Case Study | Pirurvik Centre

Overview

The creation of Nunavut in 1999 was the culmination of a decades-long struggle by Inuit to reclaim control over decision-making and build new institutions that could respond to the needs and aspirations of their communities. High among these was ensuring the survival of the Inuktut language (a term that includes all Inuit dialects).

It was in this context that the Pirurvik Centre was born. Launched in 2003, the Inuit-owned centre, whose name means “a place of growth,” shaped itself to become an accredited centre of Inuktut higher learning, where Inuit language, cultural expression and wellbeing would be fully integrated.

Twenty years on, the centre has empowered many language learners and educators with university-certified accreditation and the reassurance that Inuit language and culture will not just persevere, but thrive.

Engagement and Solutions

The Pirurvik Centre offers three university-accredited programs for Inuit higher education students: Aurniarvik, Qimattuvik and Aqqusiurvik.

The first two are full-time certificate programs that provide foundational language skills and enable students to learn vocabulary, concepts and other aspects of the language and culture that are at risk of disappearing from trained instructors and Elder professors. Aurniarvik is designed for Inuit who have grown up in English, but who want to become functional Inuktut speakers, while Qimattuvik is designed for fluent speakers seeking to enhance their skills.

Aqqusiurvik brings the Pirurvik Centre’s language learning program full circle, training the next generation of Inuktut educators not just to teach the language to first- and second-language speakers, but to immerse students in the natural classroom that is the Arctic environment. The one-year, 21-course program teaches future educators concepts like curriculum design and immersion teaching techniques.

All three programs are accredited through the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

The Pirurvik Centre has also endeavoured to make Inuktut available to those outside Inuit culture through its online Inuktut Second Language Foundations course, resources like its Inuktut-English dictionary and phrasebook, and Tusaalanga, an interactive website that offers lessons in grammar, vocabular and everyday conversation. The Inuktut Foundations courses and resources enable those who have come to Nunavut from the rest of Canada and around the world to acquire a greater understanding of the land and its people, to integrate better in its communities and to communicate simply with the public when providing services.

Outcomes and Future Vision

Having built its base in language education, the Pirurvik Centre is expanding its offerings to further empower Inuit through two programs, Reclaiming the Whole Woman and Reclaiming the Whole Man. Both programs are designed to build healthy, self-confident men and women by restoring the bonds between generations and creating the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills at the heart of the Inuit way of life. 

The Pirurvik Centre is also developing a program, called Ingalangaittukuurvik, that is aimed at ensuring the highest levels of Inuit knowledge will be an enduring legacy for future generations. The program will bring together Inuktut-speaking students with Inuit knowledge keepers to explore and document knowledge, vocabulary and ways of knowing that are at risk of going dormant.

Ingalangaittukuurvik is an Inuktut word to describe a place of high elevation. As the Pirurvik Centre describes it, “When you stand on Ingalangaittuq, you experience the vastness of the skies. You can see everything around you, far into the distance. This is the metaphor for this program as we attempt to bring Inuit wisdom into the hearts of Inuit generations of today and tomorrow.”