inuit outreach project

7/30/2019 Inuit Outreach Project

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Inuit Clothes and Other Essentials DriveNovember 30, 2012


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Providing

Pastoral and Sacramental Ministry

to all who are living

in isolated communities

in Canadas North


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Inuit Clothes and Essentials Project

Vision

To enable the Inuit Community be self-sustaining through a two tiered

approach:

Outreach: provide immediate essential items for survival and dignity of

life: food, clothes and other essential items

Sustainment: to support local and national educational and employment

opportunities for the Inuit Community so they can live with purpose.

The median income for Inuit adults is much lower than that for all Canadians: $13,699 compared to $22,120.

Considering the much higher cost of living in the north, these lower incomes have to go a long way. There are

no Walmartses in the Arctic.


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Inukjuak Fast Facts

Inukjuak Meaning: The giant

Population: 1456

Record Low: - 49.4 C (- 57 F)

Innalik is a combined Primary and SecondarySchool with more than 400 students.

Inuuvunga: I Am Inuk, I Am Alive 2004Documentary 8 Inuit high school students fromthe school documented their final year in the high

school. Daniel Weetaluktuk Museum: the museum

exhibits a magnificent collection of Inuit arts andcrafts as well as traditional tools, hunting andfishing gear.

Robert J. Flaherty filmed Nanook of the North(released 1922) in the area.

The suicide rates among Canadian Inuit is staggering, comparing to some third world and developing nations

for years. The suicide rate among Inuit is 11 times higher the national rate with 15 to 24 year old men in

Nunavut is 28 times the national rate.


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Inukjuak

Inukuak is located on the east coast of Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Innuksuac River, facing the Hopewell Islands, previouslyknown as Port Harrison. Principle access to Inukjuak is by air. Population approx. 1300, principle languages Inuktitut andEnglish.

Some of the population was moved out of the area in the 1950s and relocated to Resolute Bay, on Cornwallis Island, and Grise Fiord onEllesmere Island. Years later, compensation was provided to the people involved in this situation. The name "Inukjuak" means "the bigman" or the "giant". Inukjuak is a major cultural capital for the Inuit. The Inukjuak Museum and headquarters of Avataq Cultural Instituteare both in the community.


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Background

Susanna Hunter catalyst for the Inukjuak Essentials Drive, introduced us toher sister-in-laws Aunt, Daughny Langer who has, for over 25 years,fostered over 300 children from Inukjuak, in particular, the children thatwere sick and had been transported from Inukjuak to Montreal. She raisedSiasi Irqmia Smiler, and now as an adult and pillar in her community, shereaches out:

The little ones, new born to 12 years are in desperate need of baby &childrens clothes ages newborn to 12 years (sleepers, blankets, undergarments, long johns, socks, boots/shoes, mittens, hats, etc.) and otheressentials (baby formula, teething biscuits, baby diapers, baby wipes, babypowder, hand soap, etc.).

Air Inuit provides free transport. Air Inuit offers service from Montreal viaKuujjuarapik and Inukjuak, to Puvirnituq 5 times a week.

December 2009 TD Canada Trust started collecting these items.

St Pauls Anglican Church and other friends joined in the drive.

March 12, 2010 Shipment # 1 63 KG (11 boxes): friends of the Church,Cindy DeSousa, Paula Granton and myself drove the goods to Inuit Air


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Our Inukjuak Contact: Siasi Smiler IrqumiaSiasi Smiler Irqumia, born and livesin Inukjuak. She was greatly

influenced by her parents who taughther the traditional way of living. Sheis a printmaker who uses wood andlino to produce limited edition prints.She also does paintings anddrawings portraying images ofwomen at work.

Isa Aqiattusuk Smiler adopted Siasi.Isa, born in Inukjuak in 1921, both ofhis parents died from an illness whenhe was only 9. He began carving in1948. In 2004, he was named one ofthe four best carvers by his

colleague Johnny Inukpuk. TD Bankhas a large collection of Inuit Art andsome of Isa Smilers works are in thecollection at TD Waterhouse.

Siasi received the shipment April 27th 2010 all was gone withinthe day.

Re: Your Friend from the South

Hi Connie,

First let me tell you that I went on the local radio station to read

your card and all the names written on it and one lady was supergrateful about people we don't even know thinking about us so

far from our community Thank you to all of you and thank you for

your thoughts for me of my husband, he is doing better, but he is

still in MTL, we are always happy to receive more clothes, all the

stuff you sent was well received, and gone already first day we

got them, I should go now but Im online during the day and not

evenings,

take care now, Siasi


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The Community Connections, September 24, 2011

Packing Party at St Pauls Anglican Church Hall

Daughny Langer, Dylan Smiler Irqmia, Ward 2Halton Hills Councillor Brian Lewis

Jennifer Birmingham, Susanna Hunter


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The Iqaluit ConnectionSeptember 24, I met Jennifer Birmingham, Daughnysgrand daughter. you should be helping the Iqaluit people she said and

connected me with Susan Gardener who in turn introduced me to Mary Ellen Thomas, Iqaluit.

Communication1: October 29, 2011

This is exciting and we would be glad to work with you. The more partners the better to help build our cathedral . As you

may know it was destroyed by arson in 2005 and badly under insured so we have a long way to go to rebuild.

We are also well aware of other needs in the community as the church runs a soup kitchen that usually has over 70 people

per day. Various members in our committee also are involved with the womens and mens homeless shelter and other

community groups.

Years ago there was a program that ran here in Iqaluit called Bare Essentials and then it ran out of money because the cost

of freight was so high. Its goal was to provide the Bare Essentials to women and children. Things like hair brushes, socks,

toothbrushes, shampoo, toothpaste, pads, diapers, pencils, crayons, colouring books, etc,etc. Clothing is way too heavy

and not much return.

Things that if you are living on low income are hard to come by. Perhaps we could charge a dollar or two for these items and

use them for fundraising. Lets try a few boxes to start and see how it is received in the community.

Im excited so lets perhaps have a teleconference and make some plans.

Remember there is no Dollar Store in the Arctic.

Communication # 2: November 14, 2011

Mary Ellen Thomas, Arctic College, St. Judes parish November 14, 2011

Thank you so much for the good news. I will share it with our committee as we have a meeting planned tonight. We look

forward to working together. In our community we also have the First Nations bank that is an affiliate of TD I think.

Katherine Gomez is the manager there and I will also have a chat with her to see if she can offer any kind of assistance.

Every Blessing, Mary Ellen


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Community OutreachExpands

St. Pauls Anglican Church, TD Bank and friends of the Inukjuak continuecollecting essential items for the people of the North.

TD Bank has selected The Inukjuak Drive as one of two Charitable

Organizations for their HR Festive Party Dec 7, 2011 through their Winter

Wonderland theme accepting winter clothing and other essential items

as well as donations. The Norval United Church donated $500 to support the Inuit Project, $250

used for gas for the November 16, 2011 drive to Inuit Air

Norval United is gathering donations for Iqaluit for December 11: hair

brushes, socks, toothbrushes, shampoo, toothpaste, pads, diapers,

pencils, crayons, colouring books, etc First Air, Ottawa is now part of our connection offering to fly to Iqaluit free

freight


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Iqaluit

St. Thomas' - Inukjuak, Nunavik: The Anglican mission station was established in 1925. A church was built

in 1965 and a new church was constructed in 1985. A rectory was first built in 1951 and a new rectory was

constructed in the late 1980s.

Church of the Epiphany, Umiujaq is located on the east coast of Hudson Bay, 160 kilometers north of

Kuujjuarapik. Principle access to the community is by air. The population is approximately 250 and the

principle languages spoken in the community are Inuktitut and English. With access to both a fresh water

lake and Hudson Bay, Umiujaq is a site that has a lot of advantages for the practice of traditional Inuit

hunting and fishing. This was important when the Nunavik authorities chose the area for the creation of a

new village. The village was completed in 1986 and is made up of Inuit who had been living in

Kuujjuarapik. "Umiujak" can be translated as "one who looks like bread", "one who looks like an upside-

down boat", or "one who looks like a beard". Traditional hunting and fishing are the principle economic

activities in the community.

The current incumbent is Rev. Iola Metuq.

The rector visits the community once a month.


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St. Judes Cathedral, Iqaluit, Nunavut

The Iqaluit Cathedral Story Once upon a time over 35 years ago RonThoms, a renowned Canadian architect, designed St. Judes Cathedral whichwas later built by a team of volunteers headed by Markosie Peter. Thismagnificent building became one of the main landmarks in Frobisher Bayuntil a 2005 fire destroyed it along with its Handmade Tapestries, Bishops

Chair, Pastoral Staff, Holy Table, Narwhal Tusk Cross, Sealskin cushions,Qamotik Communion Rails and Pulpit, to name a few of the items.

A new design, similar to the original one, was approved and is currently beingbuilt with the latest energy saving technology and a larger footprint to allowseating for over 400 people. It is designed to meet the Arctics spiritual and

cultural needs into the next millennium.

STANDING TOGETHER

St. Judes has a strong sense of itself as a community of faith, called by God, united

in Christ, lead by the Holy Spirit. It has been what the Bishop of the Arctic, AndrewAtagotaaluk, has described as a place of peace and comfort for parishioners of thisArctic diocese.

VISION

Two fundraising committees have been formed: one at the Diocese of the Arctic office

in Yellowknife and our local one in Iqaluit. The costs estimated in excess of $6m andconsidering the small population of the Diocese of the Arctic (Nunavut, NorthwestTerritories and Nunavik), we cannot do this on our own. We need your help! Be a partof this great story. Heritage Canada Foundation included St. Judes in their worst loss

list in 2007.


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For information or to make a donation:

St. Judes Rebuilding Fund, c/o Anglican Church, Box 57, Iqaluit, NU, X0A 0H0

Telephone: 1-867-979-5595

Facebook Page: Friends of St. Judes

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/247065565322656/

Email: [email protected] Income Tax RECEIPTS provided.

The Cathedral is, again, a focal point from different locations in our City.Temporary church/Parish Hall is the grey building/ green trim on the right.

Our next fundraising effort is to pay for the electrical, plumbing, etc., as well as

all the contents
http://www.facebook.com/http://www.facebook.com/


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January 29, 2011

Shipment # 2 Inuit

Airport Cargo Bay

210KG (37 boxes) werecollected and shipped toInukjuak via Inuit Air.

We have received the

boxes, all are long gone

and if and when you are

ready to send more

boxes please let me

know. Thank you for

taking the time to do

this.Siasi


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Busy

Volunteers!


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Shipment # 3: November 15, 2011 208 KG (40

boxes) shipped to Inukjuak through Inuit Air

From Mary Ellen Thomas, Iqaluit November 2, 2011

I thought you might be interested in this news item on CBC radio. It is shocking that in this town of 6000 people that over our

local food bank has to supply food for over 500 people per month and the soup kitchen feeds over 70 adults and children per

day.

Food bank organizers say Bank a Treat campaign was a success

Food bank organizers in Iqaluit say their Halloween Bank a Treat campaign was a success. Jen Hayward is Co-chair of the

Niqinik Nuatsivik Nunavut Food Bank and helped to coordinate the food drive on Sunday. She says volunteers couldn't visit all

the homes in the capital because vehicles filled up fast.

And our volunteers went around trick-or-treating to various houses and collected over 4,000 individual items. And thats,

thats just a ballpark figure. We couldnt count that high.

Yesterday Food Banks Canada released its annual hunger count survey. It showed an 80% increase in food bank use in all

three territories since 2008. Thats the largest increase in food bank usage in the country. In October Hayward says the foodbank in Iqaluit provided food for more than 500 people. Right now she says there are only six formal food banks in Nunavut,

the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.


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The Need is Great!

The Fourth Drive: Clothes and Other Essential Items over one ton and

129 boxes of goods was driven to Inuit Air Montreal on Dec 16, 2011

along with 40 boxes (over 300KG) to First Air, Ottawa for the community

of Iqaluit. George Gastle and Paula Granton her friend Cary and myself

drove to these two airports.

This would not have been possible without the generosity of a $200

donation from St Stephens of the Anglican cluster church, $805 from TD

Bank and $500 from Norval United Church. We were able to rent a 20 foot

cube van along with our regular van, to pay for gas to and from Norval to

Ottawa to Montreal and home again. Also the generosity of Doug and

Jennifer in Picton who each time put us up for the night, feed and water usand get us on our way again.

Mary Ellen Thomas of St Judes Cathedral, Iqaluit received the shipment

on Dec 21, just in time for Christmas!


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Next Steps

Cluster Committee: Form a committee amongst our Anglican cluster to have greater and

faster positive outcomes

Fund Raising

Liaise with companies that can support through cash donations and items for essential

life support;

Develop relationships and a sense of understanding of the situation in the North through

education of existing programs: Existing Aboriginal (Inuit) programs, Corporate Responsibility

Programs, Federal, Christian and/or other religious outreach programs.

Purchase movie through NFB Inuuvunga: I Am Inuk, I Am Alive Documentary. Filmed in

Inukjuak by high school students, chronicles their efforts to learn how to come of age in

a rapidly changing culture, while coping with issues like suicide and substance abuse.

Work with our partners to develop an evaluation plan to measure the impact of this outreach

program to enable funding from private and non private entities.

inuit outreach project

Documents