By By Pierre Desrosiers and Sylvie Côté Chew
From 16-18th October, a roundtable took place in Kangiqsujuaq in order to discuss the history of the community and the region. This activity was a joint initiative between the municipality of Kangiqsujuaq, Avataq Cultural Institute and the Visitor’s Centre of the Pingualuit National Park. The objective was to present the historical information to people involved in the development of local tourism, as well as to other members of the community.
Over three days, the exceptionally rich history and archaeology of the region was revealed and the panel explored the possibility of developing guided visits for tourists. This workshop was open to the public and attracted people of all ages, including a number of high school students, teachers, and elders. Mary A. Pilurtuut (mayor of Kangiqsujuaq) led the discussion, with the assistance of Sylvie Côté Chew (Avataq Cultural Institute).
Anthropologist Bernard Saladin d’Anglure was the principal speaker: he possesses a wealth of information on the history and local traditions, particularly covering the 1950’s and ‘60’s. He was accompanied by Pierre Desrosiers (Avataq Cultural Institute), who presented the results of archaeological research conducted in this region; the Kangiqsujuaq area features one of the largest concentrations of sites in Nunavik. Finally, Pierre Philie (Visitor’s Centre for Pingualuit Park) presented a segment entitled “Artifacts of the 21st Century: the archaeological artifacts of tomorrow”. In addition, the first mock-up of the book Arvik was unveiled; this book tells the story of whale hunting in Nunavik.