It’s “Inulirijikkut” for new Nunavut social affairs department

The new Government of Nunavut department known in English as the Department of Family Services will be called Inulirijikkut in the Inuit language, Monica Ell, minister responsible for the department, told MLAs May 7.

The word is based on the term “inuliriji,” which in the Inuit language usually means “social worker” or “a person who works with people” and has been used for decades.

“The term Inulirijikkut is already widely known and accepted across the territory. We believe that it will be less confusing by keeping the literal translation,” Ell said in a statement in the legislature.

She said her staff consulted with the Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtit language authority and that the word was adopted after “much lively debate.”

The Inuinnaqtun version of the name is spelled “Inuliriyikkut” in Ell’s minister’s statement.

The Department of Family Services began life this past April 1, following a decision in July 2012 to split the old Department of Health and Social Services into two standalone departments.

The new family services department will be responsible for social services, income support, social advocacy, the anti-poverty secretariat and homelessness.

The move is part of a big restructuring effort that’s based on a report done for the GN by consultant Ken Lovely, a former territorial civil servant.