NBES Mission:

The Nunavut Bilingual Education Society (NBES) works to preserve and promote Inuit language, culture, and strengthen literacy throughout Nunavut and across Canada by providing accessible, culturally- appropriate learning resources and support.

Goals:

The goals of NBES are:

• To ensure that Inuktut resources, training, and support are available in Nunavut for education in schools and homes.
• To use education as a tool to preserve and promote the Inuit language and culture;
• To support the development of and distribute educational resources promoting the Inuktut language as well as Inuit culture, history, geography, and worldviews;
• To equip young Nunavummiut with the skills needed to prepare and engage in bilingual education and to foster a connection between homes, schools, and the broader community;
• To support the development and training of Nunavummiut creative and educational professionals (writers, visual artists, educators, content creators, etc.) and encourage their contribution to the development of educational resources and instruction in Nunavut;
• To engage and ensure local communities are equal partners in the development of NBES’ educational programming, ensuring the future of Inuit learning and language preservation is self- determined.

NBES aims to meet these goals by:

1. Producing and distributing educational content and resources in Inuktut, including books, films, games, and digital applications;
2. Conducting capacity-building trainings and workshops for Inuit with a focus on Inuktut language and literacy development;
3. Designing and implementing community events to promote and teach about Inuit culture and support Inuit writers, educators, publishers, artists, and content creators;
4. Partnering with Inuit-led companies, professionals, institutions, vendors, and local government to engage in and inform our programmatic initiatives.

About NBES:

The Nunavut Bilingual Education Society (NBES) is a community-based, non-profit society established in 2003. NBES was created by a group of Nunavut educators, cultural promoters, and storytellers concerned with the preservation, protection, and promotion of Inuit oral history and storytelling, cultural knowledge, and language.

It is the society’s belief that the cooperation of engaged, talented and, concerned Nunavummiut will result in Northern educational resources that support Inuit education in Nunavut and the successful transmission of oral history, cultural identity, and language to future generations.

2020-2021 Board of Directors

President: Ceporah Mearns

Vice President: Nadia Sammurtok

Secretary/Treasurer: Jaypeetee Arnakak

Member: Babah Kalluk

ᐅᕗᖕᒐ ᑎᑎᕋᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᑎᑦ [email protected] ᐊᐱᖁᑎᒃᓴᖃᕈᕕ.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.