Northern Canada’s largest seed funding competition will be broadcast live this year in celebration of its 10th anniversary.
Next month, in partnership with APTN and CBC, the Arctic Inspiration Prize will go live as $3 million in seed funding is provided to projects from across Northern Canada.
Projects in the running from the NWT this year include Hope House, which would provide counselling, employment and housing services to residents of the Mackenzie Delta. The Tuktoyaktuk Community Climate Resiliency Project aims to address the challenges posed by climate change in the North.
Another NWT nominee is hoping to establish a fishing and drying camp to teach traditional skills to youth, Elders, and others. Yet another seeks to establish a well-being training program that would address mental health and related concerns in isolated communities.
Two NWT projects are up for the top youth prize of $100,000. One would provide educational services related to treaty rights. The other would train youth in the NWT and Yukon in traditional boating and river survival skills, preparing them for a possible future as wilderness guides.
Past winners from the NWT include the Inuvialuit-based Western Arctic Youth Collective and Yellowknife-based Artspace, which aims to provide cultural programming to people from all walks of life, including youth and those experiencing homelessness.
The event will be hosted by Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, an Iqaluit-based performance artist, and William Greenland, a Yellowknife singer-songwriter and former radio broadcaster. The ceremony will also feature performances by the throat singing duo PIQSIQ, the musical group Dena Zagi, and the Huqqullaaqatigiit Drum Dancers.
The ceremony will also include a showcase of past winners from the prize’s entire 10-year lifespan.
The Arctic Inpsiration Prize was launched a decade ago by immigrants Sima Sharifi and Arnold Witzig, and currently has an endowment of about $50 million.
Viewers from across the country can tune in to the ceremony live on both APTN and CBC on Friday, March 4.