Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages Partners with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association on Uqausiqput Tusaalagu

Project aims to promote Inuit and Gwich’in children’s literacy through a focus on oral language exposure

May 2025 – Ottawa, ON

The Commission celebrates and amplifies the collaborative efforts of language champions and project partners on the innovative Children’s Literacy Promotion Project, Uqausiqput Tusaalugu. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), Inhabit Media, and the Northwest Territories Linguistic Education Society, and the Nunavut Bilingual Education Society are working together on this important language revitalization initiative in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

The project, Uqausiqput Tusaalugu, aims to strengthen early childhood literacy in Inuktitut and Gwich’in languages. The project partners will develop and distribute resources to kindergartens classrooms in Northern Canada, where they will be used by Inuit children in the Qikiqtani Region, Nunavut, and Gwich’in children in the Beaufort Delta Region, Northwest Territories.

In line with the Commission’s mandate and the Indigenous Languages Act, each fiscal year, the Commission invests in a limited number of innovation projects, subject to available budget. These projects focus on creating new solutions in the Indigenous languages space and/or significantly enhancing existing initiatives to promote meaningful change.

“The Gwich’in language is a profound vessel of culture, identity, and history. Through this new initiative led by the Northwest Territories Linguistic Education Society in partnership with Inhabit Media, Qikiqtani Inuit Association & Nunavut Bilingual Education Society we are proud to support the creation of Gwich’in Yoto books—audio-enhanced resources that bring stories to life for our youngest learners. This project not only nurtures early childhood literacy in Indigenous languages, but also ensures that families have free, culturally grounded tools to pass on the beauty of Gwich’in to future generations.”
– Devin Roberts, Northwest Territories Linguistic Education Society

“Not everyone is able to hear spoken Inuktut at home. We know that oral language exposure is foundational for language acquisition. Increasing the opportunities for our children to be exposed to rich, oral language is critical to the survival of the Inuit language. The Yoto Project will allow Inuit children to listen to rich, oral language in Inuktut in the comfort of their home. I believe this oral language initiative could help strengthen our language in Nunavut.”

–Louise Flaherty, Inhabit Media

“The Qikiqtani Inuit Association is a proud supporter of Uqausiqput Tusaalagu. This initiative complements the important work we have already been doing towards Inuktitut early childhood education and Inuktitut language revitalization in school aged children.  This initiative and the partnership created is a stepping stone in ensuring resources are available to all Inuktitut and Gwich’in speaking children ”

– Qikiqtani Inuit Association

“Indigenous Peoples have always been innovative in their approaches in protecting, nurturing and promoting our languages. The Commission is dedicated to supporting innovative language revitalization measures and to amplifying the voices of language champions and advocates on the ground. We commend the efforts of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Inhabit Media, the Northwest Territories Linguistic Education Society, and the Nunavut Bilingual Education Society in their work to strengthen children’s literacy in their languages through the Uqausiqput Tusaalugu project.”

-Commissioner Ronald E. Ignace

For more details about the Yoto Literacy Boxes Project (Uqausiqput Tusaalugu) and its implementation, please contact:

Qikiqtani Inuit Association

Karen Flaherty, Director of Communications

KFlaherty@QIA.ca

Inhabit Media

Angela Weiser

angela.weiser@inhabiteducation.com

Nunavut Bilingual Education Society (NBES)
Holly McCann
holly@nbes.ca

Northwest Territories Linguistic Education Society (NTLES)
contact@ntles.ca

For more information about the Commission please contact:

Ashley Keays, Manager, Policy and Communications

general.inquiries@ocil-ila.ca

Learn more about the Commission’s support for innovative projects: < Innovation – Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages>

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