities across the North."[17]
Team members: Cayla Chenier, Kim Crockatt (Team leader), Graeme Dargo, George Dunkerley, Sue Folinsbee, Brendan Griebel, Adriana Kusugak, Pujjuut Kusugak, Quluaq Pilakapsi, Shelley Tulloch, Gloria Uluqsi, Anna Ziegler
The Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit team set out to develop a book on Inuit culture and knowledge that will serve as a resource for academics, researchers, educators and the next generation of Inuit: "An experienced team of Inuit Elders, facilitators and academics are proposing to help preserve Inuit culture and heritage through the provision of a definitive body of work, a book entitled-- Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit — What Inuit have always known to be true — that communicates Inuit worldview in detail. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit received $240,000 for its book project which will serve as a resource for academics, researchers, educators and the next generation of Inuit."[18]
Team members: Attoat Akittirq, Norman Attangala, Lou Angalik, Jose Angutingnungniq, Alice Ayalik, Joe Karetak, Rodah Karetak, Elisapee Kidlapik, Bernadette Otuk, Shirley Tagalik (Team leader), Donald Uluadluak
The Thaidene Nene Initiative set out to consolidate the stewardship, protection and co-management of a national park reserve of great cultural and environmental significance to the Lustel K'e Dene First Nation: "In recognition of their knowledge to action plan to promote the responsibility and capacity of aboriginal peoples to act as stewards of their traditional territories, using their own ways of knowing and doing, in meaningful partnership with the rest of Canada, the Thaidene Nene Initiative received $100,000 to contribute to the stewardship, protection and co-management of the proposed national park reserve in Canada's North West Territories."[19]
Team members: Deneen Allen, Stephen Ellis, Dora Enzoe (Team leader), Gloria Enzoe, Mike Filipowitsch, Larry Innes, Erica Janes, Steven Nitah, Mike Palmer, Francois Paulette, Council of the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation, Thaidene Nene Negotiations Advisory Committee
2013 Laureates
The second Arctic Inspiration Prize ceremony was held in Halifax, NS, Canada, on 11 December 2013. Three teams shared the $1 million award: Ikaarvik: From Barriers to Bridges, The National Strategy on Inuit Education – National Parent Mobilization Initiative, and SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik: Healthy homes in thriving Nunatsiavut communities.[20]
The Ikaarvik: From Barriers to Bridges team set out to foster knowledge-sharing between five Northern communities and Southern institutions: "From Barriers to Bridges received $325,000 for their plan to establish lasting relationships between the five Northern communities of Cambridge Bay, Pond Inlet, Kugluktuk, Pangnirtung and Gjoa Haven, and five of the largest zoos and aquariums in Southern Canada (Assiniboine Park Zoo, Aquarium du Québec, Ecomuseum Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, Toronto Zoo). With a potential to reach over 11 million Canadian and international visitors annually, the project will help provide the public with a more accurate understanding of the Canadian Arctic and its peoples. Via ARCTIConnection at Université du Québec à Rimouski, the five Northern communities will also be linked with southern scientists in different fields of research relevant to their needs.[21]
Team members: Shelly Elverum, Vincent L'Hérault, Eric Solomon (Team Leader), Bill Williams, Hamlet of Gjoa Haven, Hamlet of Kugluktuk, Hamlet of Pangnirtung, Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Municipality of Cambridge Bay, Assiniboine Park Zoo, Aquarium du Québec, Ecomuseum Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, Toronto Zoo.
The National Strategy on Inuit Education - National Parent Mobilization Initiative team set out to improve education outcomes in the North: "The National Committee on Inuit Education and the Amaujaq National Centre for Inuit Education received $325,000 for their knowledge to action plan to mobilize parents, with the key message: "Getting children to school every day, all day, well rested and ready to learn". Through media support, regional roundtables and conferences, community-targeted initiatives, profiling of success stories, and the creation of parent toolkits with tips on how parents can support their children's education, the National Parent Mobilization Initiative is focused on encouraging northern students to attend school regularly and succeed."[22]
Team members: Peter Geikie, Kevin Kablutsiak, Heather Ochalski, Mary Simon (Team Leader).
The Sakkijânginnatuk Nunalik: Healthy Homes in Thriving Nunatsiavut Communities team set out to draw on local Inuit knowledge, professional assessments and literature reviews to tackle the major housing crisis in the northern Labrador Inuit region of Nunatsiavut: "SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik: Healthy homes in thriving Nunatsiavut communities received $350,000 for their plan to use this knowledge to build and monitor Nunatsiavut's first sustainable, multi-unit residential dwelling and establish a prototype for Northern housing development that addresses the changing northern climate, infrastructure requirements and Inuit housing needs and preferences."[23]
Team members: Tony Andersen, Dorothy Angnatok, Trevor Bell, Christina Goldhar, Isabella Pain (Team Leader), Carla Pamak, Dan Pottle, Tom Sheldon, Darryl Shiwak, Katie Winters.
2014 Laureates
The third Arctic Inspiration Prize ceremony was held in Ottawa, ON, Canada, on December 10, 2014. The ceremony was held at the Shaw Center in conjunction with the Arctic Change conference. The $1 million prize was awarded to one team: FOXY (Fostering Open Expression Among Youth)
the FOXY team set to address sexual health knowledge gaps and misconceptions through sexual health workshops, peer leadership, and community-based actions. The team works with young men and women in the North to promote discussion of sexual health and to build self-confidence for healthy decision making. The team is led by Candice Lys, who grew up in the Northwest Territories and completed her master's degree in public health by examining sexual health in the region.
Team members: Jane Dragon, Jeremy Emerson, Gwen Healey, Veronica Johnny, Carmen Logie, Candice Lys (Team leader), Kayley Mackay, Nancy MacNeill, Graeme Peters, Teresa Watson, Makenzie Zouboules.
2015 Laureates
The fourth Arctic Inspiration Prize ceremony was held in Ottawa, ON, Canada, on January 27, 2016. The ceremony was held in conjunction with Northern Lights 2016. An additional $0.5 million was granted out during the ceremony for a total $1.5 million reward split by three groups: Better Hearing in Education for Northern Youth (BHENY), Qaggiq: Nurturing the Arctic Performing Arts, and Tri-Territorial Recreation Training (TRT) Project.
The Better Hearing in Education for Northern Youth (BHENY) team aims to tackle education barriers for children and youth living with hearing loss in the Baffin region of Nunavut. The BHENY team received $300,000 to introduce amplification technology and training to classrooms and educators in the region. Currently, additional barriers experienced by youth with hearing loss are thought to contribute to poor literacy, academic success, school attendance, and graduation rates.
Team members: Christy Douwsma, Mary Etuangat, Barbara Holmes, Kim Hurley, Tracy MacMillan, Ben McCarl, Lynne McCurdy (Team Leader), Pam Millett, Heather Moffett, Sandra Roberts, Ningeola Tiglik, David Webber
The Qaggiq: Nurturing the Arctic Performing Arts team received $600,000 to promote engagement in arts in the North. Through promoting performing arts, the team aims to build the self-worth, sense of belonging, cultural value and pride, and resilience in the North, particularly among youth.
Team members: Tiffany Ayalik, Martha Burns, Geneviève Cimon, Beatrice Deer, Ellen Hamilton (Team Leader), Natasha Harwood, Sarah Olayok Jancke, Zacharius Kunuk, Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt, Alisa Palmer, Aaju Peter, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
The Tri-Territorial Recreation Training (TRT) Project team received $600,000 to promote recreation and build recreational leadership capacities across the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. The project aims to improve health, strengthen communities, and enhance quality of life in northern communities. Team members draw from recreation experience in government, non-for-profit, and private sectors.
Team members: Dawn Currie, Brenda Herchmer, Anne Morgan (Team Leader), Geoff Ray, Caroline Sparks
Award Ceremony
The Arctic Inspiration Prize Awards Ceremony is held annually in conjunction with the ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting in early December. Laureates are awarded a Diploma of recognition as well as an original work of art from a Canadian Arctic artist alongside the Prize. The Awards Ceremony also features musical performances by Northern artists.[24]
The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), formerly Inuit Circumpolar Conference, is a multinational non-governmental organization (NGO) and Indigenous Peoples' Organization (IPO) representing the 160,000 Inuit and Yupik people living in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka (Russia). ICC was ECOSOC-accredited and was granted special consultative status at the UN in 1983.
The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region or Baffin Region is the easternmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name for Baffin Island. Although the Qikiqtaaluk Region is the most commonly used name in official contexts, several notable public organizations, including Statistics Canada prefer the older term Baffin Region.
Nunatsiavut is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The region falls within the greater Canadian country of Inuit Nunangat. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inuit Association submitted a proposal for limited autonomy to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The constitution was ratified on 1 December 2005, at which time the Labrador Inuit Association ceased to exist, and the new Government of Nunatsiavut was established, initially being responsible for health, education and cultural affairs. It is also responsible for setting and conducting elections, the first of which was executed in October 2006. An election for the Ordinary Members of the Nunatsiavut Assembly was held on 4 May 2010. The Nunatsiavut Assembly was dissolved on 6 April in preparation for the election. Its incumbent president is Johannes Lampe who assumed office in 2016.
Inuktitut, also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, to some extent in northeastern Manitoba as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is one of the aboriginal languages written with Canadian Aboriginal syllabics.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 60,000 Inuit. It was founded in 1971 by Tagak Curley as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada in Edmonton, Alberta. It has been headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario since 1972. It grew out of the Indian and Eskimo Association that was formed in the 1960s.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, OC is a Canadian Inuit activist. She has been a political representative for Inuit at the regional, national and international levels, most recently as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council. Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental issues affecting Inuit, most recently, persistent organic pollutants and global warming. She has received numerous awards and honors for her work, and has been featured in a number of documentaries and profiled by journalists from all media. Watt-Cloutier sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission. She is also a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is the legal representative of the Inuit of Nunavut for the purposes of native treaty rights and treaty negotiation. The presidents of NTI, Makivik Corporation, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the four regional land claims organizations, govern the national body, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) as its board of directors. NTI continues to play a central role in Nunavut, even after the creation of the Government of Nunavut. As the successor of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, which was a signatory of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on behalf of Inuit, NTI is responsible for ensuring that the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is implemented fully by the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut and that all parties fulfill their obligations.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is an Inuktitut phrase that is often translated as "Inuit traditional knowledge", "Inuit traditional institutions" or even "Inuit traditional technology". It is often abbreviated as "IQ". It comes from the verb root "qaujima-" meaning "to know" and could be literally translated as "that which has long been known by Inuit".
Nunavut is the newest, largest, and most northerly territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map since incorporating the province of Newfoundland in 1949.
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting Inuit Nunangat, the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska. The Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut family. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.
Higher education in Nunavut allows residents of this Canadian Arctic territory access to specialized training provided at post-secondary institutions. There are some unique challenges faced by students wishing to pursue advanced training in Nunavut, a vast territory stretching across Arctic Canada from Hudsons Bay to the north pole. The territory was split from the Northwest Territories in 1999, following a successful plebiscite which affirmed Inuit desires to establish an independent political jurisdiction. Covering one-fifth of Canada’s area and over 60% of its coastlines, the territory had a population of 31,153 in 2010.
The Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), known as Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq (INS) in Inuvialuktun, located in Canada's western Arctic, was designated in 1984 in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement by the Government of Canada for the Inuvialuit people. It spans 90,650 km2 (35,000 sq mi) of land, mostly above the tree line, and includes several subregions: the Beaufort Sea, the Mackenzie River delta, the northern portion of Yukon, the northwest portion of Northwest Territories, and the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The ISR includes both Crown Lands and Inuvialuit Private Lands.
Igloolik Island is a small island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the Foxe Basin, very close to the Melville Peninsula, and it is often thought to be a part of the peninsula. It forms part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency is a policy initiative announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Federal Conservative Party in August 2009. The purpose of the agency is to promote economic development and prosperity while protecting national sovereignty in Northern Canada. CanNor is situated in Iqaluit, Nunavut. By centralizing this economic program in the Northern region of Canada, the Federal Government believes that it will contribute to increased participation by local communities and government in federal policy. From this, CanNor is also responsible for the Northern Projects Management Office (NPMO), which serves as a review board for economic developments in Northern Canada. As of July 2, 2014, the current President of CanNor is Dr. Janet King. The Government of Canada is responsible for CanNor, with Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development overseeing the developments within the agency. In various programs, CanNor promotes the growth of the economy, education, infrastructure development, and culture in Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. CanNor was created from the policy initiative "Northern Strategy," developed to exercise sovereignty, promote social and economic development, protecting the heritage surrounding Native peoples in the Arctic region, as well as asserting continual governance.
The Nunavut Teacher Education Program (NTEP) is an important college/university program in the Eastern Arctic of Canada offered through Nunavut Arctic College. This program provides Inuit from Nunavut with the opportunity to work toward a degree while remaining in the Arctic. With this degree in education, graduates can contribute and shape the education system in Nunavut by becoming bilingual teachers or work for the Department of Education. If the Inuit language and culture is to survive during this time of cultural transition, it will be greatly assisted by programs such as NTEP which recognize the importance of infusing Inuit language and culture into the western schooling system that is currently being used across North America. This program is more than an educational program; NTEP is of political and epistemological importance as it recognizes and legitimizes Inuit knowledge, values and perspectives and provides Inuit with an opportunity to play an active role in education.
The Arctic policy of Canada includes both the foreign policy of Canada in regard to the Arctic region and Canada's domestic policy towards its Arctic territories. This includes the devolution of powers to the territories. Canada's Arctic policy includes the plans and provisions of these regional governments. It encompasses the exercise of sovereignty, social and economic development, the protection of the environment, and the improving and devolving of governance.
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories is a 2011, two-volume DVD boxset, website and educational resource from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), bringing together films by and about the Inuit people of Canada. The collection traces the development of filmmaking in Northern Canada, from the ethnographic films by NFB filmmakers in the 1940s, to contemporary work by Elisapie Isaac and other Inuit filmmakers.
The Nunavut Municipal Training Organization (MTO) is a school for municipal staff throughout the Territory of Nunavut. Training is primarily geared towards the staff of Inuit communities in Canada's far north. Since its inception, the work of the Nunavut Municipal Training Organization (MTO) has evolved into three core activities; Training Programs, Program Development/Enhancement, and improving municipal operations in Nunavut's 25 communities. The training itself is divided into three main categories: the college-accredited Municipal Government Program through the Nunavut Arctic College, Protection Services training, and community-targeted training courses.
The Prime Minister's Youth Council is an advisory board created by Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau in 2016. Up to thirty Canadian youth aged 16 to 24 comprise the non-partisan board. Members advise the prime minister on education, economy, climate change and other issues affecting youth.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
