Bush Camp Eligible for Cultural Bursary

NAAF and ITK Tour the Arctic to learn about the Northern Way of Life

We tried our best to make Representatives from National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) feel at home while they were in Inuvik and Ulukhaktok this spring on part of their tour through the arctic. They came to fill us in on what the NAAF and ITK can do for Inuit education, and to experience Northern life first hand so they can adjust their policies to serve us better.

It was a whirlwind trip: these representatives talked to youth and educators in our schools and colleges, visited the local government representatives, tried out dog mushing, visited a bush camp and went to a feast in Ulukhaktok as well as attended the opening of the Invitation Project (Quilt of Belonging) in Inuvik. All these gave them an even greater awareness and appreciation for the particular needs and aspirations of the northern Inuit.

Roberta Jamieson, CEO of NAAF, really enjoyed the caribou soup and eskimo doughnuts at Jeffery Amos’ bush camp. She said, “When you’ve been outside for a little while, and you come into the warmth of this fabulous cabin, it’s a welcome respite. A warm stove, a big kettle of caribou soup. I am enjoying it very much. This gives us a better understanding when we receive bursary applications for cultural projects, this very camp could be a cultural project!”

“The whole objective of this tour is to promote the knowledge that we give out scholarships to First Nations and Inuit people all over Canada. We feel that not as many people from the North are applying as they can. A lot of people don’t know what we do; we are translating our materials for the western and eastern arctic. Like the drum dance that we saw last night, these are the very activities that we are interested in funding. People need to know about this and they need to apply!”

Tooneelee Joulee Kootoo-Chiarello of the ITK said the scholarships are there to support any ambition; besides trades, students can also pursue careers in the arts or to be a licensed professional with NAAF support. “Education has always been one of our priorities, and we want Inuit to know that if they have a dream we are here to help them. We need more lawyers and doctors!”

Paulette Tremblay, Director of Education at NAAF said, “Since 1988 we’ve given out over 21 million to First Nations, Mé tis and Inuit students. We also have the NAAF Awards, which highlights aboriginal people and youth who are outstanding in different careers and are role models.” She said sometimes we might have doubts about our ability, but the NAAF Award winners are highlighted to show that “setting goals and achieving them takes dedication and hard work, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it too.”

Jose Kusugak came on board for the ITK-NAAF tour from Ulukhaktok onwards. He said, “I was very pleased with the trip. There were quite a lot of questions asked and the Inuit in the classrooms learnt a lot about their options. Jamieson and her group could also see the geographical and cultural differences between the Inuit and First Nations and will seriously look at honing their policies to serve better.”

Jamieson said, “I’ve been told ever since I’ve been here that many students don’t finish high school. If our programs are only available if you finish high school, that in itself limits the number of applicants. We were told we need to rethink our bursaries and scholarships so both young and older people who want to take an LPN program or be a nurse can qualify. I think it’s a very good point. We were also told we should have more support for the trades and I think we will have a look at that too.”

The tour went from February 26 to March 3, and also visited the Inuit communities of Cambridge Bay, NU, and Iqaluit, NU.

For more information, visit www.naaf.c a and www.itk.c a