Nunavut youth turn the tables on southern researchers at ArcticNet conference

A group of Nunavut youth are using a conference of Arctic scholars to make a point about how researchers often come up short in consultations with their communities — using their own language to do so.

The Ikaarvik Project is an initiative that aims to encourage conversation between Arctic researchers and youth in Canada's Far North. Shelly Elverum, the program's northern co-ordinator, was at the ArcticNet conference in Ottawa this week, along with a delegation of youth from across the territory.

During their presentation to researchers, the youth made their point in a unique way: for the first five minutes, they spoke entirely in Inuktitut.