Uqausivut Culture and Language Program

Promoting and supporting the retention of Inuktitut
in an urban setting.

We have served 209 parents, children, teachers and community members throughout the year of 2010-2011.

Opportunities such as the March Break camp provide Inuit children with the opportunity to celebrate heritage. in many schools in Ottawa, there are very few Inuit, the camp provides them with a sense of community and belonging that cannot be obtained elsewhere.

The Uqausivut program began in 2008, since then it’s been able to offer a variety of language retention activities for children, parents and the community. We believe this program is essential to keeping Inuktitut alive in Ottawa and look forward to continuing this program.

Activities:

• Saturday Inuktitut classes for children and adults
• Weekly Inuktitut classes for OICC staff
• Inuktitut circles for children enrolled in Tumiralaat Child Care Centre and Sivummut Head Start
• A large Inuktitut borrowing resource library including instructional resources for teachers
• Outreach programming
• A March break camp
• A boys’ cultural weekend gathering
• A girls’ cultural weekend gathering

Highlights:

• Three levels of Inuktitut instruction
• Cultural Camps

Funders:

Department of Canadian Heritage

For more information, call Lynda, ext. 222 – lbrown@ottawainuitchildrens.com

Link to Lynda’s biography