CIERA Annual Workshop Inuit Women and

LeadershipLaval University

April 18, 2013

Inuit Women Educational Leaders: ‘Expanding Vision’ and ‘Creating

Futures’Naullaq Arnaquq, Fiona Walton,

Darlene O’Leary

UPEI CURA ResearchThemes and findings from this research emerge from:

Inuit Educational Leadership Workshop held in Iqaluit in February 2012, and

Interviews with Inuit women educational leaders who are graduates and current students in the UPEI Master of Education Nunavut program

Inuit Educational Leadership WorkshopIqaluit, February 2012

Inuit Educational Workshop and Interviews

Inuit women educators who shared their perspectives at the workshop and in interviews are strongly motivated:

to give back to their communities,

to empower others to achieve their goals, and

to continue to strengthen Inuit language and culture.

Inuit Educational Workshop and Interviews

There are still barriers that Inuit women educators face, including:

lack of access to university graduate education,

overcoming intergenerational trauma resulting from colonialism,

maintaining Inuit identity in a changing society, and

finding their own voice, identity and confidence.

Inuit women’s leadership foundations

“We relied on our Elders to tell us the story, to pass on the knowledge. That’s how we were taught, by talking to us orally, and using tales from the past... We have to have a grounding, a place where we start from and understanding who we are ….that’s where all my starting points come from, especially from what I have heard from other Inuit and that’s where I form my direction and that’s how I have been able to perform as a leader.”

Mary Simon, former President, Inuit Tapariit Kanatami (February 2012)

Inuit leadership and community“My style of a leader is to work for the common good, to build healthy communities. …You can be a leader and not give a damn about your resume, because you are just striving for something for something good, for something better.” 

Millie Kuliktana, MEd graduate

Kugluktuk, NU (February 2012)

Inuit leadership improving communities

VIDEO:Caption not available

Inuit leadership and community

“I think, in smaller communities, you see all your colleagues or peers and your Elders, and you don't want to be seen as a leader, it's very intimidating to be seen as a leader. You grow, you're pushed. When you're pushed by the Elders, the leaders in the community, to become a leader, [its] only then can you start sounding your voice ….So in order to be a very vocal leader, you almost…need a group of your community to back you up…the community has a big role in creating a leader…”

Jukeepa Hainnu, MEd graduate and Principal, Quluaq High School

Clyde River, NU (July 2012)

Colonial consciousness and need for recovery

“There is a lot of consciousness that we don’t have about why we keep on measuring ourselves towards other people’s standards and not measuring our own culture as something valuable. Even in Greenland where we struggle and struggle a lot to put more culture in the school, still a lot of people (are not) aware of how … the colonial history has shaped us inside.”

Aviaja Lynge, Institute of Arctic Education University of Greenland

(February 2012)

Colonial consciousness and need for recovery

“I just want to make myself available for people who have gone through what I did, and more … the residential school experience. So I got (healing) training and I’m available anytime people need somebody to talk to. … At the apology … all the things that happened in the past … just started to come back … and I had gone through the healing process … so I told my 7-year-old self, that’s the age when I went to school, I told the 7‑year-old child in me, this is for you”

Monica Ittusardjuat, MEd graduate Iqaluit, NU (February 2012)

Importance of higher education

“I want more Inuit educators to deal with what’s holding them back. Even though we are being told you can’t do this or that [we] still need to speak.…The more Inuit [are] educated with higher degrees, the more people will want to see themselves as equal. If more students go through the Masters program, it will become the norm.”

Peesee Pitsiulak Stephens (February 2012)

Importance of higher education

VIDEO:“Well there is not enough, I only know of one, one Inuk person who has a Masters in Education and I think that we need to start developing that, it's not because it's just one, but we need to build that professional expertise as Inuit so we can start depending and building on our human resources, on the local and regional level. I feel that too much emphasis is going outside, getting outside consultant, where, we already know all our, the content, but always depending, so it, I think an M.Ed. course also develops on the ability to start becoming autonomous as a society. …I think, personally, the fact that I am going to school, I'm going on to do my Masters, I know that it will be easier for my children, and for the younger generation and to say ... it's possible, the possibility is there.”

Importance of higher education

VIDEO: “… [MEd] it's empowering just to be in the classes, and so you want to, with each new thing that you learn you want to do more things that you might have thought were impossible to do, and because I've been research side of things, I used to think, well, we're surveyed, I'm surveyed out, I'm researched out, but really, if we're looking at research, I think I want to be involved in research side of things, because I think our Inuk voice and an Inuk researcher is what's needed out there, because there are so many things that socially, should be looked at, and find ways in how we can help, to voice those in print or on print and it's just endless, limitless.”

Concluding pointsInuit culture, language, and values

provide a strong foundation for fostering identity, confidence, and leadership.

Inuit leadership is traditionally non-authoritarian and communally-oriented.

Developing critical consciousness and recovering from colonization enables Inuit women educators to take on leadership;

Participation in decolonizing education contributes to empowerment and builds leadership capacity.