Learning from our past, sharing for our future.
The Hivumuuniaqtugut Oral History Project is a youth-oriented oral history program working to document, share, and preserve stories, histories, language, and culture of the Nattilik region.
Based in Uqsuqtuuq/Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, the project brings youth and Elders together to work closely to record the history of the community and surrounding areas. These histories are filmed and preserved as part of the collections of the Nattilik Heritage Centre in Uqsuqtuuq.
“That was their GPS.”
In the Nattilik dialect, hivumuuniaqtutiit means “you are going to go forward.”
We chose the name “Hivumuuniaqtugut: We are going to go forward” for the project after an interview with James Qitsualik, as a reminder that by looking back, we can navigate for the future.
You can watch that point in the interview with James in this video.
A Focus on Youth
Hivumuuniaqtugut brings together youth and Elders to record and share stories and histories from the Nattilik region. We film and audio record interviews with Elders from around town, and prepare these as a digital oral history archive that will be accessible to all members of the community. In the future we hope to expand the project to neighbouring communities of the Nattilik Region, and involve many more youth and Elders.
Youth participation is key to the project, and it is our goal to ensure that the stories and histories that we record reach as many young people as possible. Youth are key to preserving traditional knowledge and making sure that knowledge and values are continued for future generations.
Partner Organizations
The Hivumuuniaqtugut project is supported by the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada, Queen’s University, the Nattilik Heritage Society, the Government of Nunavut, and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. We are grateful for all of the contributions we have received.
