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 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. [1]
In November 2011, the Government of Nunavut and the NFB jointly announced the launch of the DVD and online collection, which will eventually comprise more than 100 NFB films by and about Inuit available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and other Inuit languages, as well as English and French. The boxed set is being distributed to over 50 communities across Northern Canada, with Nunavut's Department of Education supplying Unikkausivut (ᐅᓂᒃᑲᓯᕗᑦ [u.nik.ka.u.si.vut] ) to every school and library in its territory. [2] [3] [4]
The film collection premiered in Ottawa on November 2, 2011, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, followed by community events across Inuit territories (Inuit Nunangat) in Iqaluit, Nunavut on November 7; Kuujjuaq, Nunavik on November 8; Nain, Nunatsiavut on November 17; and Inuvik in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories on November 23. [5] [6]
In 2015, the collection was expanded with six films from Nunatsiavut, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Labrador Inuit Lands Claims Agreement. In 2016, the NFB launched a new educational initiative based on Unikkausivut. [7]
Unikkausivut was partly inspired by the then-federal Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq. An Inuk from the Inuvik Region, Aglukkaq had enjoyed watching the NFB's series of short films about the Netsilik, called The Netsilik Eskimos, in her youth and felt that it would be worthwhile to make these older films about Northern Canada widely available. The NFB, which was already working to make its archival films available on new platforms, reviewed its Inuit film archives and determined that it had over 100 works worth rereleasing. [8]
It cost over $1 million and took two years for the NFB to get the first 24 films digitized and ready in all languages; getting all of the films translated for northern communities could cost an additional $2 million. [2] This work involves restoring original film prints where necessary, digitization, remixing sound and obtaining rights clearances for new digital formats. Each film must also be dubbed in Inuktitut, the language of one of Canada's four Inuit regions—a challenge in itself, since Inuktitut narrations often run longer than their French or English equivalents. The conversion of all these films is expected to be completed by 2015. [8]
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories was created by the NFB in collaboration with the Inuit Relations Secretariat of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Government of Nunavut's Department of Education. [9] An advisory committee included Inuit elders such as Peter Irniq. [2] [10]
The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the Eskimoan language family, the other being the Yupik languages, which are spoken in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Most Inuit people live in one of three countries: Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark; Canada, specifically in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, the Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.
Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia, and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional Inuit religious practices include animism and shamanism, in which spiritual healers mediate with spirits. Today many Inuit follow Christianity ; however, traditional Inuit spirituality continues as part of a living, oral tradition and part of contemporary Inuit society. Inuit who balance indigenous and Christian theology practice religious syncretism.
The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region or the Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost 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 prior to the 2021 Canadian census, use the older term Baffin Region.
Inuvialuktun comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuit. Some dialects and sub-dialects are also spoken in Nunavut.
Inuktitut, also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American 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.
Kitikmeot Region is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together with King William Island and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. The regional centre is Cambridge Bay.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, previously known as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 65,000 Inuit across Inuit Nunangat and the rest of Canada. Their mission is to "serve as a national voice protecting and advancing the rights and interests of Inuit in Canada."
Chesterfield Inlet is a hamlet located on the western shore of Hudson Bay, Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut, Canada, at the mouth of Chesterfield Inlet. Igluligaarjuk is the Inuktitut word for "place with few houses", it is the oldest community in Nunavut. The community is served by air, Chesterfield Inlet Airport, and by an annual supply known as sealift.
Inuktitut (ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ) is a Canadian Inuit magazine produced by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Beat Studios. The magazine, now available quarterly, is published in Inuktitut (syllabics), Inuinnaqtun, English, and French.
Nunavut is the largest, easternmost, and northernmost 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, which provided this territory to the Inuit for self-government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven, and somewhat in Taloyoak of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, and, to a smaller extent in the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 20th century, among the last northern indigenous peoples to encounter missionaries from the south.
The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is a television production company based in Nunavut with programming targeted at the Inuit population of Nunavut. Almost all of its programs are broadcast in Inuktitut. Some are also in English. IBC shows centre on Inuit culture. The company has five production centers in Nunavut, all staffed by Inuit. Founded in the early 1980s, the IBC was the first indigenous-language television network in North America.
Inuit are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally), Alaska, and Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.
Elisapie Isaac is a Canadian Inuk musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, activist, and actress. She spent her childhood in Salluit, Nunavik, Quebec, and moved to Montreal in 1999 to pursue communication studies in order to become a journalist.
The Living Stone is a 1958 Canadian short documentary film directed by John Feeney and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. It shows the inspiration behind Inuit sculpture, where the aim of the artist is to release the image he or she sees imprisoned in the stone. Among its numerous honours was a nomination, at the 31st Academy Awards, for Best Documentary Short Film.
Inuit Nunangat refers to the land, water, and ice of the homeland of Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ), Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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.
Lucy Tulugarjuk is an Inuit actress, throat singer, and director. She is executive director for the Nunavut Independent Television Network.
Qallunaat! Why White People Are Funny is a 2006 satirical documentary film directed by Mark Sandiford and Zebedee Nungak. The documentary-style film reverses the roles between White Canadians and the Inuit of Northern Canada, highlighting the nature of the treatment of the Inuit by White Canadian society.