I AM INUIT - QUINHAGAK

Generally, Inuit means people. “I am Inuit” is not grammatically correct if you translate the word literally, it would mean “I am people.” However, “I am Inuit” was chosen by Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)-Alaska for this project because ICC and other Inuit organizations have consistently identified themselves as Inuit collectively in the international context. Overtime, “Inuit” has become the common word used to describe ourselves collectively across the Circumpolar North.

Carl Christian Olsen “Puju”, former ICC Vice Chair and Inuit Language Expert said, “I am confident that it will be OK to start using the expression: I am Inuit. We will have some reactions from diverse Inuit about it, but seeing a definition of the term in the meaning: 'belonging and identifying with Inuit' will take care of it in the long term. That's part of the adaptability.”

Photo taken in Quinhagak, Alaska. 2015.