Iqalummiut come out to celebrate Nunavut Day

Live concerts. Hot dogs. Country food. 

Hundreds of Iqalummiut came out to celebrate Nunavut Day on Saturday, marking the 29th anniversary of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement passing in Parliament in 1993. 

Nunavut formally came into being later, on April 1, 1999.

Saturday’s celebration in Iqaluit took place in the Igluvut parking lot, near the office of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the event’s sponsor.

Across the territory, similar events took place to celebrate the popular summer holiday.

NTI president Aluki Kotierk was at the celebration in Iqaluit and presented her opening remarks entirely in Inuktitut. She said this is a reminder that Indigenous languages need to be a part of big celebrations like Nunavut Day. (Photo by Meral Jamal)

Hosted by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Nunavut Day celebration marked a return to in-person events for the first time since the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 began in March 2020. 

“One of the things that we often say is that when we’re together and happy, we like to share food. So it’s always wonderful to have a celebration like this,” NTI president Aluki Kotierk told Nunatsiaq News. 

Kotierk was at the celebration in Iqaluit and presented her opening remarks entirely in Inuktitut. She said it’s a reminder that Indigenous languages need to be a part of big celebrations like Nunavut Day. 

“We need to continue to speak Inuktitut because it’s the International Decade of Indigenous Languages and we need to continue to take pride in our culture.” 

For Kotierk, speaking Inuktitut is also important given the upcoming visit by  Pope Francis on July 29, when he is expected to deliver a formal apology. She said speaking the language is part of the “resistance and to showcase and be extra proud of our language and our culture.” 

Nunavut’s MP Lori Idlout was at the celebration in Iqaluit as well and said Nunavut Day “is the best celebration all year because we’re celebrating the creation of a government that works for us.”

For the NDP politician, the occasion is also important due to the anxiety many people in the community are experiencing with the Pope’s upcoming visit. 

She hopes honouring Nunavut Day helps the community heal. Many Nunavummiut are survivors of the residential school system, the federal government program in place for a century until 1996, designed to separate Indigenous Peoples from their language and culture. Most of the schools were run by the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.

She said it’s important that “people realize they don’t need to wait for the Pope’s apology.” 

Along with in-person celebrations, NTI hosted virtual Nunavut Day celebrations across the territory as well. The event lineup included a home cooking challenge and a house, boat and shack decorating contest in all three of the territory’s regions.

Prizes for the home cook challenge include $3,000 for the top adult recipe entry and $5,000 for the top house, boat or shack decoration.

Details on events and how to enter contests for Nunavut Day can be found on NTI’s website.