Illiniavugut Nunami : learning from the land : envisioning an Inuit-centered educational future

Abstract

We are at a critical juncture in history where decolonization and indigenization are poised to influence the changing nature of global and local forms of education. With the help of public campaigns like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, western education institutions are becoming increasingly aware that their forms of western epistemology and knowledge production continue to exercise forms of Eurocentric colonial power. This research study of Inuit land-based knowledge in Nunatsiavut is foregrounded by a critical analysis of Eurocentric education that is implicated in its centuries-long suppression. This community-led research study builds upon Inuit epistemological understandings that help promote Inuit modes of knowledge transmission that often take place on and with nuna – the land. Land-based learning and knowledge is a culturally responsive and competent approach enabling the development of Inuit people who are offered the freedom of choice to an education based in their philosophies and traditions, which contributes to flourishing Inuit societies.