Iqaluit museum curator named to national monuments board

Jessica Kotierk’s love of history is what prompted her to accept the nomination to become Nunavut’s representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

“Specifically, I thought it would be good to represent Nunavut and I’m excited to represent Nunavut,” she said.

Kotierk is the manager and curator of the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit.

While technically her four-year term started Dec. 15, her appointment along with three other territorial and provincial representatives from across Canada, was announced May 2 in a news release from Parks Canada.

The board’s role is to designate and recognize places, people and events of historical significance that have shaped not just a particular region, but Canada as a whole.

Anyone can submit a nomination to the board, which has a representative from each province and territory.

Kotierk said she and the rest of the board members will meet twice a year to review nominations for monuments and historic sites, then decide which are worthy of being designated as historically significant.

An example of a historical designation sits just outside Kotierk’s workplace at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.

It is a plaque commemorating Ipirvik and Taqulittuq, an Inuit couple who provided aid to Arctic explorers during the 1860s and 1870s.

According to Parks Canada’s website, there are currently more than 3,000 historical designations across Canada.

The 44 other designations in Nunavut include the Fifth Thule Expedition and the eastern Arctic whaling industry as national historic events; artist and photographer Peter Pitseolak as a national historic person; and the fall caribou crossing in Baker Lake as a historic site.

Kotierk said she will be interested to hear other people’s insight into Canada’s history during board discussions. And she hopes other members will be interested to hear how a subject of historical significance they discuss has impacted Nunavut.

As curator of the museum in Iqaluit, Kotierk said the questions she gets from visitors — and the impact the exhibits make on the visitors — give her a view on what the general public knows and does not know about Nunavut.

“I think that gives me a good idea of what we need to work on or what we want to put forward,” she said, regarding her role in overseeing nominations for potential historical designation.

Kotierk emphasized the public can contribute by nominating a person, place or event.

She added that when a nomination is approved for designation, it helps ensure history is not forgotten and that Nunavut gets recognized. It shows that what happens in places like Nunavut matters and the next generation will know that.

Submitting a nomination through the board’s website can seem like a lot of work, she said, “but I think it’s really worth it.”