Mourning the death of Titirarti

I was saddened to hear of the recent death of Alex Spalding, known to Inuit from Naujaat (Repulse Bay) as Titirarti.

I knew Alex when he worked as the Hudson’s Bay Company clerk in Naujaat in 1949-50 and again in 1953. Because Inuit could not pronounce his English name, they named him Titirarti — the writer (clerk) at the Bay. The last time I spent any time with Titirarti was when he was working on his Inuktitut dictionary in Salliq (Coral Harbour) in 1968.

Titirarti made a huge contribution to the Inuktitut language and to our writing system. In collaboration with Nunavut Arctic College, he published an Inuktitut dictionary in 1998. The dictionary, written in the new standardized orthography, is a collection of words using the Aivilingmiut dialect. The dictionary is well written and the words collected are spelled accurately.

Thomas Kusugaq of Naujaat assisted Titirarti with the work. In the acknowledgments in the Inuktitut dictionary Spalding wrote: “I must here give special thanks to Thomas Kusugaq, my friend and companion at Aivilik in the early 1950s, who worked so graciously and diligently with me on the word-lists which were the basis for this dictionary. He helped me paraphrase many words, sharpening the meanings and connotations of each entry, and he was an unfailing source of intelligence and patience in the whole endeavour.”

When I cannot find words in English his work becomes very useful to me. The word “aqartuq” is not within the English language; Titiraqti explained it as “dandles or plays with the baby on her knee.”

The word “aurtuq” — he stalks seals crawling on his belly (one of the spring seal-hunting methods) is another example. Titirarti’s work has contributed to the preservation, protection and promotion of the Inuktitut language.

On behalf of many people from Naujaat, my original home, I would like to say “qujannamiik” for having been our friend. Your work, Alex Spalding, has had immense impact on the Inuit culture and language. Thank you for your commitment to the Arctic.

Titirarti is remembered fondly by those who knew him. We pass on our condolences and heartfelt sympathies to his relatives.

Peter Irniq
Commissioner of Nunavut