Nunavut dispels Inuit stereotypes

Nunavut at 10:  An Unfinished StoryThe creation of Nunavut marked more than a new line on the map.

It marked the rise of a new Inuit voice no longer willing to simply acquiesce to distant dictates, a voice insisting that its view of the world be heard, a voice increasingly prominent on the world's cultural stage.

"We don't just take things at face value any more," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a 2007 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, who speaks worldwide on Inuit life and the environment.

"We used to just say 'yes' to things coming into our lives, even though the impact took away from our own rich culture. We now are in a place, many of us, to say, 'No, this is not good for me.'

"Nunavut can be a part of that confidence building."

Old Stereotype of Passivity is Dying Out

The old stereotype of the passive, easily led Inuk is finally dying out, said Zach Kunuk, a filmmaker whose Inuktitut-language film "Atanarjuat" ("The Fast Runner") won the 2001 best first film award at the Cannes Film Festival.

"I think Inuit people are speaking out more since we got the land claim and we got our own territory," he said from his studio in Igloolik, where he's recently completed a short video on the return of the sun after a long winter's darkness.
Comment:  For more on the subject, see Eskimos:  The Ultimate Aborigines.