THE HONOURARY TOONIK
When Toonik Tyme started in 1965, the festival
consisted of traditional Inuit games, throat singing and dancing, a community
feast and an evening of dancing and music at Toonik Lake. Brian Pearson, the founder
of Toonik Tyme, and other councilors from the Town of Frobisher Bay (which later
became the City of Iqaluit) usually picked a person to preside over the festival
and granted them with the Order of the Honourary Toonik. In the early years of
Toonik Tyme, this honour was given to a distinguished guest invited to preside
over the week's festivities. The first Honourary Toonik was the Right Honourable
John Diefenbaker, former Prime Minister of Canada. Other past Honourary Tooniks
have included His Royal Highness, Charles the Prince of Wales; former Governor
General Roland Michener; three former commissioners of the Northwest Territories:
Bent Sivertz, Stuart Hodgson and John Parker; former Premier of Greenland, Lars
Chemnitz and the former Mayor of Nuuk, Greenland, Peter Tharup Hoeg.
In
more recent years, the Honourary Toonik award has gone to an individual in the
community on a nomination basis. This award is still a special honour as the chosen
individual is someone that is considered to be an outstanding volunteer and demonstrates
exceptional community spirit.
Nomination Form
The Honourary
Toonik 2007
Making a Nomination
In recent years, the Honourary Toonik award has gone to an
individual in the community on a nomination basis. This award
is still a special honour as the chosen individual is someone
that is considered to be an outstanding volunteer and demonstrates
exceptional community spirit. Nomination forms are available
here
or directly through the Toonik Tyme Society at tooniktyme@gmail.com.
Alicee Joamie, Honourary Toonik 2008
The 2008 Honourary Toonik is Alicee Joamie. She does an exceptional
amount of work for our community and for Nunavummiut. We want
to highlight just a few of the great things she has done for
us.
Alicee was one of the first members of the Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik,
legal aid board. Even before Maliiganikk was formed, the Honourary
Toonik volunteered to help Inuit understand the Justice system
and volunteered to make sure that Inuit who did not speak
English were properly represented in court. Until 1995, she
ran an open custody home for young offenders in Iqaluit. Alicee
also worked for many years as a maternity aid at Baffin Regional
Hospital and has helped countless families through the loss
of loved ones.
Our Honourary Toonik works to reduce tobacco use in Nunavut
especially among our youth. She educates people about the
history of Tobbaco use among Inuit, describes her own experiences
with tobacco and the benefits that quitting smoking has brought
to her life. She speaks at conferences around Nunavut and
in the south and has worked with the National Inuit Youth
Council and the Inuit Tobacco Network.
Alicee teaches traditional Inuit sewing techniques to everyone
who is interested in learning to sew. She runs classes out
of her home own home teaching sewers how to make everything
from mitts and parkas, to amoutis and qammiks. She is currently
working hard to build an Elders Qammak in Apex from where
she hopes to one day run her sewing classes and invite community
groups to have meetings.
She teaches Inuktitut, sewing, and Inuit traditional knowledge
(Qaujimajatuqangit) at Nunavut Arctic College and has recently
completed a book about some of her life memories and the traditional
uses of Arctic plants. Recently, Alicee traveled by herself
to a Maori community in New Zealand to attend an international
conference on traditional plant use by indigenous communities
around the world. She has also worked with the GN to offer
cultural orientation sessions for new GN employees arriving
in Nunavut for the first time.
Alicee was born in 1936. When she was a little girl, her
family moved to Pangnirtung where she lived until 1960. Then,
as a young woman, she moved by boat with her husband and children
to Niaqunnguuq (Apex) where she has lived since. Alicee's
work does does not go unnoticed. Alicee was very pleased to
receive this award.
Gordon
Rennie, Honourary Toonik 1970
"I was here when Toonik Tyme started," remembers
past town councilor Gordon Rennie. "Diefenbaker was selected
for Toonik once and I recall having diner with him when he
came ... but that was some time after Toonik Tyme started."
Gordon, originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, was often
involved in helping organize Toonik Tyme and points out that
residents of Iqaluit who have displayed an exceptional level
of community spirit have also been recognized for their efforts
by being awarded with Honourary Toonik. Gordon has special
memories of the very first Honourary Toonik in 1965.
"Our first Toonik was an Inuk from Cape Dorset, his
name was Atchealak … he use to be my clerk at the Hudson Bay Company, a real
handyman he was, always around to help out ... he dressed up in Caribou furs and
came over the hill by dog team … It was really quite dramatic and exciting with
all the Inuit dancing and music."
Gordon has also served as Honourary
Toonik (1970) and keeps his Order of the Honourary Toonik in his office.
"I
was really quite honoured, I guess I might have been as much of a dignitary as
could be found around in those days! It's good to see that this is still being
done for Toonik Tyme." | 
