Siila speaks for nature
Zach and I have begun editing the feature-length "Inuit knowledge and climate change" film. It's a huge, overwhelming and totally exciting undertaking to begin combing through the footage of elders, scientists and our on the land trips.
Naturally, our first interview to look at was of Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who is a true Arctic ambassador and activist regarding climate change. As some of you may know, she was co-nominated with Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize for her stance on climate change, and generally has an outstanding track record for environmental protection. Interestingly, her Inuktitut name is "Siila", similar to the Inuktitut word "sila", which means "outside", "air", "atmosphere" and "weather". Indeed, Siila speaks for nature, and I encourage you to hear her words.
This past Friday, we were finishing up supper and a CBC Ideas episode was being promoted on the radio for Siila's Lafontaine Baldwin lecture, which she gave this past spring in Iqaluit. We were there filming it for this project. To get a sneak peak at some of our content, listen to the CBC episode online at (scroll down the page and look for Siila's speach):
The LaFontaine Baldwin Lecture
Well, we're getting a large blizzard here in Igloolik, and I'm going to trudge my way home in the snow. As I walk, I'll think about how we all must tread lightly on the "nuna" - our land - and seek to collectively protect the "sila", our environment.
