Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk

Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk was born in 1931 in Kangiqsujuaq, Quebec.[3] Because she was the eldest of two daughters – and had no brothers – she grew up learning both women's traditional work and skills more ordinarily taught to men, such as hunting caribou and seals. When her father was unwell, she often went on hunting trips alone to support the family.[4][5]

As a young woman, Nappaaluk was well liked and highly regarded for her strong skills as a hunter, and when she was 16 she received several offers of courtship from men in local communities.[5] She married Naalak Nappaaluk.[6] Although Inuit custom dictated that the wife usually went to live with the husband's family, Naalak agreed to move in with Nappaaluk's parents instead and become the family's main provider.[5] The couple went on to have seven children.[4]

A Catholic mission had been established in Kangiqsujuaq in the 1930s, and in 1953 Nappaaluk was approached by Catholic missionaries looking for help learning Inuktitut. She agreed to begin writing down words and sentences for educational purposes, but soon began developing a longer story of her own, which eventually became a novel titled Sanaaq.[4] Nappaaluk's novel follows the story of an Inuit family, describing their traditional ways of life while also exploring the changes effected when settlers and missionaries from the south arrive in the community.[2] The manuscript was completed over the course of more than 20 years, the writing balanced alongside Nappaaluk's obligations as a parent and educator and interrupted twice by trips south for tuberculosis treatment.[4] Written in Inuktitut syllabics, the novel was not published until 1984, but quickly became a cultural touchstone in Inuit communities throughout the Canadian Arctic. A French translation of the novel was published in 2002, and an English edition was published in 2014.[2]

Nappaaluk also translated the Roman Catholic Book of Prayer into Inuktitut and wrote a total of 22 books on traditional language and culture for use in Inuit schools. She served on Nunavik's Inuktitut Language Commission and was a consultant with the Kativik School Board.[7] Her husband Naalak was also known as a dedicated promoter of Inuit cultural traditions.[6]

In addition to her other pursuits, Nappaaluk was a carver of soapstone figures. She used the art form to explore Inuit culture and Christian religious narratives.[3] Her sculptures are held in collections at the Winnipeg Art Galley,[8][9] the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec,[10] the Musée de la Civilisation,[11][12][13][14] and the British Museum.[15]

She died on April 30, 2007, following an illness.[7][4]

Nappaaluk won a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1999, and received an honorary degree from McGill University in 2000.[3][16] In 2001, her literary work was acknowledged and honoured by UNESCO at an international conference focused on Indigenous writers.[5] Nappaaluk was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004.[16]

After Sanaaq was translated and published in English for the first time in 2014, the book received the 2015 Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher.[17]

• "Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk: The Inuk author who championed Inuit language and culture," video by Historica Canada (2021)