This is an eclectic collection of essays written and compiled in recognition of Leah Aksaajuq Otak. The essays explore a wide variety of topics broadly related to cultural renewal and representation, oral history, heritage, and social change among the Inuit of Igloolik, in Nunavut's northern Qikiqtani Region. Leah was a skilled oral historian and linguist from Igloolik, whose essential contribution to scientific research in Nunavut inspired those who knew and worked with her.
During the last two decades of her life, Leah Otak worked at the Igloolik Research Centre, where she played a crucial role facilitating the fieldwork of visiting researchers from near and far. Her collaboration with researchers, particularly in the social sciences, together with her extensive work documenting Inuit oral histories, ensured that Inuit traditional knowledge and perspectives informed and were reflected in much of the resulting research.
John MacDonald is the former director of the Igloolik Research Institute and the author of The Arctic Sky: Inuit Astronomy, Star Lore, and Legend. Nancy Wachowich is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She is the author of Saqiyuq: Stories from the lives of three Inuit women.
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