Inuit pride and identity were the themes of this year’s Inuit Studies Conference in Iqaluit in mid-July. For the first time, many of the sessions were conducted in Inuktitut and the conference was held on Inuit lands. Previous conferences were held in Quebec City, Copenhagen and Fairbanks, Alaska.
“People wanted to make sure we would have a large northern participation,” said Susan Sammons, the conference chairwoman.
The conference featured discussions about elders and youth in Inuit society, Inuit self-government and the impact of Nunavut. Few Inuit attended the first Inuit Studies Conference in 1978, when Inuit were more the focus of study by academics rather than active participants in those studies.
