Inuit Day, or International Circumpolar Inuit Day, is celebrated on November 7 of each year. This day commemorates the current and historical cultural contributions of the world’s Inuit communities. Celebrate and learn about the Inuit and amplify their voices with these selections!
Tuktu Says by Nadia Sammurtok
Tuktu, the caribou, plays "Simon says" with his animal friends, Umingmak the muskox, Nanuq the polar bear, Ukaliq the Arctic hare, and Tiriganiaq, the Arctic fox. The book includes instructions so children can play the game along with the characters. Ages 0-3.
Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani by Angnakuluk Friesen
A young girl discusses life in her small Inuit town in Nunavut. The simple text, translated into Inuktitut and written in syllabics and transliterated roman characters, is complemented by warm paintings of the author and illustrator’s shared hometown. Ages 3-7.
Ukpik Learns to Sew by Susan Aglukark
Anaana knows it is more important for Ukpik to learn the skills she will need to make her clothing in the cold Arctic climate, so she insists that Ukpik sit with her and learn the basics while having a bit of fun, too. Ages 6-8.
The Origin of Day and Night by Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt
An Inuit tale of a hare and a fox whose actions change the world forever by creating day and night. Passed orally from storyteller to storyteller for hundreds of years, this beautifully illustrated story gives young readers a window into Inuit mythology. Ages 6-8.
Où est ma fille? par Christy Jordan-Fenton et Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton
Après deux années passées à l'école loin de chez elle, Margaret est excitée à l'idée de rentrer à la maison, dans l'Arctique, et de retrouver sa famille. Mais la réaction de sa mère n'est pas celle qu'elle espérait. Margaret a changé. Elle a oublié comment chasser et pêcher, et elle a même oublié sa langue maternelle. La petite fille retrouvera-t-elle sa place au sein de sa famille ? De 6 à 9 ans.
Read the English version, Not My Girl.
Qummut Qukiria! Art, Culture, and Sovereignty Across Inuit Nunaat and Sápmi: Mobilizing the Circumpolar North edited by Anna Hudson, Heather Igloliorte and Jan-Erik Lundström
Qummut Qukiria! celebrates art and culture within and beyond traditional Inuit and Sámi homelands in the Circumpolar Arctic, from the continuance of longstanding practices such as storytelling and skin sewing to the development of innovative new art forms like throatboxing.
Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories edited by Neil Christopher
Taaqtumi is an Inuktitut word meaning in the dark. These spine-tingling horror stories by Northern writers explain just how dangerous darkness can be.
Tainna: The Unseen Ones, Short Stories by Norma Dunning
Drawing on both lived experience and cultural memory, Norma Dunning brings together six powerful new short stories centred on modern-day Inuk characters united by shared feelings of alienation, displacement and loneliness.
Hunter with Harpoon by Markoosie Patsauq
Published fifty years ago under the title Harpoon of the Hunter, Markoosie Patsauq's novel helped establish the genre of Indigenous fiction in Canada. This new English translation tells the story of Kamik, a young hero who comes to manhood while on a perilous hunt for a wounded polar bear.
Angry Inuk written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
An Inuk filmmaker takes a close look at the central role of seal hunting in the lives of the Inuit, the importance of the revenue they earn from sales of seal skins, and the negative impact that international campaigns against the seal hunt have had on their lives.
