Leaders at Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council address the importance of communications grounded in cultural competency to reach Inuit audiences.
Communicating with audiences in Inuit Nunangat requires a different approach. One that centres cultural competency over flashy websites.
In this episode of Ampersand, we sit down with Amber Aglukark and Cate Macleod — Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council’s President and Executive Director — two experts on trauma-informed communications in Nunavut and Inuit Nunangat more broadly.
Amber and Cate speak with host Caitlin about how gender equity is affected by colonial legacies, the importance of culturally relevant services, and the role of active listening and community engagement in their work. They also discuss their hope for meaningful change in the next decade.
This season of Ampersand is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the TRC and explores its lasting impacts. Through conversations with Survivors, scholars, and advocates, this season reflects on the progress made since the TRC’s final report and Calls to Action, while also addressing the challenges that remain.
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email media@emdashagency.ca with any questions.
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Caitlin Kealey: Welcome to Ampersand, the podcast, helping good people be heard and comms people be better. Well, thanks for joining, uh, me. This is very exciting. Uh, you are both good friends of mine and both very, very smart, wonderful women. So I'm very much looking forward to our conversation today. Um, we always start with an icebreaker question.
So, uh, Cate, do you wanna share a memory from your first computer or early days on the internet?
Cate Macleod: Um, okay. This is actually dating myself so much, but, um, I remember distinctly being in my university apartment basement in second year. So we're talking 1997. Let's keep that on the down low. Um, waiting as I logged onto ICQ, I don't even think that Amber is actually old enough to know what ICQ is and waiting for that.
Remember that sound? It was like, makes sound. Like when somebody logged on - waiting for the boy, I had a huge crush on, um, to go online, which is so pathetic, and it was so thrilling. So yeah, that would be my most prominent first memory.
Caitlin Kealey: Uh, so I, as we know, we are very similarly aged, if not exactly the same age. Uh, I also was addicted to ICQ.
Um, what was your screen name? Do you remember?
Cate Macleod: I don't, but it was something so pathetic. It was something so ridiculous, like sweet cheeks, 29, blah, blah, blah, something.
Caitlin Kealey: Love it.
Cate Macleod: Horrific like that. Like, oh, just the memories of how just unbelievably sad I was in my late teens is. Still hurts. I was like, it's, I'm, I'm glad my camera isn't working right now because I'm blushing intensely.
Caitlin Kealey: I, uh, I was obsessed with tank girls, so all of my nicknames had tank in them, so I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was a large man. Amber, what about you? What's your early memories? make us feel old
Amber Aglukark: Well, in 2003. 13-year-old Amber in the small town of Arviat. I introduced to like, ‘’Hey, you should get an email.’’
I was like, ’’what's that?’’ And uh, I take turns at the community hall with my friends on logging into her emails to see if you know, who emailed us today. And often I get, you know, an email from my crush too. I was like, oh, he, he sent me a note.
Caitlin Kealey: I love that all of our stories are about like dating online or waiting for boys.
Amber Aglukark: I discovered MSN and then—
Cate Macleod: times have changed. Dammit. We're no longer here for now.
Caitlin Kealey: Um, okay, now to get into the more serious stuff, um. You're both from Qulliit which is the status of women in Nunavut. And so we're talking a bit about trauma, trauma-informed communications, and I'm just wondering, obviously we're in the 10th year of the TRC.
Um, how do you think, Cate, trauma-informed communications practices have changed in the last decade?
Cate Macleod: So for me, um, I think that living and working in Nunavut is completely different than anywhere else in the country, and we really have to recognize that because we recognize the distinct, uh, needs of Inuit.
Um, and I don't think that there's a single Nunavut Inuk who hasn't experienced trauma. whether it's firsthand or intergenerationally or vicariously. Um, so for me as a settler and a visitor to Nunavut, I think the most important thing has always been to listen. Um, I think everything we do needs to be through a lens of trauma, um, so that we can actually positively respond to, um, individuals, especially the people that we're trying to help, um, who are suffering or have suffered.
So, Caitlin, you've been in enough engagement sessions and consultation sessions with us to see, um. That there's so much disclosure of trauma and how deeply it impacts everybody in our community. So incorporating trauma-informed practices means for us really building safe spaces, building trust, um, showing that there are choices, um, trying to really empower women, girls, and gender diverse people.
Um, hoping to build and help people foster resiliency and success. And I think for us, um, that just means that we're really, really actively listening to people and we're taking what they give us and we're working with that rather than trying to tell people what to do or talk to them, we're responding directly to what our communities say and what they want.
Caitlin Kealey: Amber, do you have anything you'd like to add to that?
Amber Aglukark: Yeah. Um, in my years now with, uh, the Government in Nunavut and now with Qulliit, the last few years with Cate and the crew, um, I've definitely found that there's like a, a growing understanding that communication is, isn't just about what we say, um, but how, and when we say it and like, like kind of like not the right time, but it's like a, you know, there's an open opportunity to share more in depth meaning behind how we communicate, um, and providing the space to speak.
And, you know, since the TRCs final report, I have seen that, you know, organizations, um, they do acknowledge, you know, the need for safer spaces, um, and respecting spaces for indigenous, uh, people. Um, I find, especially in my work, I can only speak for myself on this, but as an Inuk woman, you know, mid thirties.
Well integrated into my community in, uh, in different levels, but I've definitely found that there's been a growing sense of, the need, the for more, uh, trauma-informed approaches to conversations. Um, you know, it's shifted from being optional to being extremely essential. And, um, you know, especially in related to presidential schools, intergenerational trauma, you know, the healing aspects of what our, of our history.
Um, you know, and just emphasizing on how, how, how people listen deeply and a huge major like, um, shift in you know practicing consent and storytelling and, you know, respecting people's boundaries and, and how we share stories.
Caitlin Kealey: Yeah, those are all really good points and all, you know, I think, you know, some of it might have existed pre - TRC, but I guess a lot of a light was shed during that and the national inquiry, um, there's obvious,
Cate Macleod: Can I add on that really quickly?
Caitlin Kealey: Oh, of course.
Cate Macleod:Yeah, I just wanted to also say like, we really take, um, language and culture very, very seriously in terms of actually taking our ques from our communities. So we know that a lot of, um, our community members are unilingual or inuktitut first speakers, so we really do everything we can to have interpretation, um, on site. And then we also, um, always have culturally safe counseling and or elders on site to be able to help people feel more safe, um, when they're opening up. So I think that that is integral to everything we do, and we really have to make sure that that is always, always happening.
Caitlin Kealey: Yeah, I mean, language is such an important piece of all of this, and especially when you're thinking about keeping culture and community and traditions alive, um, when it comes to gender equity, because that's, you know, what we've been working on collectively, what are some of the gaps and challenges that you still see?
I know, you know, there's, there's a special case in Nunavut that we can talk about, obviously.
Cate Macleod: Um, so this isn't about gender equity, just first of all, I'll get into that, but, um, first, um, I still see just such a huge misunderstanding and misrepresentation around the distinction of Inuit. Um, especially with the federal government. There are so many times when we deal with the Feds, um, and they attempt to put First Nations tradition and ceremony into events here in Nunavut.
Honestly, it's still shocking sometimes how little people know about Inuit, um, when they come here, especially from some of the departments like, uh, ICS and um, Northern Affairs and that kind of thing. So I think that's a huge challenge we see outside of gender equity, just in terms of making sure that people understand what's happening in the north.
Um, but across the board, I think that there's still an intense power struggle, um, between sexes in a traditional sense. Um, one where we see a lot of women in the position of doing it all, and I'm using air quotes here, ‘’thriving’’, but actually doing it succeeding in professional. Um. Personal friendship, all of those kinds of areas in those circles, while a lot of, um, men have lost their traditional roles in terms of that survival and protector of their families, and it's causing, um, struggle, pain, and a loss of purpose and stuff.
So I think that there is, um, a lot of gender inequity in that and men are resentful of women for that while still expecting them to do kind of the behind the scenes roles as well as now that not necessarily. Um, recognizing, um, people as equal a lot of the time. I don't think that's just here in Nunavut I don't think that that's, um, anything that's not happening anywhere else, but we are seeing that in our communities.
I don't know if you wanna talk to that at all, Amber, or if you have different thoughts.
Amber Aglukark: Um, yeah, a few of my notes here. I, um, and everything that you just. Spoke on, like, I, I completely agree on all those issues because, you know, especially myself being an Inuk woman, you know, with three brothers growing up, um, it was very different and difficult for me as the only girl in my family.
So growing up there was, there was definitely like a, I was kinda shadowed by my mom, and then my brothers always told my dad, but over time, like as, as I've become a. As I became an adult after graduating high school and becoming a mother myself, there was definitely that, um, huge, you know, barrier between how I grew up compared to like what our whole community was trying to thrive on was we, we are trying to shift from that colonial system that was kind of forced upon us, um, and trying to regain and continue strengthening the men in our community and our families.
Um, you know and now. And today for me, like being a, mother to a son, you know, I'm showing that, you know, we both can do this. We both can strengthen, you know, both our identities as men and women. And um, and I think that that's one of the biggest challenges is that, you know, it often gets treated as a universal issue.
But the reality is that Inuit woman and. gender diverse people, um, experience unique barriers, um, that are compounded by the colonial systems that were forced on us. And you know, and it makes it hard to advocate effectively when there's that, that barrier and, um, that lack of understanding even within our own communities that we're still, we are still learning, we are still trying to kind of like, um.
Kind of fi uh, regain, uh, rebuild those bridges between the gaps that were, um, that kinda came to fruition because of these systems. And, you know, there's also a real gap in culturally relevant services. Um, and on top of that, violence against indigenous women and girls, it does remain an ongoing crisis.
And you know, the solutions that we know. That we are trying to be a part of the, the, the communication, the, the discussions, the decision making. You know, we want to emphasize, I, I, I want to emphasize that it's not a one size fits all. Um, it's very unique to our small communities, um, that are isolated, that don't have immediate services like the South.
And I just find that, you know, the data collected over the years, like there's a very misunderstanding that. It's very, it's a very unique and special situation because of the system that was placed on us.
Caitlin Kealey: Yeah, I do think that the difference between North and South, unless you've actually experienced a northern remote community, like you could talk about it, but I don't think you get it till you go there.
Amber Aglukark:Mm-hmm.
Caitlin Kealey: Um, because it's so different and like, you know, people don't understand that. You can't just necessarily walk to the doctor's office or, you know, depending on what you need, what services you need. They're not always there or they're fly in and fly out.
Amber Aglukark:Yep.
Caitlin Kealey:So, you know, I think all of those points are really interesting.
Um, just to switch gears a little bit, um, how have you integrated the TRCs calls to action into your work and, you know, into your advocacy and, you know, what is the influence that the TRC has had over Qulliit specifically?
Cate Macleod: Um, so I, as the executive director of Qulliit, sit on a number of working groups, particularly, um, in healthcare delivery and access to justice that are still 10 years later working to develop appropriate culturally competent training for lawyers, fly in nurses, locum doctors, all that kind of stuff. So for us, this includes the legacy of residential schools and intergenerational trauma.
Inuit Traditions and Community Justice, um, Inuit - crown relations. Um, and this has to be obviously really deeply rooted in trauma informed practices and cultural competency, uh, Inuit, human rights, anti-racism, that kind of stuff. Um, but we also work a lot within the, um, um, MMIWG calls to justice. Um. Uh, and I don't know if we wanna get into that after Amber speaks to it, but, um, a lot of our work is much more rooted in, uh, a lot of that kind of stuff just because, you know, women in Nunavut are the victims of violent crime at a rate that's 13 times higher than the rate of women in Canada in a whole.
And our family violence rate against children is something like. It's over 1400 per hundred thousand compared to the national average, which I think is like 250 per hundred thousand. And you know, Nunavut had the, the highest rate of female victims of police who have reported family violence in Canada in 2016.
And you know, the stats go on and on and on and on and on. So, um, we definitely have a lot of work to do and we are desperately trying to integrate all of that knowledge into the work that we do, um, and all of our campaigns while trying to maintain, you know, some semblance of hope and moving forward and ensuring that Inuit are at the, the center of moving all of that forward.
Um, so I think, you know, 10 years on, and I think it's now seven or eight years since, um, the final report from the inquiry on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. Um, I think we can say that it's a bit slow going, but we're, we include all of that work into everything we do.
Caitlin Kealey: Um, Amber, do you wanna add anything to that or?
Amber Aglukark: Yep. Um, so yeah, Qulliit has integrated TRCs call to actions, like, into our initiatives that we've, um, um, that we've completed in the last couple years that are, and initiatives that are ongoing each year. Like our RED — remember, educate, dedicate — and, you know, we, we've always rooted its work, um, in Inuit knowledge, community leadership.
And like the calls to action reinforced, you know, the urgency of that approach that we've taken, um, especially at the community level, um, our residents. And, um, we use the calls to action as a framework to push for systemic change. Uh, whether it's advocating for culturally safe healthcare or education and, you know, education that reflects Inuit values, um, or supporting Inuit women in leadership roles.
And especially like on a day to day level, like the TRC reminds us and everything that we do and everything that we say, and, you know, the speaking notes that we, like, that we want to come forward with, um, it, it reminds us that reconciliation is active and reconciliation is exactly in everything that we have, uh, accomplished to date.
And, and, and it's active in all the things that we, um, you know, we discuss on future plans, future initiatives, and, you know, it's in the language that we use, um, and the policies that we, we're challenging to date and the partnerships that we built along the way. Um, Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council has certainly, you know, I feel that we've definitely integrated a lot of these calls to action into, in, in the work that we do.
Caitlin Kealey: That's great. And it's obviously really important work that has sadly, a great need within the communities. Right? Like those numbers that Cate just said are staggering. Um. And obviously there's lots of work left to be done, though. Every time I come north, I'm just moved by how wonderful everyone seems. Um, so this podcast is generally for communications people.
So one of the things that I, um. Wanted to ask, uh, Cate, I'll start with you for sure. Is sort of what strategies — 'cause communicating in the north is a special thing, it's not like communicating in the south — so, you know, what strategies have been effective for you in mobilizing community support for your initiatives?
Cate Macleod: Um, so like I said, um, I think the most important thing for me is active listening and learning. Um. I'll never stop listening and I have to center all of our work, um, with Inuit, um, around that and take whatever communities share with me. And that is the basis of everything we do. There's so much tendency from comms professionals, no offense, I am one as well.
Um, to tell people how to fix things, spin things, promote things, um, and instead, I've learned in my 22 years in comms here that we need to take the information that's given to us and help develop a plan that works for our communities by Inuit, for Inuit. So, um, we hold a lot of consultation, a lot of engagement sessions, a lot of communication with, um, stakeholders, community members, active partners.
Um, and we really do test everything that we do with them beforehand because, you know, a lot of people don't necessarily have, um, reliable access to internet and they don't need a big flashy website. We do a lot of our work on community radios because we know that that is one of the touchstones in our communities.
Um, what we really, really, really have to do very regularly is keep talking to our community members and see what engages them the most. So I'm just lucky enough to help, um, along the way and broaden my views and perspectives that way. But it really is about listening and figuring out what communities need, um, in terms of how they respond to things, how they want their messages delivered, and how they're gonna care at the end of the day.
You know, it's really about how this is gonna impact them and how it's gonna help them.
Caitlin Kealey: I imagine not all communities are the same either. So what works in one community may not work in another. Um, Amber, do you have thoughts on this one?
Amber Aglukark: Yep. Um, so coming from a small community growing up radio is definitely a huge thing for us in the CB [Cambridge Bay].
Um, like the most effective strategy I find, um, and not just being with Qulliit, but a lot of things that we do in our community, like it's, it's gonna be through relationship building too. It's going to be about how we network, how we, how we use that time, uh, when we have those face-to-face meetings. How we have, how we use the time when we do have that opportunity to visit communities.
Um, you know, showing up, listening, respecting the local knowledge, um, and prioritizing communications that are bilingual — Inuktitut and English. Um, especially, you know, if it's, if it comes to storytelling or, um, knowledge of the land, knowledge of, um, important community information and, um, like social media can be powerful.
But like I said, so like Cate had said through radio interviews, um, community gatherings and ultimately people support what they feel part of. Like if they see themselves reflected in the message and by the messengers, they're more likely to engage with those people too. So, um, being able to work at the community level and how they do it at that level too is extremely important.
Caitlin Kealey: Yeah. Like we've said a few times Yeah. For Inuit by Inuit, right? Yeah.
Cate Macleod: Yeah. And I think informal communication was such a long way, um, in Nunavut communities. Um. Really friendly connecting, making sure you're open and receptive. Um, like Amber said, community gatherings are a huge way to make sure your message is heard and talking with people rather than to them.
So really connected, interactive types of things are what we find have been much more, um, positive and impactful than a lot of traditional comms roles, like throw out the Canadian Press book. We don't need that kind of stuff. You know, caps and spellings, not important with what we're doing.
So, yeah.
Caitlin Kealey: But my Oxford commas.
Cate Macleod: It's fun to let it go. Sweet, sweet, Caitlyn.
Caitlin Kealey: Um, so, uh, I'll, I'll do this last question to both of you. Uh, Cate, you can go first if you'd like. We're 10 years out from the TRC. Where do you hope to see the TRC calls to action in another 10 years?
Cate Macleod: Um, well, I think we can all agree that the calls to action have been inadequately responded to. I mean, there has been progress, obviously, I think that we're headed in the right direction, but I'd love to see some real change, some real response, and some semblance of shaking up the system and processes in government to get the damn work done already.
For me, anyway, that's what I'm really, really hoping.
Um, and this is kind of a personal gripe, but things like land acknowledgements. I'd love to see that there's some actual meaningful work and education being done in those few minutes instead of the hollow words that are kind of bordering on insulting at this point.
Like, let's take that time and those resources, I know there are only a few minutes at the beginning of each meeting, but let's have, I don't know, an Elder talk about something that happened to them. Let's, like, have real connection with the land that is unceded and that we're not supposed to be on. Let's figure it out and like actually create education around that kind of space.
Yeah.
Caitlin Kealey: What the King reading a land acknowledgement last week wasn't enough for you in this speech to the throne?
Cate Macleod: Oh gosh, no. Definitely not.
Caitlin Kealey: Amber, how about you?
Amber Aglukark: Uh, I echo Cate's, um, her, her response there. Um, especially the land acknowledgement piece because I just came in from Ottawa yesterday from the, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Trade Show and Conference, and there were mayors, councillors from all over Canada, CAOs and um, SAOs, and a lot of our, the, a lot of the plenaries and the sessions and discussions that I attended, um, they all did in fact do a land acknowledgement but a lot of them were very poorly done.
Extremely poorly done, like, I looked at like my fellow councillors that came down with me, I'm like, really? Honestly, like you could have done better.
Like you are speaking to a room filled with Indigenous people and that's all you have. So I'd say in the next 10 years, I, I, I'd wanna see real accountability on exactly, not just land acknowledgement, but like, you know, action and sustained, you know, meaningful conversations, uh, meaningful impact on what the First Nation, Inuit, and Métis have overcome.
And like Cate said, know, maybe have an Elder speak for like maybe five, ten minutes. It's not a very long time and you know, they're not gonna be around for a long time. And that's a lot of important oral history right there in the room. That is willing to share and you know, just being able to provide that space for them like.
And to see Inuit led programs and having our elders part of those programs and, you know, they create such a supported, long-term effect, um, especially for the next generation. And like I, I'm raising the next generation, like in my own home right now, and I, like, it's to ensure that our children are very much prepared to have these conversations in 10 years or so.
And like, you know, they're growing up very, very fast and like, you know, I just want the, the calls to action, like it shouldn't feel like a checklist. And I'd want to be woven into the fabric of every institution, um, that represents and serves Indigenous people all over Canada. Because, you know, Indigenous people not just deserve that, they've, they've earned it, they've earned that, right?
To have that, you know, that the, the same services that the rest of Canada receives.
Caitlin Kealey: Well, that's it for this week's episode of Ampersand. Thanks for joining us. For more comms and design tips, sign up for our newsletter at emdashagency.ca and follow us on your favorite podcasting app so that you don't miss our next episode.
Ampersand is hosted by Megana Ramaswami and me, Caitlin Kealey, and it's produced by Elio Peterson. This podcast is a project of Emdash, the small agency focused on big impact helping progressives be heard.