UNews - Emily Angulalik

Chambers leads overseas project

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:57:12 +0000

The British Museum's collection of Inuinnait (Inuit) objects is part of a visual repatriation project that saw northern elders, crafts people and researchers – including the U of L's Dr. Cynthia Chambers of the Faculty of Education visit the British Museum in London, England in mid-April.

In the above photo, Helen Balanoff, Emily Kudlak and Chambers hold a ceremonial dance hat that dates from 1855. It features a loon beak and a weasel ermine skin. It is made from strips of white caribou hide, and white caribou hide dyed red with ochre and strips of a black hide that is possibly sealskin.

Helen Balanoff, Northwest Territories Literacy Council, researcher Emily Kudlak and Dr. Cynthia Chambers hold a ceremonial dance hat that dates from 1855.

"After the group saw it, Emily Angulalik, with the Kitimeot Heritage Society in Lethbridge called home to Cambridge Bay in Nunavut to inquire and found out that Archie Komak, from Ogden Bay, Nunavut had made a similar hat in the past," says Chambers. "This confirmed that this hat was from the people in this project."

The elders, researchers and crafts people examined British Museum tools, clothing and other objects dating back to the first encounters between Europeans and ancestors of the Inuinnait.

The project is part of the Ulukhaktok literacies research, a long-term collaboration between the NWT Literacy Council, the community of Ulukhaktok and Chambers.

The research looks at understanding what literacy meant traditionally to the Kangiryuarmiut and what it means today. The story of this trip will be told in video and photos, which will be posted on the NWT Literacy Council website (nwt.literacy.ca) once it is completed.

This project adds to numerous research projects undertaken by the NWT Literacy Council over nearly a decade. Books, museum exhibits, slide presentations and educator 'tool-kits' have come from the many hours of research by individuals all over the north.

This story first appeared in the May issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Chambers leads journey to examine ancient Inuit items

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:56:39 +0000

Helen Balanoff, Northwest Territories Literacy Council, researcher Emily Kudlak and Dr. Cynthia Chambers hold a ceremonial dance hat that dates from 1855.

The elders, researchers and crafts people examined British Museum tools, clothing and other objects dating back to the first encounters between Europeans and ancestors of the Inuinnait.

The project is part of the Ulukhaktok literacies research, a long-term collaboration between the NWT Literacy Council, the community of Ulukhaktok and Chambers.

This story first appeared in the May issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Chambers leads overseas project

trevor.kenney — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:14:47 +0000

The British Museum's collection of Inuinnait objects is part of a visual repatriation project taking northern elders, crafts people and researchers to London, England.

The project is part of the Ulukhaktok literacies research, a long‐term collaboration among the NWT Literacy Council, the community of Ulukhaktok, and Dr. Cynthia Chambers, a Faculty of Education researcher from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The research sought to understand what literacy meant traditionally to the Kangiryuarmiut and what it means today.

The elders, researchers and crafts people will examine British Museum tools, clothing and other objects dating back to the first encounters between Europeans and ancestors of the Inuinnait.

The museum objects and the trip to London, England will be captured in photos and a video documentary.

"People who still know the importance of these objects to the traditional way of life will have a chance to see some of them," says Helen Balanoff, the NWT Literacy Council executive director. "We hope to be able to capture language and stories about the objects, as well as the skills involved in making them."

Those going on the Apr. 16‐23 trip include Chambers and toolmaker Adam Kudlak and researchers Emily Kudlak and Helen Kitekudlak, all of Ulukhaktok, as well as Emily Angulalik, a founder of the Kitikmeot Heritage Society, and elders Mary Avalak and Annie Atigihioyak, all of Cambridge Bay.

The Ulukhaktok literacies research project findings from Phase 1 were shared in a museum exhibit at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in 2009 and in the recent book, Pihuaqtiuyugut: We are the Long Distance Walkers.

UNews - Emily Angulalik

Chambers leads overseas project

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Chambers leads journey to examine ancient Inuit items

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