Readers pen touching tributes for Nunavut Day

Nunatsiaq News readers came through with touching and delightful reflections about their corner of the vast territory they live in.

A couple weeks ago — with Nunavut Day on the horizon — we asked readers to tell us a bit about their part of the territory, what makes it special and what they love about it.

Writers from all corners of the territory — Kugluktuk in the west, Baker Lake in the centre and Iqaluit in the east — chimed in to share their perspectives. There were even a couple submissions from southerners who are originally from the North, or who had a tie to the North, during their careers.

Beginning Thursday through Saturday, we’re publishing the submissions we received. They will also appear in the July 8 e-edition of Nunatsiaq News.

On Saturday, we’ll publish a list of all of the My Corner articles. It will be one-stop shopping so you can spend part of your Nunavut Day weekend reading them, one after another.

A shout-out to Gjoa Haven, which is well-represented with three submissions. Another observation — all but three of the articles were written by women! Next year, gentlemen, we hope to hear from more of you.

Take some time to read what your fellow Nunavummiut had on their minds as Nunavut Day approaches.

It was a real treat to read so many thoughtful, candid, poignant reflections.

What comes through is an abiding love of the land, a cultural emphasis on family, and the importance of traditions and language. Food’s a big deal, too. Writers touched on fish, caribou, muskox and seal just to name some of what Tanya Hiqiniq called “our delicacy” that comes from the land.

It appears some articles were tapped out on a phone, based on some of the short forms that writers used. We left the submissions in the writer’s own words, as much as possible, to preserve their voice.

Nunatsiaq News offered three $500 gift cards to Northern or Co-op stores. Our staff held a draw on Wednesday afternoon and we’re pleased to report that the winners are: Anna Aaluk from Gjoa Haven; Ida Porter from Gjoa Haven; and Tanya Hiqiniq from Baker Lake. We will be in touch next week to find out which store they would like to receive the gift card from and to make arrangements to send it to them.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first My Corner of Our Land writing exercise. Hopefully, Nunatsiaq News has launched a new tradition with this and we’ll do it all over again next July.

In the meantime, spend some time with this year’s delightful submissions.

Happy Nunavut Day!