Inuksuk Carving

Date / Period
2013
Place
Nunavut
Object Type
Other
Topics
Supporting Indigenous Communities

Of the news items filtering down from Canada’s north, one of the most tragic is the high suicide rate in Nunavut, especially among youth. Statistics compiled between 1999 and 2013 showed that over 50 residents under the age 15 took their own lives, comprising 11 percent of all suicides within Nunavut. 

To combat this crisis, the Embrace Life Council formed in 2004 as a collaborative effort among the territorial government, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (the legal representative of Inuit). One of Embrace Life’s major initiatives was the Nunavut Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Plan (2011-14), a comprehensive look at the root causes and potential community solutions.

“If they don’t know how to name what has happened and how the impacts have affected them, they’re unable to reach out for help.”

As part of the plan, Embrace Life invited the Canadian Red Cross in 2013 to conduct violence prevention workshops in Baker Lake, Cape Dorset, and Clyde River. Based on the Red Cross’ Respect Education program, the sessions trained 20 community leaders including elders, RCMP officers, and health workers on how to present material on preventing sexual abuse and encouraging healthy adolescent relationships. “If they don’t know how to name what has happened and how the impacts have affected them,” noted Red Cross trainer Sarah Burke, “they’re unable to reach out for help.” This Inuksuk carving was made by an Iqaluit man who participated in one of the programs. Inuksuks are used by the Inuit as place markers or means of greeting. 

In September 2013, the territorial government announced that all children in Nunavut would participate in the Red Cross’s Be Safe! child abuse prevention program. Over the next two years, Embrace Life rolled out the Red Cross’s Ten Steps to Creating Safe Environments initiative.

Inuksuk Carving

Inuksuk  Carving
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