Global Courant
Article content
Illustration by Inuit author Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk by artist Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona. Photo by Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona/Google
For National Indigenous Peoples Day, Google honors the Inuit author with a Google Doodle.
Doodles change the Google logo on the homepage of the website to mark anniversaries and holidays and celebrate famous figures.
The illustration is by Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, an Inuit artist from Ottawa.
“I know that millions of Canadians will see the Doodle, and I would like to think that ‘Canada’ can be rebranded as an Indigenous nation,” Kabloona said in a statement. “But I don’t create for people who need to learn; I create for my own community. I am very happy that the younger generations of Inuit will see themselves represented in their own country.”
Article content
Norma Dunning, a professor at the University of Alberta, said “it’s just unbelievable” what talent Nappaaluk had as a writer.
Nappaaluk, who passed away in 2007, lived in Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, a small town on Hudson Strait. She is best known as the author of one of the very first Inuktitut novels, Saanaq, which was published in 1984.
“It’s a great insight into our way of life before colonization: full of humor, family and adventure. I loved reading it and learned many new Inuktitut words,” said Kaloona.
It was first translated into French and later translated into English and published in 2014.
“Because of that incredible timestamp she wrote, it covers so many changes that happened in northern Canada and you know — they had colonization that happened so much later, and so much faster for Inuit Canadians compared to First Nations or Métis,” Dunning said “That’s one of the beautiful things about her book. You see the speed and change that just happened, how fast it happened. How suddenly Inuit are working outside their communities.”
Article content
Nappaaluk grew up following traditional Inuit practices and learned to write in Inuktitut syllables while teaching missionaries how to speak the language. The novel was initially written in Inuktitut syllables.
By the time she won the Indspire Award in 1999, Nappaaluk had written 22 books, many of them about hunting and fishing, the Inuktitut language and landscapes of her homeland, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia. She was also involved in the Kativik School Board and contributed to Inuktitut language curricula and cultural awareness.
She was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2004 and was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from McGill University in 2000.
“I think she would love this because she loved people, she loved her community,” said Dunning.
