Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut has a rich qajaqing history, though it has not been mobilized in several generations. The Qajaq Program was awarded $140,000 to revitalize this valued tradition, by connecting young people with local knowledge keepers and elders to learn how to build and paddle their own qajaqs. Through this project, the youth of Chesterfield Inlet will build hand-crafted qajaqs based on the design that was used in the area hundreds of years earlier, and will also create a special qajaq that can be shipped to other communities as a teaching resource.
Nominator: Douglas Aggark, MLA Candidate in the 2017 Nunavut Election, Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet
Team: Simon Aggark, Louis Autut, Glen Brocklebank (Team Leader), Ana Leishman, Jolene Ippiak, Kevin Issaluk, Leila Paugh
