Akia (the other side) of Ilinnarvik (school) and the Inuit University Student

Abstract

This study examines the intricacies of southern resident Inuit post-secondary student life in relation to education and the funding stream made available to them. The Inuit students are all beneficiaries of land claims areas but are not residing inside the land claims area that recognizes them as such. The post-secondary funding stream is used as a catalyst, the agent that demands action from the Inuit students which in turn creates a series of resultant events. Among these events is how Inuit in the south are perceived by the mainstream populations and the effects that the perception has on Inuit identity. Not only are post-secondary students involved in examining their educational process, my study also examines how the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was created through the experience of lawyer, John Merritt. Merritt has stayed with the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement before it was birthed onto the nation of Canada and throughout its implementation. Jason LeBlanc, is a southern Inuit service provider and Executive Director of Ottawa Tungasuvvingat Inuit. He brings to light the effects that the northern land claims agreements have on the burgeoning southern Inuit population. He also focuses attention on the constraints of Canadian political processes that infringe on the supports that can be accessed. Heather Igloliorte, a professor at Concordia University in Montreal shares some of the harsh realities of being an Inuk academic inside of what should be the most apolitical space in Canada. This study also contains the dilemmas of two Inuit post-secondary students who are currently unable to complete their university education and the policy that surrounds their circumstances. This is Akia, the other side of Ilinniarvik (school) and the southern Inuit post-secondary student.