Research hones in on hamlet
History of Gjoa Haven and Naujaat examined in Nanivara project
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Monday, April 4, 2016
UQSUQTUUQ/GJOA HAVEN
Nanivara, a participatory research project based in the communities of Gjoa Haven and Naujaat, received international attention in March when six youth from those two communities travelled to Norway to present as a panel at the Arctic Indigenous Education Conference.
Robin Ikkutisluk of Gjoa Haven shows some artifacts Roald Amundsen brought back to Norway from his time in Gjoa Haven. - photo courtesy of Nanivara Project |
Krista Zawadski of Rankin Inlet is a masters' student at the anthropology department at the University of British Columbia and acted as project facilitator for phase one of the project. She's part of a team that works with Dr. Frank Tester, the professor of social work who also spearheaded the Nanisiniq Arviat History Project.
Zawadski explains a member of the UBC Nanivara team went to Naujaat and one went to Gjoa Haven, and spent the summer of 2015 with high school students "doing these activities to teach research methodology and looking at archival material.
"The focus is the history of their community," she said. "It's not necessarily the history of Canada or the history of Nunavut, the focus is their community and they can expand from there when things tie in to that history."
In all, 23 youth learned photography, interview skills and how to edit interviews and film. The objective is to create a narration of what they learn from the elders.
Robin Ikkutisluk of Gjoa Haven joined the Nanivara project, and what began as something to do for the summer has piqued her interest in the field of anthropology. Her participation has also renewed her interest in attending university to further immerse herself in this area of study.
"We interviewed our elders, where they came from, their history, how they interacted with qallunaat and language," said Ikkutisluk.
As the three-year project advances, the youth's work becomes available to the public on the website nanivara.ca and at the Nattilik Heritage Centre in Gjoa Haven, said Ikkutisluk.
Kautokeino, the social and cultural hub of the Sami people of Norway, hosted the education conference this year.
"Our panel was accepted - three from Naujaat and three from Gjoa to describe the project and what they've learned," said Zawadski.
The panel presented its work, and afterwards the youth answered questions.
"They were pretty shy, but when they were asked questions they really went out there and spoke clearly and eloquently. Some of their responses were powerful. You could literally see the confidence building each day as they were interacting with people from across the Arctic."
Attendees at the conference included people from Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Canada and other Arctic nations.
Zawadski says she wasn't sure what to expect, not having travelled with youth before.
"I was just blown away (by them) most of the time."
Ikkutisluk says it was a big experience for most of the group, and she enjoyed the presentations from the other Arctic countries, such as the Sami.
"A lot of good talks," she said, adding, "When we got back I had culture shock."
In Oslo, the youth had the opportunity to visit with the Roald Amundsen collection at the Museum of Cultural History. Amundsen brought the items, gathered during his stay with the people of Gjoa Haven from 1903 to 1905, home to Norway from his Northwest Passage expedition.
"A bunch of these students had never left Nunavut. Since there are no museums in their communities, this was the first time seeing museum collections," said Zawadski.
"For me that was a highlight. I'm from Rankin Inlet, I'm Inuk, but I'm a masters' student at UBC and my research is all on museums. That was the highlight for me, going into that collection and sharing that experience with these youth.
"Being able to look at these objects and interact with the curator and the conservator, and talking about these objects ... that was a lot of fun."
The next phase of Nanivara, if all goes as planned, will see UBC team members returning to Naujaat and Gjoa Haven to continue the training and project work.
"What we're hoping is to take some of the youth to Ottawa to actually research at the Library and Archives Canada, maybe at a few museums. That's in the works, not confirmed yet."
However, a panel has been accepted to the Inuit Studies Conference 2016 to be held in St. John's, N.L., Oct. 7 to 10.
With the modest three-year-old heritage centre already in Gjoa Haven, and a Franklin centre recently announced by the federal government, Zawadski hopes the work the youth are doing with Nanivara will pique their interest.
"The premise of my research is access to museums. I do believe once people have access, it opens a whole new world."
