Nipaturuq Magazine is empowering Indigenous youth to share their stories and spread the word of what their culture means to them. The magazine was produced and edited by two Inuvik based teens and features first-person accounts of youth and elders from across the Beaufort Delta describing what it means to be Inuvialuit.
Nipaturuq means "to have a loud voice," in Uummarmiutun, a dialect of Inuvialuktun spoken in Inuvik and Aklavik, N.W.T., and the magazine’s editors are hoping it will inspire more indigenous youth to do exactly that.
“I found that as a youth my voice was not being heard all the time, especially as an Indigenous youth. I wanted to create a platform where we could be heard,” said editor, Mataya Gillis.
Cassidy Lennie-Ipana interviews Renie Arey for Nipaturuq Magazine
Gillis, 16, and Cassidy Lennie-Ipana, 17, co-edited Nipaturuq Magazine. The duo first developed the idea while at a camp organized by the Inuvialuit Living History Project in Imniarvik, a fly-in base camp in Ivvavik National Park.
The camp was organized to help young people reconnect to the land as well as learn from Inuvialuit elders and knowledge keepers. Gillis and Lennie-Ipana came up with the idea to build the magazine as a way to document their experiences at the camp.
“All I could think of was putting it altogether in one thing. So, I thought, ‘well, we may as well do all of it and make a magazine.’”
Nipaturuq Magazine features first-person accounts of youth and elders from across the Beaufort Delta describing what it means to be Inuvialuit.
Gillis and Lennie-Ipana conducted the interviews and took photographs for the publication while at the camp. They then returned to their community of Inuvik to assemble it for publication.
“Being Inuvialuit, it’s not turning your back. It’s everyone together. Even if you’re not related, you’re always told to share your stuff and just be kind overall,” wrote Lennie-Ipana in the magazine.
Mataya Gillis is one of the editors for Nipaturuq Magazine
Distributing to an international audience
“I hope someone could walk into a store, pick this up and learn about my culture. To see how amazing it is to me and how amazing it is to everyone who is a part of it,” said Gillis.
People around the world are doing just that. The first edition of the magazine was printed and distributed across Canada and internationally to thousands of readers. It is available free of charge in bookstores in several major cities across Canada and can be read online through Apple Books.
The first edition of the magazine was printed and distributed across Canada and internationally
Expanding the project and the team
The duo has now completed a second edition of the magazine focused on climate change and also introduced a third member to the team. Lexis McDonald is a digital artist for the magazine. She hopes that the group can attract more young people to the publication through art and illustrations.
“To respect everyone and the land itself as well [as] keeping connections to your elders and your people is incredibly important.”
McDonald said she feels a lot of these connections have been lost since residential schools and she hopes the magazine can help young people, but also empower Indigenous elders as well.
“I hope that they can feel safe and comfortable sharing their knowledge.”
Lexis McDonald recently joined the team working on Nipaturuq Magazine as a digital artist.
