Iqaluit mayor wins Indigenous Voices Award for Inuktitut-language book

Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa has been awarded the 2023 Indigenous Voices Award in the Indigenous language category.

The $5,000 prize — announced Wednesday on National Indigenous Peoples Day — recognizes Awa for the Inuktitut version of his book Animals Illustrated: Narwhal published through Inhabit Media.

The book was chosen by a jury, the majority of which includes Indigenous people, published authors and at least one member fluent in each of English and French.

“The illustrations are instructive on their own. They are so lively that their message transcends the written word,” jurors said in a news release Wednesday.

“The drawings will enthral pre-readers and afficionados of graphic stories will find a good lesson on arctic ecology that is way bigger than this pamphlet.”

Two other Inuit were also finalists for the awards this year. Artist and poet Ashley Qilavaq-Savard was nominated in the Published Poetry in English category for her collection Where the Sea Kuniks the Land.

Babah Kalluk, an artist and illustrator from Resolute Bay, was nominated in the Published Graphic Novels, Comics and Illustrated Books category for his children’s book Niitu and Chips.

Now in their sixth year, the Indigenous Voices Awards honour Indigenous writers and storytellers in lands claimed by Canada.

This year’s awards recognize writers across eight categories including published prose in English and French, published work in an Indigenous language, and published graphic novels, graphics and illustrated books.