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A new stamp honouring Julia Haogak Ogina (CNW Group/Canada Post)
At a celebration in Ulukhaktok today, Canada Post unveiled an upcoming stamp honouring Indigenous leader, Julia Haogak Ogina.
The accomplished Inuit drum dance teacher has devoted her life to maintaining the culture and language of her ancestors. Ogina is known for her efforts to retrieve and preserve drum dance songs and the creation of a regional language framework and programs promoting oral learning and knowledge transfer.
This stamp is one of three Indigenous Leaders stamps that will be issued on June 20 – the day before National Indigenous Peoples Day. The set is the fourth in Canada Post’s multi-year Indigenous Leaders series.
Ogina’s life and legacy
Born in 1962 in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., Ogina grew up learning the customs and traditions of her ancestors through dancing, singing and storytelling. As more people in her community began moving into centralized communities, children were sent to residential schools and people had to learn English to find work, Ogina began noticing gaps in her own knowledge. She worked as a translator and research assistant on The Northern Copper Inuit: A History (1996). The project, carried out through consultations with community Elders, spanned the early history of the Ulukhaktok region to early and late contact periods and into modern-day life.
Around 2006, she became the programs coordinator of Elders, Language & Culture for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, whose mandate is “to manage the lands and resources that support traditional and cultural values.” In her position, she emphasizes oral learning and the transfer of knowledge via community. In 2017, she helped publish Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit (Stories Told through Drum Dance Songs). The project involved a decade-long consultation with Elders to retrieve and preserve drum dance songs – which she sees as a conduit for ancestral knowledge and “a window into all the strengths of our people.”
Ogina has been honoured within her community and on a national level for her work. She received an Outstanding Achievement in Language Revitalization award from the Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit in 2017 and she was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2020.
About the stamp
The stamp features a photograph of Ogina in her drum dancing attire at the festival, QAGGIQ 2021 in Iqaluit, Nunavut. It is designed by Andrew Perro, featuring photography by Matisse Harvey for Archives Radio-Canada, and printed by Lowe-Martin. The issue includes a booklet of six Permanent™ stamps, an Official First Day Cover and a souvenir sheet.
The cancellation site is Ulukhaktok, N.W.T. (Ogina’s birthplace), and the cancellation mark bears an image of a traditional drum.
About the Indigenous Leaders stamp series
The Indigenous Leaders series was launched in 2022 and highlights the contributions of Inuit, Métis and First Nations leaders who dedicated their lives to preserving their culture and improving the quality of life of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
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