Honoured for literacy leadership
Language advocate chose career after growing up with speech delay
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Monday, September 28, 2015
MITTIMATALIK/POND INLET
Growing up as a boy few people could understand, Elijah Tigullaraq became determined to help others.
Elijah Tigullaraq: Won a literacy award for
Nunavut. |
Today, the Pond Inlet man can look back at almost 40 years of work as a teacher and support consultant for Qikiqtani School Operations.
"I hold this job because I have a special thing for language, due to the fact that I grew up with a speech delay," Tigullaraq said. "Much of the time people couldn't understand me, so I consider language to be very important to me."
For his work helping teachers develop programming in Inuktitut and English - and therefore helping children build their communication skills - he was honoured this month as Nunavut's recipient of the 11th annual Council of the Federation Literacy Award.
"I was surprised and thrilled at the same time," he said. "But overall, just surprised. I wasn't expecting it at all."
The honour came with a statement from the territory's leader.
"As an outstanding and dedicated educator, Elijah has not only inspired numerous students, but also his co-workers," Premier Peter Taptuna stated in a news release.
But there is a degree of personal satisfaction from the work done by Tigullaraq over the years.
"My job is really worth it because many of the first students I ever had are now servicing me in the community as civil servants," Tigullaraq said. "That's good to see because you see part of what you did 30 or 40 years ago. Now you see the result and feel good about it. When I see former students contributing to the community, no matter how they contribute, I feel part of their success."
But there are always challenges, among them the diversity of ways to express the languages.
"There is no standard Inuktitut, no standard way of writing," he said. "That's a real challenge because not all Inuit use the same writing system. It's a big challenge just communicating either in syllabics or Roman orthography, whatever it may be. There's no standard dialect that we work with and dialect is another barrier that is a challenge for some people.
"Another challenge is trying to get Inuit people to become teachers. There are many challenges, but we do overcome them."
Now 56 years old, Tigullaraq has worked in education since he was 17 or 18, he said, working in various locations across Nunavut. He became an administrator in 2006.
He received the award for his leadership and his commitment to use methods "inspired by Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ)," according to the government release.
"I consider IQ as traditional knowledge. We have to continue this to the day we die. I use it as the foundation of my teaching and support," he said.
An award presentation has yet to be scheduled.
