A Taste of the Arctic

The "Taste of the Arctic: An Evening Celebrating Inuit Culture" fund raiser for the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation can only be described as a rousing success.

We were very happy indeed to welcome the Prime Minister’s wife Mrs. Laureen Harper, the federal Minister of Health Ms. Leona Aglukkaq, and the Premier of Nunavut Ms. Eva Aariak to the event.

Each of the four land claims organizations from Inuit Nunangat were represented by leaders or officials from the regions. And, of course, we were happy to be able to present Mr. Peter Mansbridge with the first ITK Award for Excellence in Arctic Journalism.

The evening began with a private showing of the "Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Print making" exhibit currently hosted at the National Gallery, followed by performances by the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre preschool class, Susan Aglukark, Taqralik Partridge, and traditional Inuit throat singers Susan Singorie and Charlotte Carleton, that were all very well received by the over 250 people in attendance.

Our menu also received rave reviews - caribou meat balls with LigonBerry sauce, dried caribou and fish, glazed Arctic Char, Baffin shrimp, and Natsik (seal) Shepherds Pie, topped off with Aqpik (cloudberry) trifles, warm mini blueberry cakes, and Cranberry hazelnut tarts for desert.

I would like to thank our Marquee Sponsor, First Air, for their significant contribution to the success of this event, as well as Nasittuq, Canadian North, Students on Ice, and 2010 Northern Lights (Lead Sponsors), and the First Nations Bank of Canada, Vale, the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Hill Times Embassy, and the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation (Participating Sponsors), all who played critical roles in the evening.

I would also like to thank ITK staff for the time and effort they put into organizing and coordinating this event, as well as the time they generously volunteered during the event to help ensure its success.

No list of thank you’s would be complete without thanking everyone who purchased tickets to “A Taste of the Arctic: An Evening Celebrating Inuit Culture”. Your support towards the work of the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation is deeply appreciated by all Inuit.

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