Nunavik Sivunitsavut Program Launch
On Wednesday, September 20, special guests, dignitaries, teachers and friends all gathered at the Atwater Club for the official launch of the Nunavik Sivunitsavut program to celebrate the future of 18 Inuit students who came to Montreal to study their culture.
Also in attendance were second-year students from the Nunavut Sivuniksavut program (Ottawa) on which the Montreal program is based.
In addition to the traditional inauguration speeches, the guests were treated to performances in Inuktitut and in English from both groups of students and from Inuk singer Beatrice Deer and her band.
Nunavik Sivunitsavut proposes accredited college-level courses designed to prepare Inuit youth to further post-secondary education, develop workplace skills relevant to positions in Nunavik institutions and support the creation of a critical mass of culturally confident youth equipped to lead the political and social future of their region. In Inuktitut, Nunavik Sivunitsavut means “Nunavik, our future”. Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (formerly the Kativik School Board) coordinates the development and implementation of Nunavik Sivunitsavut in partnership with the office of the Academic Dean and the Department of Continuing Education at John Abbott College, under the leadership of the Nunavik Sivunitsavut Advisory Committee. The members of the Advisory Committee are: the Kativik Regional Government, the Makivik Corporation, the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the Avataq Cultural Institute and the John Abbott College.
More information can be found at: www.sivunitsavut.ca
(Source: Jade Duchesneau-Bernier, Communications Coordinator, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq).
“John Abbott College is proud to be a partner with Nunavik in establishing the recently inaugurated NS program. This year-long program offers both credited and non-credited courses all of which are culturally relevant and are packaged into a vision intended to enhance self-confidence, cultural pride and leadership capabilities of graduating students” stated Erich Schmedt, John Abbott College.
