2015 Winning Entries
The Representative for Children and Youth’s office organized this contest in celebration of National Child Day on November 20, 2015. This contest was an opportunity to raise awareness of our new office and to start young Nunavummiut talking about their rights. The theme for 2015 was “right to culture.” The entries we received this year truly inspired our team. We received both short essays and artwork with written statements from young people across the territory on what the right to culture means to them. All of these entries showed that young Nunavummiut are fiercely proud of their culture!
Our office is thrilled to announce the winners of our first-ever Your Story, Your Voice Contest:
Tanner Kalluq – Resolute Bay
Winner Kindergarten to Grade 3 Category
Prize: LeapFrog Leappad
“My culture is important to me because it makes me who I am.”
Byron Rudolph – Gjoa Haven
Winner Grade 4 to Grade 7 Category
Prize: iPod Nano
“I have the right to my culture because we could go hunting or go seal hunting in the spring and if we catch a caribou or seal in the spring we can cook the meat. When I go hunting I always shoot an Elder’s gun and if I catch a caribou or if we catch a caribou, our elders always teach us how to skin the caribou.”
Sarah Sagiaktuk – Kimmirut
Winner Grade 8 to Grade 12 Category
Prize: iPad Mini
“Being an Inuk means so much to me. There are over seven billion people in the world and I am Inuk, and that makes me feel so lucky and thankful. In our culture we throat sing, seal hunt, go camping, boating during the summer and travel around the ice during the winter by dog teams. We travel to Iqaluit by snowmobile. We also go berry picking, ptarmigan hunting and have feast gatherings with everyone welcomed. We make homemade boots, coats, pants and even mitts made of seal skin, fox fur, rabbit fur and other wild animals. In our culture everyone we know is welcomed in our homes. Going out on the land makes me feel so Inuk. Honestly, I just love being Inuk. In addition, the youth in Kimmirut have the opportunity to go out on the land every Saturday for the next ten weeks with guides to hunt, fish, catch ptarmigan and learn how to build an igloo. This will be very exciting and will expand my knowledge of my Inuit culture.”
Netsilik School’s High School Class – Taloyoak
Winner Classroom Participation Category
Prize: Pizza Party