Boxes of Inuktut books on their way to young Nunavut readers

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. has teamed up with Inhabit Media to bring Inuktut books to Inuit children across Nunavut.

The goal is to support language learning at home, said an NTI release on the kits.

“NTI is a proud supporter of Inuktut language revitalization, education and promotion,” states NTI president Aluki Kotierk in the release.

“By giving young school children the resources to learn our language, we are giving them the opportunity to thrive in the Inuktut language.”

About 2,000 boxed kits were shipped out March 26, NTI told Nunatsiaq News.

They are going to families with children in kindergarten and Grade 1, but include books and resources for the entire family, NTI said.

Each one contains picture books, two adult books, five early childhood education books, three boxed sets of 10 books each, four activity books and four young adult books.

There’s also a DVD of traditional stories, a boxed set of season 1 of the Inuktut children’s television program Anaana’s Tent, and and CDs of Anaana’s Tent songs and Inuktitut songs.

A manual on how to support literacy at home is also in every box.

Teachers of students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 in Nunavut schools will receive and distribute the kits in their classes, NTI said.

The kits cost $1.3 million. The money comes from the federal Indigenous Communities Support Fund from the Government of Canada, which last November gave NTI $7.7 million.

“Nunavut Inuit children have faced significant barriers and impacts in their learning as a result of mandatory [pandemic-related] school closures,” said NTI communications spokesperson Karen Flaherty.

Last year, NTI and Inhabit Media teamed up to make Inuktut books available without charge online during the pandemic.