The Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq / Kitikmeot Heritage Society is a nonprofit Inuit heritage organization that operates out of the May Hakongak Community Library & Cultural Centre in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. We address projects of critical importance to the revival of Inuit culture, language and history. We focus on the needs of Inuinnait—a distinct regional group of Inuit living in the Central Canadian Arctic.

 

Our reality is that the Inuinnaqtun language—the foundation of Inuinnait culture—has less than 600 fluent speakers remaining. By most estimates, it is a language that will be extinct in less than two generations. Language plays a critical role in our ability to communicate, but more importantly, language is an archive for each person’s identity, cultural history, knowledge, traditions, memory and experiences. 

 

Guided by a finely-honed plan, we are revitalizing our language and culture to ensure its survival for the next generations. 

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