Louis Tapardjuk speaks at the Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium in Tromso, Norway on October 21st, 2008. Louis Tapardjuk was born on January 30, 1953 in an igloo out on the sea ice near Igloolik, Nunavut where he later became Councillor and Mayor. Louis was elected to the 2nd Nunavut Legislature in the 2004 Territorial Elections. He was subsequently elected to cabinet by his colleagues and was appointed as Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth (CLEY) and Minister of Human Resources (HR). He has been very outspoken on Inuit Culture and Language and is acknowledged to be the spokesperson for Inuit on the issue by his contemporaries. As Minister, he was responsible for the recent passing of the Inuit Language Protection Act for Nunavut.

Year of Production: 2008

Country: Canada

Region: Arctic