Top essay winner worries about her future

Two young Nunavummiut received the first and third prizes in the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown essay contest, which was open to all grade 11 and 12 students in Nunavut and Prince Edward.

Carla Oyukuluk of Arctic Bay and Teresa Tufts of Iqaluit took home first and third prizes in the contest— and received praise from Nunavut’s education minister Hunter Tootoo in the Nunavut legislature.

Students were asked to write an essay with the theme “Our Arctic – Our Canada, inspired by a speech which Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon gave in Charlottetown last year.

For her winning entry, “Pijjusituqait (Our Past and Present),” Oyukuluk receives a certificate and a $3,000 award, while Tufts takes home a certificate and $1,000.

Angulalik Pederson of Kugluktuk also received an honourable mention for his essay, “Nunavut’s Hunting and Fishing Economies Keep Inuit Traditional Values Strong.”

“I would like to say “congratulations” to Teresa, Carla, and Angulalik for their great work in presenting Nunavut on a broader stage,” Tootoo said Oct. 26.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott tabled Oyukuluk’s prize-winning essay Oct. 22 in the Nunavut legislature.

What Oyukuluk writes in her essay would fit in well with the issues that we consider in this House, Elliott told the legislature.

“Consider what she has to say about education: “If I want to go to college or university, I am worried that I may not be prepared enough. One good advantage of living in Nunavut is that the Government of Nunavut financially supports students who attend college. The Inuit need this benefit in order to train and be educated for positions that people from the south now fill.”

Oyukuluk is “clearly well aware of how decisions made in the international sphere affect us here at home,” Elliott said.

“One of the basic Inuit values is to have a respect for wildlife and it matters that the animals do not suffer when we hunt them. Like Mary Simon, I think people in Canada and abroad need to understand more about the Arctic and the Inuit. It’s difficult for me to understand why people feel it is wrong to hunt seals,” Oyukuluk writes.

Oyukuluk also knows that the decisions made today will impact her life and the lives of her generation tomorrow, Elliott said.

“The weather in the Arctic has changed so much over the past few years. I can see it happening myself and not just through my grandparents’ eyes. Sometime soon, the Northwest Passage will be open. Oil spills and exploration of the Arctic environment will likely threaten the wildlife and habitat we depend on.”