A Taste Of The Arctic 2011

ITK@40 ice sculpture at the 2011 A Taste Of The Arctic evening

Last year at this time I recall saying that the 2010 "A Taste Of The Arctic" fundraiser for the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation could only be described as "a rousing success". Today the only word that adequately describes last evening’s gala for the Avataq Cultural Institute is "spectacular”.

The list of notable people in attendance include the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Ms. Laureen Harper, distinguished Inuit elders and political leaders, foreign Ambassadors and dignitaries , current and former Canadian Senators, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, a Provincial Premier and national, regional, and community Inuit business leaders.

Thematically, we spoke about the importance of preserving our Inuit culture and language. In my remarks I thanked our former Governor General for being with us three years ago in Inuvik for the national Inuit Education Summit. Her presence there, and consistent support ever since, has helped spur on the work of the National Inuit Education Committee, which I chair.

The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean and ITK President Mary Simon

Madame Jean’s gracious words last night complemented well what we are working to accomplish in the Arctic in terms of both our education system and preservation of our Inuit language. She was exceptionally eloquent on our Arctic – the land, the people, and our precious wildlife. Concluding the evening speakers were Avataq President Charlie Arngaq and Language Coordinator Zebedee Nungak. Both are passionate advocates for the preservation and development of our Inuit language and I am pleased that the proceeds raised from our event will go towards the language programs at Avataq Cultural Institute.

We also paid tribute to our former president Jose Kusugak who passed away last month on January 18th. Jose was also a fierce language advocate. I’m sure his spirit was in the Great Hall with us as we celebrated, and worked towards the preservation of our precious language. We will honour Jose at a memorial service in Ottawa on February 3rd at 3:30pm at St. George’s Anglican Church.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rick Mercer for sending us a wonderfully funny video message. We thank our excellent corporate sponsors, our caterers Tulips & Maple who served up unique presentations of tasty Arctic foods, and all of the staff at ITK who worked so hard to make this event the success that it was. Of course, we also thank those who attended our event in support of Inuit culture and the Avataq Cultural Institute.

Taqralik Partridge, Elisapie Issac, and ArtCirq gave performances that enthralled an audience of over 400 people who gathered to celebrate the evening of Inuit art, culture, and cuisine in the Great Hall of the National gallery of Canada.

We are already looking forward to next year’s "A Taste Of the Arctic” and seeing you all again on Tuesday January 31, 2012.