Project Team

I am a social anthropologist conducting ethnographic research primarily in the Canadian High Arctic and drawing on fields of historical anthropology, visual anthropology, oral histories, museums and material culture and the anthropology of food. I have written on the history of colonialism, the interplay between western and indigenous knowledge systems, historiography, Inuit media, and on the construction and invocation of traditions. My first book, Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women was written in collaboration with Apphia Agalakti Awa, Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak and Sandra Pikujaq Katsak and documented Inuit colonial history through the autobiographical stories of three generations from the same family. I continue have an interest in colonial historiography, autobiography, collaborative methodologies, and the politics and ethics of representation. 

Anna Hudson is an art historian, curator, writer and educator specializing in Canadian art, curatorial and Indigenous studies. Formerly Associate Curator of Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Hudson is now a professor in the Graduate Program in Art History, Department of Visual Art & Art History at York University.

Shirley is a retired educator, active researcher and community health advocate. A co-editor of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit Have Always Known to Be True, she writes and presents extensively on Inuit cultural systems. Her work focuses on researching with Elders, and informs areas of climate change/food security, family wellbeing, culturally-based curriculum/training, youth programs and resource development. As a Director for the Arviat Aqqiumavvik Society, Shirley oversees research and facilitate family support programming.

Rhoda Katsak spent her childhood years living in Inuit hunting camps before being moved in from the land to attend Federal Day School in Iglulik. After holding various administrative positions for the Pond Inlet Hamlet, she was appointed Regional Director of Economic Development for the Government of Nunavut, a post she held from 2005-2020. Rhoda Katsak is co-author of the book Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women (1999), written in collaboration with her mother, Apphia Agalakti Awa, her daughter then Sandra Pikuyak Katsak, and Nancy Wachowich. Now retired, Rhoda and her husband Josh are actively involved in training  extended family members and younger generations of Inuit in Mittimatalik as hunters, seal skin seamstresses and country food cooks.

Amy is a public health nutritionist in Nunavut and has been involved with a range of initiatives related to Inuit country food, food security, diabetes education, prenatal nutrition, and zoonotic disease prevention & food safety in the Arctic.  Over the past 20 years, she has worked with – and learned from – families, Elders, hunters, researchers, health professionals and Inuit organizations across Nunavut.  Amy is a registered dietitian and holds a MSc in Human Nutrition and Metabolism (University of Aberdeen).  She recently completed a PhD in Public Health (University of Guelph) focused on Inuit country food and nutrition in early life.  Amy is of Euro-Canadian settler ancestry in rural Ontario, and now lives in Iqaluit with her family.

Dr. Jessica Penney is a Nunatsiavut Inuk Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on the relationship between Inuit health and environmental issues in Nunavut and Nunatsiavut. Jessica is interested in collaborative and creative Inuit research methodologies. She is also passionate about Inuit research ethics processes and serves on Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre’s Ethics Katimajiit and the National Inuit Ethics Review Committee.

Dr. Peter Loovers is a Dutch anthropologist and IFSNu’s Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen. Peter has worked with and has been taught by Gwich’in since 2005, and is excited to work now in Inuit Nunangat. He is interested in the Arctic, colonialism and decolonialisation, climate change, documentary making, education, filmmaking, food (in)security and sovereignty, health, imperialism, collaborative research with Indigenous Peoples, museums, philosophy. Amongst other works, he was Project Curator for the Arctic: Culture and Climate exhibition at The British Museum. His most recent publications include the monograph 'Reading Life with Gwich’in' (Routledge, 2020) and the co-edited books 'Arctic: Culture and Climate' (Thames & Hudson/The British Museum, 2020) and 'Dogs in the North' (Routledge, 2018).

Jean was born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is a Senior Research Advisor at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), an Inuit organization that represents Inuit in Nunavut and ensures the implementation of the Nunavut Agreement. Jean works within NTI’s new Department of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, which is committed to advancing Inuit self-determination in research by enhancing meaningful Inuit involvement in research to address Inuit needs and priorities, incorporating Inuit ethical values, ensuring Inuit access to results, and building research capacity among Inuit in Nunavut. Jean has an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Dalhousie University and a Master’s in Environmental Science from the University of Toronto Scarborough. Jean has work experience in both fields and  has collaborated on various research projects relating to Inuit health and water/food safety.   She is passionate about promoting ethical research that best supports Inuit health and wellbeing.

Kukik Baker has lived in Arviat her entire life and is currently Executive Director of the Arviat Aqqiumavvik Society and founder of Ujjiqsuiniq Young Hunters Program which trains youth in environmental stewardship, monitoring and land skills.  In 2019, on behalf of the Ujjiqsuiniq Young Hunters Program, she received the ITK Advancement of Youth Award.  Prior to her collaboration with IFSNu, Kukik was instrumental in the development of several of community-led recipe initiatives bringing the unique holistic perspective of actively investigating wildlife and environmental health to the local context, promoting respectful and sustainable harvesting and then using harvest to address food security across the community.  Actively involved in all Aqqiumavvik’s research initiatives, Kukik is experienced in working with southern research partners, designing and providing training workshops in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit research approaches, in designing respectful research questions and methodologies, and in the management/analysis of data, to ultimately reporting outcomes in meaningful ways back to the community.

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Dana Katsak was born and raised in Mittimatalik. She is a media-maker and passionate about Inuit country food research and cooking.  Dana will be Social Media Ambassador and and Digital Archivist for Mittimatalik. 

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