'She claimed very little for herself'
Promoter of Inuit culture and heritage leaves a legacy that will endure
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 17, 2014
IGLULIK
Iglulik lost one of its most influential and respected citizens March 7, and the news has reverberated around the world as friends and colleagues remember Leah Aksaajuq Otak for her tireless promotion of Inuit culture.
Otak passed away in Ottawa at the age of 64 after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer.
Her contributions to her community, her territory and her culture spanned many genres and she cared deeply about bridging the gap between Inuit and southerners.
John MacDonald, a former Iglulik resident who worked alongside Otak at the Iglulik Research Centre, said she was instrumental in helping different cultures understand each other when they interacted.
"She was, in many ways, a fascinating person and someone who could be described as being in the middle of two cultures," he said from his home in Ottawa, where he now lives.
"She had this pivotal role in interpreting one culture to the other. She was able to give access to many southern researchers through the oral history project, through her own knowledge, through her contacts and the trust she had received from elders in Iglulik. She was really able to make Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit accessible to southern scientists."
Otak and her family moved to Iglulik in the spring of 1967, after spending some time at an isolated outpost called Illuajuaq.
In an August 2011 interview, she recalled what life was like there, where none of today's commodities were available.
"They (hunters) consulted the leader whenever the weather permitted them to hunt on a daily basis," she told Nunavut News/North.
"They were our providers. They enjoyed providing for their families. They loved their children and families; likewise with the females. They enjoyed making garments and making clothing for their families back then."
Otak's vast knowledge of traditional Inuit clothing was recognized internationally, and she was the driving force behind successful exhibitions in England and the United States.
In Nunavut, Otak was also known for her passion for languages, which she passed down to her children.
She was a broadcaster in the early days of CBC North and translated a number of children's books.
MacDonald said she was a perfectionist whose expertise in Inuktitut was known across the Eastern Arctic.
"People from all over would call Leah to get her advice on the usage of certain words," he said.
"She was a lot more than passively interested in the language. She was actively interested. This interest, in itself, was a huge help when she was doing her work with oral history, as she often dealt with archaic expressions, or words that were no longer used."
Otak and MacDonald began working together in the mid 1980s, when she was brought to the Iglulik Research Centre to work as the operations manager.
It was around this time that a major oral history project was launched, an endeavour she continued until her death.
During this time, she amassed several hundred hours of interviews, which were transcribed and archived so they could be accessible for years to come.
The tapes would even be played on the community radio station on Saturday mornings.
Her work was recognized in 2000 when the local elders group, known as the Inullariit Society, received the Northern Science Award from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
MacDonald said Otak would often arrange grants for the society, which lead to a variety of educational programs for Inuit youth.
"She was also involved in the Iglulik return of the sun celebrations, and by gathering information on Inuit astrology and cosmology, was able to recreate some of the older celebrations," he said.
"Often, she worked in the background in all of this.
Just in her modest way, she made things happen. She was very traditional in that way. She claimed very little for herself."
E-mails to MacDonald have poured in from all over the world - Holland, Scotland, England and different parts of Canada, to name a few - since the news of Otak's passing.
Judging from the letters, he added, she meant a lot of different things to different people.
"One researcher she worked with for a number of years now teaches at Dalhousie University," he said.
"As he walked out of his classroom he checked the e-mail on his phone and when he learned of the news, he burst into tears. They always knew how crucial Leah was to their work."
