Janet McGrath was hired as an Inuktitut interpretor at age 15. Two years later, she was translating for the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.
“After working for the government for a few years, I realized I was far more interested in working with oral history documentation than in translating government materials,” said McGrath.
McGrath, who just defended her PhD thesis in Canadian Studies and Political Economy at Carleton, wanted to accurately convey elders’ words and ideas. This led her to pursue MA and doctoral theses based on conversations with Inuit elders. “In working this way, I have brought some of the richness of the elders’ intellectual traditions into the academy.”
Her PhD research theorizes about Inuktitut knowledge renewal, based on recorded conversations with Inuk elder and philosopher Aupilaarjuk from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. “He is a significant knowledge-keeper for Inuit.”
Through her analysis of these talks, McGrath created a model that is rooted in Inuit culture. Her Qaggiq Model is intended as a basis for developing forums for dialogue or for analyzing existing ones.
McGrath explains: “There are practices and approaches that Inuit embrace that are not appreciated by outside groups, and sometimes Inuit approaches are therefore undermined. The model emerged from everyday interactions. It supports an Inuk-centered approach to a wide variety of dialogues on: research, governance, health, education and policy development. The basis of all is “relationality” and learning to be accountable relationally in the Inuk way when it comes to decisions that affect Inuit.”
McGrath notes that Aupilaarjuk is of the last generation of Inuit that was raised on the land to maturity before becoming part of the settlement era. “Their contribution is urgent, as Nunavut Government and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated call for an integration of Inuit philosophies into policy and programs relating to Inuit.”
McGrath spent about a year in Rankin Inlet conducting research and also grew up in the Arctic. “I spend as much time as I can – it’s home to me.”
Last fall, she was featured on APTN News regarding a course she was teaching on Inuktitut at Carleton. For more details, please visit THIS SITE.
Now, she wants to work more on all-Inuktitut projects and support Inuktitut methodology to be recognized and appreciated.
