“Today’s announcement of Arviat as the location of the main campus of Inuit Nunangat University is the beginning of a long-term partnership to build an institution rooted in Inuit self-determination, culture and knowledge,” – ITK President Natan Obed
Ottawa’s new investments have eased some concerns about the future of those programs, but Inuit say they want to see more than just funding for stop-gap measures
ITK President Natan Obed is calling on Ottawa to take more leadership, with targeted funding for housing and health infrastructure, food security and poverty reduction.
ITK, Inuit leaders, celebrate selection of Arviat, Nunavut, as Inuit Nunangat University main campus
ITK announces main campus of Inuit Nunangat University will be in Arviat, Nunavut. Watch livestream here.
“One of the driving forces of the strength of our society is our knowledge and our education. So having a university in Inuit Nunangat is going to be another step that we need to secure our country,” said ITK President Natan Obed.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Inuit Treaty Organization leaders and other Inuit delegates travelled to Kalaallit Nunaat in February to show support for Kalaallit sovereignty and self-determination and to celebrate the opening of the Canadian Consulate in Nuuk.
“We understand that we are increasingly in the centre of a geopolitical fight that is not necessarily around our culture or our society, but is in our homeland, in our back yards,” Obed said.
“No other nation states can come to us and tell us what we should have done, or what we have to do to maintain sovereignty over our homeland. We do that ourselves, and we’ve articulated that again and again over the past 200 years,” said ITK President Natan Obed
Inuit across Canada stand in solidarity with our fellow Inuit in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) who have said unequivocally that they seek to determine their own future in the face of threats from the United States to buy or invade their country.
“We’ve heard almost a complete absence at the global stage about Inuit, and the term ‘Inuit’ to describe Greenland’s people, or even in conversations around Canadian sovereignty,” Obed said.
ITK President Natan Obed says it’s been challenging navigating new federal leadership
