For Immediate Release Regional Selection Committees Shortlist Projects for 2017 Arctic Inspiration Prize Winners to be announced January 31, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario, November 30, 2017 – The Regional Selection Committees of the Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP) have selected 10 exceptional projects to be considered for the sixth annual Prize that will award up to $3 Million in three categories. The Regional Selection Committees for Yukon, Northwest Territories and Inuit Nunangat, comprised of Northerners representing diverse sectors and communities, reviewed nominations submitted from their regions and presented their recommendations to the AIP National Selection Committee, who will select and announce the Laureates at the AIP’s 6th Annual Awards Ceremony to be held in conjunction with the 2018 Northern Lights Business & Cultural Showcase in Ottawa on January 31, 2018. PROJECTS SHORTLISTED FOR THE AIP IN THE $1 MILLION CATEGORY: Arctic Indigenous Wellness Project Team Leader: Dr. Nicole Redvers, Yellowknife Geographical Scope: Northwest Territories An urban land-based healing program for Inuit, First Nation and Métis at risk of suicide and/or incarceration that combines Indigenous cultural education with traditional therapeutic interventions in a wilderness urban setting. From-the-Land – Food Ambassadors Program Team Leader: Jackoline Milne, Northern Farm Training Institute Geographical Scope: Northwest Territories & Inuit Nunangat Project addresses Northern food insecurity by empowering food producers to share their knowledge of traditional wild food skills and sustainable domestic meat and vegetable production to people in the most isolated part of the Canadian Arctic. PROJECTS SHORTLISTED IN THE AIP CATEGORY THAT AWARDS UP TO $500,000 TO UP TO FOUR TEAMS: Unaaq Men’s Association of Inukjuak – Intensive Traditional Program Development Team Leader: Tommy Palliser, Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board Geographical Scope: Inuit Nunangat The Intensive Traditional Program Development will design four seasonal training programs and will pair young men with elders and experienced hunters to enhance intergenerational bonds, promote self- esteem and share traditional Inuit knowledge across the Nunavik region. Our Families, Our Way: The Peacemaking Circle Team Leader: Lori Duncan, Carcross/Tagish First Nation Geographical Scope: Yukon By combining traditional and contemporary knowledge, the Peacemaking Circle project will develop a community-based peacemaking circle curriculum to equip families and community workers with the skills to peacefully resolve disputes. Inuinnait Ingilraatuqanit Ayuiqharvik – Inuinnait Cultural School Team Leader: Pamela Gross, Kitikmeot Heritage Society Geographical Scope: Inuit Nunangat The Inuinnait Cultural School program aims to mobilize existing Inuinnait pre-history, history, geography, linguistics and traditional knowledge for the development of formal courses to be delivered on the land in Bathurst Inlet to students between 18 and 30 years old. The Qajaq Program Team Leader: Glen Brocklebank, Chesterfield Inlet Geographical Scope: Inuit Nunangat With help from local knowledge keepers and elders, the youth of Chesterfield Inlet will learn how to build and paddle their own qajaqs based on the design and shape that was used in the area hundreds of years earlier. PROJECTS SHORTLISTED IN THE AIP YOUTH CATEGORY THAT AWARDS UP TO $100,000 FOR UP TO SEVEN TEAMS: Dene Heroes Publication Project Team Leader: Dakota Orlias, Colville Lake Geographical Scope: Northwest Territories This project will support young Dene men and women as they learn how to compile, publish and distribute a collaborative four-colour book that honours their own Dene heroes. North in Focus: Nunavut, Our Land, Our People Team Leader: Ashley Cummings, Pangnirtung Geographical Scope: Inuit Nunangat This proposal seeks capacity building funds to prepare a nomination for a future prize year to deliver mental health workshops and connect individuals with mental health resources to reduce stigma associated with mental illness and help youth 12 and older realize their strengths and build pride. Rankin Rock Hockey Camp Team Leader: David Clark, Hamlet of Rankin Inlet Geographical Scope: Inuit Nunangat The Rankin Rock Hockey Camp will develop youth leadership capacity building by giving youth a hands- on experiential learning opportunity as coaches and leaders with a hockey camp. Rivers to Ridges Team Leaders: Erin Nicolardi, Emily Payne, Whitehorse Geographical Scope: Yukon Rivers to Ridges is a land-based education initiative to meaningfully connect young people to the land and provide access to a natural space for child-directed, emergent and inquiry-based learning. - 30 - For information: Kevin Kablutsiak Executive Director Arctic Inspiration Prize 613-914-5172 [email protected] .