“We must teach our children their mother tongue & our philosophies which go back beyond the memory of man. We must keep the embers burning so we may gather around (our ancestral fires) again.”
John Amagoalik (jahn ah-mah-gwah-leek), negotiator, policy advisor
“Sovereignty begins at home. When you have permanent people living in communities which have been their homes for thousands of years, there will never be any question of them belonging there.”
Mary Simon (may-ree seye-mun), chair National Committee on Inuit Education
“Respect for our Elders stems from the understanding that their lived experience and survival is something that we have to admire and replicate if we are to keep our culture strong.”
Robert Comeau (rah-bert koo-moo), law student, Inuit advocate, qajaq-er
“Nation-states pretend...that they can just destroy cultures and languages, while the rest of us indigenous people have little voice, so we just have to be very, very loud in the way we can be.”
Aaju Peter (eye-you pee-terr), lawyer, activist and sealskin clothes designer
“Our language contains the memory of four thousand years of human survival through the conservation and good managing of our Arctic wealth.”
Eben Hopson (eh-behn hop-sen), founder Inuit Circumpolar Council
“If you know the land it's not a wilderness. The only place I would call wilderness is a place I don't know.”
John Arnatsiaq (jahn ah-naht-see-yak), hunter
“Recall the early vision of our Inuit ancestors to found and maintain a strong Inuit community, looking further back at the deepest roots of our Inuit culture to guide our actions.”
Kitty Gordon (kit-tee gawr-dun), Nunavik Nutrition and Health Committee
“Our entire culture and identity are based on free movement on land, sea ice and the Arctic Ocean.”
Okalik Eegeesiak (oo-kah-lik ee-yee-see-yak), Chair Inuit Circumpolar Council