Piita Irniq, an educator, artist, former politician, and advocate for Inuit and their way of life, is well known for Inuksuit he has built. They have been displayed throughout Canada, and in various countries including in France, Argentina, Mongolia, and the United States.
During the week of October 16, 2023 he will erect an Inuksuk near the Center for Arctic Studies on the campus of Bowdoin College.
An Inuksuk is a stone structure shaped in the likeness of a person (inuk). It might be a single upright boulder or stones stacked to resemble a person with outstretched arms. Ancestors of present-day Inuit erected Inuksuit on the land to serve as wayfinding structures.
Join us as Irniq discusses Inuit as a hunting society, their move from iglu to microwave in less than 60 years, and the impact of residential schools on contemporary communities. He will explain how Inuit are reclaiming, retrieving and reinvigorating their culture.