Success Stories

My people have inhabited Nunavut for thousands of years and gained intimate knowledge of animals, birds, fish, plants. Climate Change is a serious threat to the arctic. Many outside of the Inuit community are talking about wildlife management plans in the face of rapid environmental change. This project drew on the wisdom of Inuit elders to document and explore traditional Inuit management practices of key species including Arctic Char, Polar Bear, Seal in order to add a critical dimension to the discussion and debate about how we cope and adapt to a changing north.

The goal of Tusaqtuut is to gather invaluable Inuit Core Knowledge from our elders – the last group of Inuit Elders who lived before assimilation – and ensure that their irreplaceable knowledge is promoted, protected, and maintained for generations to follow. Through our elders we have a wealth of experience of, expertise in, and connection to, the environment that will prove to be invaluable in our response to the international crisis that is climate change. We as a global community must draw on all the knowledge and wisdom at our disposal - from every culture, tradition, place and perspective - in order to arrive at the most promising, innovative, responsive and effective solutions. And we must do this now since everyday we see the evidence of a warming arctic from the early melting of Frobisher Bay to the change in the quality of a sealskin.

So far, we have been able to do a lot with a little but we are collecting huge amounts of information and data and we need to be able to properly codify, transcribe, and store that information. Thanks to the support of Small Change Fund donors, we were able to buy a couple of laptops so that we can work efficiently and ensure the safety and usability of the knowledge our elders pass on to us.  Thank you.