PREGNANCY, BIRTH, AND CHILD REARING IN THE ARCTIC
PREGNANCY, BIRTH, AND CHILD REARING IN THE ARCTIC
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AMAUTI Ep. 1:
Ruth Montgomery-Andersen
In this episode we hear from Ruth Montgomery-Andersen. Ruth is an empowered and calm black woman born in the United States. Together with her husband, she has raised two sons in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Though still active, Ruth led a busy life before retiring. She founded and ran the only performance school in Kalaallit Nunaat, while pursuing her research and earning a doctorate. She’s also a midwife and has practiced many years in Kalaallit Nunaat before focusing on research. She has and still is a mentor to many young Greenlandic artists, performers, and creative minds. She is also the grandmother to 5 grandchildren.
AMAUTI 02:
Rassi Nashalik
Rassi is a retired Canadian journalist who was formerly the host of Igalaaq, a CBC North newscast in the Inuit language of Inuktitut.
Nashalik was born on a small island off of Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut. She was one of twelve siblings. For the first ten years of her life, she lived a traditional lifestyle with her family, playing outdoors and using dog sleds for transportation. At age ten, she was sent to residential schools in Pangnirtung and Churchill.
Before working at CBC, Nashalik worked with the GNWT Language Bureau for 13 years. She then saw a newspaper ad seeking an Inuktitut-speaking host for a news show. She applied and got the job, starting Igalaaq in 1995. During her tenure, she promoted the hiring of Indigenous people at the station and encouraged younger Inuit to speak Inuktitut. In 2014, she retired from newscasting.
In 2022, she was named the winner of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Gordon Sinclair Award for distinguished achievement in journalism at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards.
As an Inuk Elder, she became an Elder-in-Residence at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health in 2018. She also co-founded a wellness camp in Yellowknife for First Nations people. In 2021, she was inducted into the CBC News Hall of Fame.
AMAUTI 03:
Ingelise Olesen
KALAALLISUT
Ingelise tallimanik ernutaqarpoq. Sulinermini ilisimatusartutut pingaartitaraa najukkami innuttaasut qanimut suleqatigalugit pingaartitaraa Kalaallit Nunaanni innuttaasut peqqissuunissaannik paasinninnermi ileqqorissaarnissaq kulturimillu paasinninnissaq pillugit eqqarsaatersoqatigiittarnissaq. Innuttaasut Peqqissusiannik Ilisimatusarfimmi, Ilisimatusarfik Syddansk Universitetilumilu suleqatigalugit ingerlasumi ilisimatusarnermi ataqatigiissaarisutut atorfeqarpoq. Taamatut sulilinngikkallarami ernisussiortuuvoq, tamannalu soqutigisaanut suli sunniuteqarpoq.
AMAUTI 04:
Ingelise Olesen
ENGLISH VERSION
Ingelise Olesen is a grandmother of five grandchildren. Ingelise is an Kalaallit Inuit and focuses her research on working closely together with community, culture and ethics in public health in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). She is a research coordinator at Innuttaasut Peqqissusiannik Ilisimatusarfik / Centre for Public Health in Greenland, affiliated with the University of Greenland and the University of Southern Denmark. Ingelise has led the development of Peqqissuserput, a holistic model for Kalaallit Inuit health and well-being. Before she went into academia, Ingelise was a midwife, which still influences her research interests to evolve around pregnancy, birth, maternity health, parenting programs and the belongingness to community and culture.
AMAUTI 05:
Kimberly Fairman
Kimberly Fairman is Nunavummiut, her home community is Taloyoak in the Kitikmeot Region. Kimberly was trained in Nursing and obtained her Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Alberta. She worked in both the federal and territorial public service in positions that included Director-General Operations at the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She resides in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and is PhD Candidate at the University of Victoria and a Research Associate at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. Kimberly works with researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, clinicians and policy makers in health systems research that impacts on the northern experience. Playing an important role by weaving partnerships into the research fabric, engaging with communities and building northern capacity for health research. Kimberly has been showcasing the valuable contribution of northern communities, practitioners, and Indigenous knowledge holders to the modern research agenda.
AMAUTI 06:
Susan Chatwood
Dr. Susan Chatwood, is the Northern Strategy Lead at the University of Alberta, a Professor at the School of Public Health and Scientific Director at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. Her research interests include circumpolar health systems governance, policy, performance, and the synthesis of knowledge that promotes broader connotations of systems for health and wellness in the Arctic. She has spent most of her career in northern communities, working in the clinical setting, public health and research. Much of her work focuses on capacity building through improving northern-based research and access to education in northern Canada. Susan has longstanding experience supervising and supporting northern and Indigenous learners and working with Indigenous Elders and community groups.
AMAUTI 07:
Christine Ingemann
Dr. Christine Ingemann is married to a Kalaallit Inuk from South Greenland and together they have two children. With Danish, Norwegian and German roots, Christine has lived in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) for six years and has conducted research in close collaboration with Kalaallit communities since 2017. She is a researcher at Innuttaasut Peqqissusiannik Ilisimatusarfik / Centre for Public Health in Greenland, affiliated with Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland) and the University of Southern Denmark. Christine leads the Circumpolar Maternal and Child Health Working Group and is vice-lead of the UArctic Thematic Network on Health and Well-being. Her research focuses on early intervention, cultural safety, and community-based health promotion, especially in relation to families’ well-being and cross-sectoral collaboration. Christine’s work is grounded in participatory approaches and the lived experiences of Arctic communities.
Your host Sirí
Sirí Paulsen is a mother of two, a sound designer and director, and she’s born and raised in Nuuk. She’s the owner of Sialuk Productions. The past year, she has met with researchers and knowledge holders in the Arctic and interviewed them for this series.
If you have questions for Sirí, please contact sialukproductions@gmail.com
