Historian, artist, politician: Meet 3 people who've made a difference in Nunavut
Louie Kamookak, Ellen Hamilton and Red Pedersen inducted into Order of Nunavut
This year's Order of Nunavut recipients shared a common message: engaging and investing in Nunavut's youth is the way to continue to build the territory.
Louie Kamookak, Ellen Hamilton and Red Pedersen were each bestowed Nunavut's highest honour Tuesday night at the Nunavut legislature in Iqaluit.
Kamookak, a Gjoa Haven-based historian, was honoured for his decades of work on Arctic history, preserving Inuit oral history and for his role in uncovering artifacts from the Franklin expedition.
Hamilton, an Iqaluit-based artist who moved North when she was 17, received the honour for her contributions to art and culture in Nunavut. She founded the Qaggiavuut Society, and worked on the Qaggiq Project which was recognized as one of the 2015 Laureates of the Arctic Inspiration Prize.
Pedersen, of Kugluktuk, was awarded the honour for his career in public service. He served in the N.W.T. legislature from 1983 to 1991, where he held a number of positions including Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Youth need more pats on the back: Pedersen
Pedersen first moved to Nunavut when he was 17 to take a job as a fur trade apprentice with the Hudson's Bay Company.
The great-grandfather of 38 has seen Nunavut "come out of the stone age and into the space age" – quoting his friend John Amagoalik – and is optimistic Nunavut can still grow. To do that, Pedersen said encouraging the territory's youth is a necessity.
"We dwell far too much on the social problems we have in Nunavut and we say, you know, '15 per cent of our young don't do this and don't do that.' Yeah, well 85 per cent do," Pedersen told CBC News after the ceremony.
"Let's never forget that the difference between a pat on the back and a kick in the rear is about 14 inches. Not much. So be a little more free with the pats on the back, I think we should be."
Pedersen also said Inuit traditional knowledge – or traditional science, as he prefers to call it, to not undermine its importance alongside Western science – still has an important role to play in Nunavut's future, just as it did in its creation.
"More and more, our society is accepting that the knowledge of traditional people is valid and is correct," Pedersen said, adding Nunavut wouldn't have moved into the "space age" without it.
Youth a natural resource: Hamilton
In her speech, Hamilton said the world is in a renaissance of Inuit culture. Nunavut is leading the way, and the territory's youth is its greatest resource.
"It's not the minerals in the rock, or the oil under the sea. It's our youth," Hamilton said.
"We need to harvest that creativity and that energy, just as the Inumariit [elders with traditional knowledge] did."
Hamilton said Nunavut's artists are protecting the strength of Inuit language and culture.
She reminisced back to her days in Pond Inlet working with a theatre company and highlighted the role those with traditional knowledge played in promoting arts and culture. She said they created a place for youth to belong, with a sense that they're valued.
"I'd never seen a play and we were trying to make theatre, but the Inumariit knew how to tell dramatic stories. They told stories and taught songs that had been banned in their time," Hamilton said.
"[The Inumariit] are the royalty of Nunavut. They are the kings and the queens. Their wisdom, their gentility, their humility, their quiet leadership. It's just unparalleled."
Hamilton said many of the elders she knew have died, but given how Nunavut is leading this new renaissance of Inuit culture, now's the time to jump on it to create a new generation of artists and storytellers.
"I did live at a time, 35 or 40 years ago when we had the most incredible Inumariit in our communities running everything. And I don't know if we completely harnessed all of their wisdom as we should have," Hamilton told CBC News.
"Let's not lose this chance now. We have these young people creating things, creating stories, and we need to grab that. They will propel us forward."
Connecting with youth: Kamookak
When Louie Kamookak was a child, his parents, grandparents and great grandparents told him stories every night.
"We didn't have any TV or internet or iPhone," Kamookak told CBC News. "That's what got me interested [in oral tradition]."
But today, Kamookak is finding it harder to share that same experience with his family. Instead of becoming a tool for preserving Inuit oral history, Kamookak said technology is serving as a distraction for today's youth.
"It's getting harder to pass on Inuit oral history," he said.
"It's more, other stuff to see on TV. Way back, we'd hear oral history about legends and some actual events that happened. So it was easier going back to listen because there was no other entertainment in an igloo."
Kamookak said he's trying to pass it on beyond just his family. He visits schools and colleges to share what he's learned.
As for his induction into the Order of Nunavut, he says it's dedicated to the elders who passed on their knowledge to him.
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