Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk (1931–2007) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...

writer. She was most noted for '' Sanaaq'', one of the first

Inuktitut language Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

novels; although written earlier, it was published later than Markoosie Patsauq's ''Harpoon of the Hunter''.

Biography

Born in 1931 near Kangiqsujuaq,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

,"Nunavik elder and author to be remembered"

CBC North CBC North ( iu, ᓰᐲᓰ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ, lit=CBC Northwest, translit=, SiiPiiSii Ukiuqtaqtumi; cr, ᓰᐲᓰ ᒌᐌᑎᓅᑖᐦᒡ, label=cr, SiiPiiSii Chiiwetinuutaahch; french: Radio-Canada Nord) is the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...

, May 3, 2007. her formal education did not begin until she was twenty. She began writing her novel Sanaaq in the early 1950s when an Oblate missionary in the area asked her to write some sentences in Inuktitut so he could learn the language. Written in Inuktitut syllabics, the novel was not published until 1984, but quickly became a cultural touchstone in Inuit communities throughout the Canadian Arctic. A French translation of the novel was published in 2002 and an English edition was published in 2014. Nappaaluk also translated the Roman Catholic Book of Prayer into Inuktitut and wrote several books on traditional language and culture for use in Inuit schools. She served on Nunavik's Inuktitut Language Commission and was a consultant with the

Kativik School Board The Kativik School Board (KSB; french: Commission scolaire Kativik, iu, ᑲᑎᕕᒃ ᐃᓕᓴᕐᓂᓕᕆᓂᖅ Kativik Ilisarniliriniq) is a school district with territory in Nunavik in northern Quebec; it has an office in the Saint-Laurent ar ...

. She was married to Naalak Nappaaluk, also a noted promoter of Inuit cultural traditions."Naalak Nappaaluk, promoter of Inuit culture, dead at 81"
''

Nunatsiaq News ''Nunatsiaq News'' ( iu, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ, italic=no) is a Canadian weekly newspaper in operation since 1973 based in Iqaluit, serving Nunavut and Nunavik, in Kativik, Nord-du-Québec. The paper is published every Fri ...

'', June 15, 2010.

Awards and honours

She was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004."Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk appointed to Order of Canada"
''

'', February 6, 2004. She also won a

National Aboriginal Achievement Award The Indspire Awards, until 2012 the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, are annual awards presented by Indspire in Canada. The awards are intended to celebrate and encourage excellence in the Aboriginal community. About The awards were fi ...

, and received an honorary degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nappaaluk, Mitiarjuk 1931 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian women novelists Members of the Order of Canada People from Nunavik Writers from Quebec Canadian Inuit women Inuit writers Translators to Inuktitut Indspire Awards 20th-century Canadian women writers Inuit from Quebec Canadian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian translators