Students will research the Inuit style of filmmaking and list key points involved in the process by reading selections written by the three founding members of Igloolik Isuma Productions, the makers of the films Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.… Read more
Students will learn about country foods, or the traditional foods of the Inuit, and how these foods are acquired from the land and sea. Students will also compare the cost of maintaining a traditional diet with the cost of maintaining a diet consisting of food from the south. Finally, students will prepare and enjoy a traditional Inuit bread, bannock.
In Part 1 of the lesson, to be completed in the classroom, students will be introduced to the language of Inuktitut and will practice pronouncing and writing selected words using Inuktitut syllabics. Then, using the Internet, small groups of students will create an Inuktitut/ English ABC book, complete with illustrations.… Read more
Students will differentiate between weather and climate. For 1 month, they will collect and graph daily temperature and precipitation data at school and use the Internet to collect the same data for a community in Nunavut. Students will then discuss how the long-term daily weather averages begin to describe each climate.
Content Areas: Social Studies, Science, Technology
Prior to watching Artcirq (Circus School), students will discuss some of the social problems plaguing the youth of Igloolik and other communities in Nunavut, as well as steps being taken to combat these issues.… Read more
Prior to watching Nanugiurutiga (My First Polar Bear), students will review the significance of hunting in the Inuit culture. Students will also complete a KWL Chart about polar bears, filling in teacher provided facts about this Arctic animal. Students will discuss the two threats to the survival of the polar bear: hunting and global warming.… Read more
Prior to watching Qimuksik (Dog Team), students will complete a KWL Chart and will learn general information about Nunavut and the Inuit. Following the film, students will revisit their chart, adding any information they learned during the lesson. Students will then reflect on the film and illustrate a scene that they recall, complete with a brief description.
On December 7, 2005, Silla Watt-Cloutier and sixty-two Inuit
hunters and elders from communities across Canada and Alaska filed a petition with
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.… Read more
I made a trip across the largest lake I’ve ever seen to where the long noses live. There on the hill Boulders sat in a Talking Circle. I walked around and gave tobacco. They squeezed their stone-ground hands… Read more
An extended interview with Zacharias Kunuk conducted in Igloolik in 2004 by Joysanne Sidimus, originally printed in her book, Reflections in a Dancing Eye: Investigating the Artist's Role in Canadian Society.
A video of a lesson using the ‘Exploring Inuit Culture Curriculum’ of Isuma. Bringing Inuit culture into primary schools for the International Polar Year, the EICC is a multi-media unit for grades 4-6 about Inuit culture, the Arctic and Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut.… Read more