Nunavik
Inuit-Controlled Education in Arctic Quebec

Ann Vick-Westgate

Copublished with the Arctic Institute of North America as the first book in the Northern Lights series.

About the Book

As a history of the development of self-government in education, Nunavik provides Native perspectives on formal education in Nunavik while offering readers a unique view into contemporary Inuit society. This book documents the development of education from the arrival of the first traders and missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century through the creation of the Kativik School Board and the evaluation of its operations by the Nunavik Education Task Force in the 1990s.

Nunavik takes a detailed look at the complex debate of the Inuit of Northern Quebec about the purposes, achievements, and failures of the public schools in their communities, the first Inuit-controlled school district in Canada. Participants in these debates included elders who were educated traditionally, their children with a few years of education in mission and government schools, their grandchildren who attended southern high schools or residential schools, and current students and recent graduates of the Kativik schools. Qallunaat (non-Inuit) were also participants, as residents of Nunavik communities, parents of Inuit children, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants.

Illustrated with rich historical photographs, in colour and black and white, and maps from the collections of the Avataq Cultural Institute and the Makivik Corporation, Nunavik provides a uniquely Native perspective on school change in indigenous communities.

About the Author

Since 1970, Ann Vick-Westgate has worked with Native peoples to develop and initiate educational programs in public schools that reflect their culture, traditions, and perspectives. She is interested in parental involvement and in self-government in education, and in engaging students in collecting and publishing information about their communities and cultures. When they are not travelling, she and her husband, Michael, live in Boston.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Zebedee Nungak
Introduction

1. Educational Change in an Arctic World
2. A History of Nunavik
3. Traditional Education and European Impact
4. The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
5. Kativik School Board: The First 10 Years
6. Symposium '85 and Calls For Change
7. Launching the Nunavik Educational Task Force
8. The Communities Speak Out
9. The Education Review Committee Takes Control
10. Coming Together: The Task Force Report and the School Board Response
11. Conclusion: Indigenous Models for Educational Change

Appendices
Bibliography

Of Related Interest

Muskox Land

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