Susan Aglukark, community feast draw International Inuit Day crowds
Isaruit Inuit Arts hosts 2-day celebration in Ottawa’s Vanier and Sandy Hill neighbourhoods
Susan Aglukark performs at the Rideau Hub Auditorium in Vanier on Friday as part of Ottawa’s International Inuit Day celebrations. She was joined by Ruben Komangapik, Isaruit Inuit Art’s vice-chair and instructor. Komangapik brought his pug on stage for a drum dance. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)
Ruben Komangapik, founder of Reconseal Inuksiuti, prepares maaktaq sourced from Clyde River hunters for International Inuit Day barbecue Saturday at Annie Pootoogook Park. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)
Snow flurries and cold winds couldn’t keep crowds away from International Inuit Day celebrations in Ottawa, as hundreds gathered for a Susan Aglukark concert and community feast at Annie Pootoogook Park over the weekend.
The event was hosted by Inuit-led arts organization Isaruit Inuit Arts.
International Inuit Day, observed on Nov. 7, was established by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 2006 to honour Inuit culture and celebrate the birth of Greenlandic leader Eben Hopson Sr., organizer of the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
The festivities began on Friday night with Aglukark at the Rideau Hub Auditorium in Vanier, drawing about 350 people.
Aglukark performed from her 10 albums and spoke between songs about her musical journey and career.
This year marked the organization’s first multi-day celebration, said Beverly Illauq, Isaruit’s founding co-ordinator.
“We didn’t know until five weeks ago that Susan could actually come and join us,” Illauq said.
“It was a concert of true reconciliation at a family level, at a regional level for Inuit, but also with all the mainstream people who connected with us through it.”
The celebrations moved outdoors Saturday to Annie Pootoogook Park in Sandy Hill, where a free community event drew long lines for seal stew and a maktaaq barbecue, with whale skin and blubber sourced from Clyde River hunters by co-operative Reconseal Inuksiuti.
The day’s programming included performances from Nunavut Sivuniksavut students.
Coun. Stephanie Plante, who represents Rideau–Vanier ward, addressed the crowd, reflecting on the 2021 renaming of Annie Pootoogook Park as the “first city amenity in Ottawa to ever carry the name of an Inuk person.”
Plante also announced that the renaming ceremony of Emond Park in Vanier, which will become Mary Papatsie Park, will take place on May 6.
The renaming is a tribute to Papatsie, who disappeared in 2017 and whose remains were discovered five years later.
“That means Ward 12 will have two places named after strong, independent Inuit women who deserve this recognition,” Plante said.
The celebrations also included a culture tent, where hunting knowledge was shared by Isaruit Inuit Arts’ elder consultants David Mala Erkloo and his partner Asenath Kannutaq, who kept the warmth by stoking the flames of a qulliq.
The event featured about 15 arts and crafts vendors, Illauq said, including Uasau Soap, an Iqaluit-based soap company that makes products from bowhead whale oil.
The “dedicated” effort behind organizing the celebrations made the event possible, Illauq said, noting the Isaruit team has grown since last November, from 12 to 25 all-Inuit staff.
I always love coming across stories like this, too many Inuit-based news articles are about negative things happenning.