Ten Nunavut students score Kakiniit grants

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. announced July 8 the final recipients of the Kakiniit grants program for cultural and post-secondary education.

Kakiniit awards ten $1,000 grants each year – five to students seeking to improve cultural or traditional skills and another five to students enrolled in post-secondary programs.

This year’s recipients include:

• Marie Belleau, Emily Karpik, Romani Makkik and Annabella Piugattuk of Iqaluit;

• Caroline Ipeelie-Qiatsuk and Nakasuk Alariaq of Cape Dorset;

• Eva Noah of Baker Lake;

• Leslie Qammaniq of Pond Inlet;

• Sandra Pijamini of Grise Fiord and;

• Teevi Mackay of Ottawa.

“The Kakiniit grants program in an indication of the importance NTI places upon supporting cultural and academic educational opportunities for Inuit,” said NTI president Cathy Towtongie in a news release. “The program has been a resounding success.”

In the same release, Premier Eva Aariak said the success of the territory’s students will have “a direct impact on Nunavut’s future.”

But this is the last year that Kakiniit grants program will be offered in Nunavut; NTI has replaced it with the new Jose Amaujaq Kusugak Scholarship Program, which will offer two Inuit students $5,000 each to pursue post-secondary studies in education or the Inuit language.

The deadline to apply for the new scholarship is July 9.

Applicants to the new scholarship can attend Nunavut Arctic College or academic institutions in southern Canada. An NTI jury will review the applications and select the students based on their fields of study, a written essay, and references.