Talking, bonding, making qamutiit: GN program takes suicide prevention program on the road

A program called Atii Angutiit has made its way through the High Arctic, with the goal of helping men gather and interact in the name of suicide prevention.

“The reception has been great,” said Sam Tutanuak, senior adviser with the Department of Health.

“It’s been well received in the communities.”

Tutanuak’s role is focused on how to reduce suicide rates among the male population of Nunavut. He’s one of six members of the Atii Angutiit team. The other members are Nunavut rapper Hyper-T, Jennifer Wakegijig, Patrick Beland, Joe Hadfield and Sikati Kusugak.

Atii Angutiit provides men a space to bond and have conversations about difficult topics during two-day community gatherings.

This September, the program went to Grise Fiord, Resolute Bay, Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay. Tutanuak says attendance was great, ranging between 20 to 70 people, with Pond Inlet bringing one of the bigger crowds.

Last year, the program toured through the Kivalliq.

“It was overwhelming, it was touching,” he said of the experience.

Tutanuak described the inspiration for Atii Angutiit. He said he built on his previous work in suicide prevention, and that he felt giving men the opportunity to talk amongst themselves was an avenue worth exploring. To help men open up, the program pairs these conversations with activities like qamutiik-building—which is traditional sled for ice and snow—as well as musical performances.

“Men in general don’t speak of challenges or emotions openly,” Tutanuak said, explaining that Inuit men especially tend to be more action-oriented.

Everyone participating is informed that the first part of the program will be the more difficult of the two days.

Participants put nails up on a board that says “taima.”  Those nails represent friends and family who have been lost to suicide.

“Addressing the losses that we’ve had in Nunavut from suicide was heavy,” Tutanuak said.

“There was a lot of nails pounded on the boards in all the communities we went to.”

After that, the program pivots to more energetic exercises and events, like performances by Nunavut artists like Hyper-T, a young rapper from Chesterfield Inlet. With Hyper-T in the program, Tutanuak said he hopes more youth will attend.

There were plans for Atii Angutiit to also go to Clyde River this fall, but the group was not able to make it as planned, Tutanuak said. But he emphasized he and his team will find another date to make it there. It’s part of a bigger goal, to take Atii Angutiit to every Nunavut community.

“Our team looks forward to going to the communities we haven’t been to yet,” Tutanuak said.