Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Cathy Towtongie today launched the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Oral History Project on the NTI website. The project features interviews with several people who were involved in various aspects of the NLCA negotiations over several decades, as well as a photographic history of the last several years.
“This project presents very valuable historical material and provides detailed first-hand information about a turning point in Canadian history. This tells the story of how Nunavut came to be, and I am honoured to launch this today,” said Towtongie.
Until very recently, Inuit knowledge and history was retained and passed on solely through the oral tradition of storytelling. There is a strong movement now underway to capture oral knowledge and record historical information and wisdom.
The NTI Board of Directors committed funds to record interviews with NLCA negotiators. NTI then approached the Government of Nunavut for additional funds. These funds were then made available to people and organizations to record and transcribe the oral history of the development, negotiations and formation of the NLCA.
The NLCA oral history project is available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and English. NTI plans to launch a project to name the people in the photographs in the near future. NTI also plans to present the actual recorded interviews collected during the project.
