Nunavut Literacy Council in demand

MIRIAM HILL

There were some disappointed people at Iqaluit’s Unikkaarvik Visitor’s Centre this past weekend, when they showed up for a pottery sale to benefit the Nunavut Literacy Council.

The sale of pottery by the government of Nunavut’s deputy minister of justice, Nora Sanders, was advertised to run from 1 to 3 p.m., but by 1:10 there was only a single mug left on the display table.

Sanders has sold her pottery every year since moving to the territory and always donates the proceeds to the literacy council. This was the most lucrative year ever, with more than $1,200 collected.

Usually Sanders fires her pottery at Arctic College’s facilities, but this year, her friend Matty McNair offered the use of her kiln, allowing Sanders to produce more products and help a cause dear to her heart.

“Literacy has always been of interest to me because I love to read and it’s given me a lot of pleasure in my life and also helped me tremendously being able to read and enjoy words,” Sanders said. “So I like to share that with others.”

The Nunavut Literacy Council received a second early Christmas present this month, when First Air donated just more than $16,000 to the organization.

The Nunavut Literacy Council’s executive director, Kim Crockatt, explained that their funding comes from the National Literacy Secretariat (under HRDC), and they also get a lot of funding from the GN, through the department of culture, language, elders and youth.

But the donated money is more than needed, she said. “There’s been such a demand for our services, especially the workshops, that we’ve had to be very careful not to over-tax our staff, because at times they’re travelling from one community to the next without a break,” she said. “Also there are fiscal restraints because when people want you to go in it’s pretty expensive to fly into communities.”

Over the past year the council has been busy providing training to community groups and organizations on an on-demand basis.

They are normally invited in by community groups who are interested in developing projects or programs that are either literacy-based, or have a literacy component.

“We have facilitators who go into the communities and deliver workshops custom-designed for each community. They are delivered both in Inuktitut and English,” Crockatt said.

“We also bring in resource kits that we leave with the communities so there are enough books and materials for communities to start projects right away. For example if they wanted to start a reading circle, they would have the resources right at hand.”

A third Inuktitut-speaking facilitator was hired this year and once they are all trained, they will be able to go out on their own.

“But part of the problem is they’ve been developing all these different workshops sort of on the fly and so it’ll be a lot easier once we have the workshops refined and people can deliver them,” Crockatt said.

For the upcoming year, the council will be working hard to correct the lack of Inuktitut resources in the territory and expanding the programs already on the go.

Making a dent in the problem of illiteracy in Nunavut is going to be a long-term effort, Crockatt said. Part of the problem is that many parents have become unsure of their role.

“They’ve heard that if they speak Inuktitut to their children they won’t be strong in English in school. That’s not the case at all, it’s actually the reverse,” she said. “So what we’re really going to be working on over the next couple of years is a long-term promotional campaign to try and encourage parents to use the skills they have to prepare their kids for school in their mother tongue, whatever that may be.”

For those disappointed shoppers last week, it seems Sanders’ pottery will be on sale for many Christmas seasons to come.