NR 07-01 LAN ENG Language Week.doc
(February 6, 2007 — Iqaluit, Nunavut) Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) 1st Vice-President James Eetoolook is using Nunavut’s Language Week to celebrate Inuit languages.
I thank Inuit families and communities for continuing to use and transmit Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun. Our language is a fundamental part of our Inuit identity, and it deserves to be celebrated, said Eetoolook.
NTI believes Inuit languages must be used in all aspects of Nunavut society.
Nunavut must function in Inuit languages. We must demand that our daycares, schools, workplaces, businesses, and media function in Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun. We must expand upon the Government of Nunavut’s 2020 vision of a government functioning entirely in Inuit languages to include our society as a whole, said Eetoolook.
NTI works hard to protect, support, and promote Inuit languages. Currently, NTI is closely involved with the Government of Nunavut in developing an Education Act, Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act to ensure that Inuit languages will enjoy equal status to English and French.
NTI will not support any legislation that diminishes our language rights, or does not place proper importance on Inuit languages, he said. Our Inuit languages are the soul of our culture and society, and we must always take pride in them. Speak Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun to the best of your ability with your family, with your children and grandchildren, and with your peers, not just during language week, but always. It will give you pride, and will help ensure that Inuit society remains healthy and strong.
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