Visitors to the Google homepage on National Indigenous Peoples Day had the opportunity to learn about the late Inuk author Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk.
Nappaaluk was featured in Wednesday’s Google Doodle, a temporary interactive feature on the site that celebrates people, holidays, events and anniversaries. Google says she’s being honored for her work in preserving Inuit culture and language.
“I’m delighted that Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk has been honored in this Google Doodle and that I can help spread awareness of her contribution to our history,” said Ottawa-based artist Inuk Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, who demonstrated Doodle graphics, said.
“I know millions of Canadians will see the Doodle and I’d like to think ‘Canada’ could go through the rebranding process as a native country.
“But I don’t make it for people who need to learn; I make it for my own community. I’m happy that younger generations of Inuit will be able to see themselves represented in their country.”
Google also worked on the project with Inuk author and researcher Norma Dunning, who has researched and written about Nappaaluk.
“I think that’s amazing,” says Dunning, a lecturer at the University of Alberta. “Any Indigenous contact and information given in our country in any form of communication is very welcome. And especially this, because it’s positive and it’s a look at a beautiful life.”
Nappaaluk was born in 1931 near Kangiqsujujuaq in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec and grew up with traditional Inuit teachings.
She learned to write Inuktitut syllables from Catholic missionaries in the 1950s, and she taught the language to them and helped translate the bible. She went on to write more than 20 books on Inuit traditions, knowledge, stories and languages, many of which are used in schools across Nunavik.
Nappaaluk is best known for “Saanaq”, one of the first Inuktitut novels, which tells the story of an Inuit family dealing with the changes brought about by colonization.
Dunning said that although Nappaaluk never attended school, she is dedicated to education and has a strong sense of responsibility towards the younger generations of the Inuit.
As well as preserving Inuit traditions and languages in his writings, Nappaaluk served as an advisor to the Kativik School Board from 1965 to 1996.
She is also a mother, grandmother and soapstone sculptor. She died in her home community in 2007.
“She really cares about the children in her community, so I think of her as a mother to everyone,” says Dunning.
Nappaluk has received much praise for his work. In 1999, she was the recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now known as the Indspire Award, in the culture, heritage and spirituality categories.
She also received an honorary doctorate from McGill University in 2000 and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2004. She also won the Mary Scorer Award for best book of a single book. Manitoba publishing house.
The Sanaaq Cultural and Community Center in downtown Montreal, named after her novel, is scheduled to open in 2024.
Dunning said she hopes the Google Doodle will inspire people to learn and reflect on the life of Nappaluk, especially the younger generation.
“I really hope that the rest of Canada realizes how the Inuit are educated and that indigenous knowledge is valued and equal to Western knowledge,” she said.
“We are modern people. We are professionals. We are writers, artists, doctors and nurses.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 21, 2023.
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This story was produced with the financial support of Meta and the Canadian Press News Scholarship.
