August 6, 2020 – Anchorage, Alaska – The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) will launch a new podcast on August 9th – the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It also coincides with the 40th anniversary of our 1980 ICC General Assembly in Nuuk, Greenland where the first ICC Charter and Bylaws were adopted. The new podcast is called ᐅᓂᒃᑳᑦ / UNIKKAAT / UNIPKAAT / UNGIPAGHAT / NALLUNAIRUTET which translates to “stories, reports, and testimonials” in the Inuit language.
The terms represent different dialects across Inuit Nunaat. From Inuktitut in Canada – ᐅᓂᒃᑳᑦ, Kalaallisut in Greenland – Unikkaat, Inupiaq in Alaska – Unipkaat, in Central Alaskan Yupik, the term is Nallunairutet, and Siberian Yupik in Chukotka – Ungipaghat. In English we are calling it “Circumpolar Waves” to reflect the power and reach of waves, whether this be in ocean waves, brain waves, audio waves, or air waves, spanning across the circumpolar region.
“Our podcasts will bring you stories, testimonials, and reports from our four countries and beyond,” says ICC Chair Dalee Sambo Dorough. “In our own voice we will be sharing what ICC has been doing since our founding in the mid-1970s, and how we are tackling current issues and Inuit priorities, as outlined in documents such as the Utqiaġvik Declaration passed at our 2018 General Assembly held here in Alaska. This is an exciting, new initiative for ICC and we hope that Inuit throughout Inuit Nunaat as well as others across the globe will tune in.”
The first episodes of the ICC podcast will feature interviews with ICC Chair Dalee Sambo Dorough, ICC Canada President Monica Ell-Kanayuk, ICC Canada Vice-President (International) Lisa Koperqualuk, and Chair of ICC’s Circumpolar Inuit Health Steering Committee (CIHSC) Minnie Grey. It’s hosted on Buzzsprout here: https://bit.ly/3gwLV9w
“Now, more than ever, we need to be using innovative and creative virtual ways of communicating with one another,” says ICC Canada President Monica Ell-Kanayuk. “While creating a podcast series has been on our minds for some time, it seems especially fitting to launch this on the first International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to take place during a pandemic when we are limited in seeing one another face to face. Despite tough times over the past several months, we are proud to have developed this ourselves, focusing on telling our own stories through our own voices. Some of us have radio backgrounds, so that helped too.”
The podcast will feature original music composed by Inuit artists. The first episodes will showcase Nunavut throat boxing artist Nelson Tagoona from Baker Lake. ICC intends to continue reaching out to other Inuit artists across Inuit Nunaat.
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Contact:
Kelly Eningowuk
ICC (Alaska)
907-274-9058
kelly@iccalaska.org
Carole Simon
ICC (Canada)
613-563-2642
CSimon@inuitcircumpolar.com