A book telling the story of Inuvialuk Elder Rose Kirby’s early life will be published this summer and distributed for free to Inuvialuit households.
The book – Kunuuksayuukka: The Spirit of Winter Storms – is being published by Tusaayaksat magazine and its parent, the Inuvialuit Communications Society.
ICS said this marked its first publication of a full-length Elder’s book, funded in part by the Canada Council for the Arts, NWT Arts Council, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and GNWT.
Rose Marie Iriarr̂uk Nirliq Tuuqłak Kirby, née Thrasher, was born at the Hornaday River in 1946. In a press release, the publishers said Kunuuksayuukka traces her childhood “from her vibrant traditional life on the land to being taken away on a ‘ship of tears’ to residential school,” and her time spent moving between Dew Line sites with her father, Joseph Saraana Thrasher.
“Known for her powerful memory and storytelling skills, Rose vividly recounts stories from her childhood and even infancy,” Thursday’s press release stated.
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“Kunuuksayuukka honours the important lessons that Rose has learned from her Elders and family, through watching how they interacted with one another, as well as with the larger natural world.
“Rose uses Kunuuksayuukka – the spirit of winter storms – and its slow disappearance from her life to describe her own transition from traditional, nomadic life on the land to moving into housing settlements created by tan’ngit (white people).”
All Inuvialuit households within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region can receive a copy for free from their respective Inuvialuit Community Corporation once the book is released. Paid subscribers to Tusaayaksat magazine can also receive a free copy. Non-Inuvialuit will be able to purchase the book from the ICS website.
ICS expects to receive the finished books in August, after which they will be mailed and distributed. (You can sign up for a notification when the book is released.)
An official book launch and feast will follow.
