January, 2012 - The NCCAH has released a series of fact sheets that make significant contributions to an understanding of Inuit worldviews at the heart of Inuit well-being.
Inuit knowledge, or
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, is a dynamic and living knowledge system. As series author and educator Shirley Tagalik notes, it is key not only to a 'cultural health' approach to the well-being of Inuit children, families and communities in Canada - but also to survival of Inuit in a changing contemporary context.
The series looks at:
After more than a decade of regular meetings across the region, Inuit Elders from Nunavut have now documented Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit cultural knowledge and identified a framework for 'IQ' that can be applied in Inuit society.
"The Elders consider it a matter of urgency to share this knowledge, as far and wide as possible," Tagalik said. "They presented recently at a circumpolar youth conference in Baker Lake that drew participants from northern Quebec, Labrador and the Beaufort Delta - and Elders from different regions came up to them with tears in their eyes. They hadn't heard these things talked about for such a long time. This is something that needs to be shared for all Inuit; and it is knowledge that is resonating with groups from across the circumpolar region."
The Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit framework builds on a series of four principles or laws known as maligait: working for the common good; respecting all living things; maintaining harmony and balance; and continually planning and preparing for the future. The framework also outlines a series of guiding principles and expresses IQ as a process that links Inuit philosophy and action in a changing contemporary context.
Tagalik said the meetings were hosted by the Nunavut Department of Education and involved "phenomenal dedication" on the part of Elders. They had met several times annually since the year 2000 to articulate the Inuit worldview through their own memories and stories, which were tape-recorded and transcribed.
While the goal was originally to ground new Nunavut education curriculum in Indigenous knowledge, Tagalik said the importance of documenting Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit "goes way beyond that."
Cultural revitalization: Pilot project to reach parents in communities across Nunavut
The NCCAH fact sheets are being incorporated in a pilot project geared to cultural revitalization in parenting that will run from January to March 2012 in 10 Nunavut communities (Arviat, Rankin Inlet, Coal Harbour, Iglulik, Iqaluit, Clyde River, Kimmirut, Cape Dorset, Gjoa Haven and Cambridge Bay). Facilitators who were trained in November 2011 will pilot the Inunnguiniq Nunavut Parenting Support Program curriculum in a project funded by the Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services and Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre. The curriculum also includes NCCAH documentary films on parenting.
"It is critical to share this knowledge in early childhood and it has to start with the parents. One of the ways of getting information out to parents is to have a parenting curriculum that builds on the Inunnguiniq process and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit cultural knowledge," said Tagalik. "We are getting this information to the people in the communities who can then put it in the hearts of their children."
More than half of Nunavut's population of 32,000 is under the age of 30, a population cohort that experiences high suicide rates and mental health issues. The independent, Iqaluit-based Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre is receiving $2.4 million in funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada over five years to conduct research and mental health and wellness intervention activites for children and youth, using evidence-based approaches that are consistent with Inuit culture. Among several projects, Qaujigiartiit has identified a 'very strong need' for parenting support programs among Nunavut communities that meet the needs identified by parents.
Myste Anderson, Inunnguiniq Support Coordinator with the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, said the Inunnguiniq Parenting Support Program pilot is part of this five-year research initiative.
“One of the challenges in the north is that great projects come and go with the wind. Research shows that in order to have lasting positive change in families, you need lasting programs to sustain them through periods of stress," said Anderson. "This program is based on ten years of Inuit Elders sharing their knowledge, and we hope it will have staying power.”
The new curriculum builds on stories and direct quotes from Elders, which Anderson said is a powerful approach allowing people to access their 'deeper knowing' and figure out for themselves behaviours and actions that are appropriate for their families and their children. The program is designed in such a way that Elders can be active participants at each gathering.
The curriculum also recognizes and helps address a pressing need for healing from the impacts of the colonial experience, particularly from an education system that separated children from their parents and disrupted parenting practices. “There is a huge amount of hurt that has never been addressed,” Anderson said.
The Inunnguiniq Parenting Support Program is the first of a series of three pilots to be evaluated in Nunavut over the next three years, with the goal of developing a final program that is responsive and evidence-based. At the conclusion of the multi-year project, Qaujigiartiit intends to make the parenting program resources freely available to all Nunavut communities, both online and in print.
Parenting grounded in cultural belief systems
"This pilot project is breaking new ground in the same way that the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society's Bringing Tradition Home: Aboriginal Parenting in Today's World program (see press release) is an Aboriginal-specific curriculum based on values and grounded in beliefs," said Tagalik. "There is an understanding in Indigenous communities that you can't talk about something as important as parenting and separate it from the belief systems of the culture."
Communities involved in the project are recruiting parents who are wanting to learn about their culture. As Tagalik noted, the project is not geared for high risk parents but rather to strengthen cultural knowledge in the home, which in turn must be supported across whole communities. Assessing the impact of various phases of the project will include insights on how parents change their practices.
"This is a cultural revitalization piece first and a parenting piece second."
Tagalik, speaking a day after presenting the fact sheets to Elders in her home community of Arviat, said Elders were thrilled to see their work captured in the documents and in a way that can be shared across the circumpolar world.