Aaju Peter named distinguished alumnus of University of Victoria

Iqaluit lawyer and activist Aaju Peter has been named a recipient of the University of Victoria’s alumni award for her contributions to Indigenous communities.

“She continues to defend Inuit rights in Canada and Greenland, raise global awareness of the challenges facing Inuit communities and fights to preserve their language and culture, especially the seal hunt,” the award profile published by the British Columbia university said.

Peter is one of the four former students to receive the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards in the Indigenous Community Alumni Award category.

She got her bachelor of laws degree in 2005 as part of the inaugural graduating class of the Akitsiraq program, a partnership between University of Victoria Law school, the Akitsiraq Law School Society and Nunavut Arctic College.

“I’m so proud to have gone to school at UVic,” Peter said in her award profile.

“Most of us had no money, especially me. They [professors] had a tough learning curve, but they did it so well. They were incredibly accommodating and understanding.”

Other recipients include artist and educator Crystal Clark, researcher and residential school survivor Verna Miller, and entrepreneur and Indigenous advocate Marcia Turner.

The award recognizes alumni who have made contributions to Indigenous communities, which have “improved outcomes for Indigenous people and contributed to truth and reconciliation,” the award profile said.

Peter is a Greenlandic Inuk who spent most of her life in Nunavut advocating for Inuit culture, language and the seal hunting rights, following the 2009 seal ban by the European Union.

She is a recipient of numerous awards including the Order of Canada in 2012, and appeared in documentaries Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos; Arctic Defenders; Angry Inuk; and Twice Colonized.