Photo: Elder abuse awareness day

Elders concentrate as they play a board game earlier this week at the elders home in Iqaluit. June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. This year in Nunavut, the departure of culture and heritage provided money to different communities to assist local elders’ societies to celebrate June 15. “I would like the members and all Nunavummiut to join us in remembering our elders, to encourage them and to respect their knowledge related to the ancient customs of our ancestors,” said the department’s minister James Arreak June 6 in the Nunavut legislature. In Nunavik, people are urged to wear purple on June 15 and to go outside at 3:00 p.m. to honk their vehicles’ horns, as a way of showing support for elders. Many Nunavik communities also have planned parades and activities for elders. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)