Inuit Canadians will have 24/7 access to Inuktitut-language television programming starting first thing on Monday, at 12:01 a.m.
The Nunavut Independent Television Network (NITV) is launching a new channel — Uvagut TV — starting first thing on Monday, at 12:01 a.m.
The new channel's Inuktitut title translates to "Our TV" in English — a term used to encompass all Inuit languages, including Inuktitut, which is spoken in western and central Nunavut.
Canada is home to several other Inuit regions besides Nunavut, including the Inuvialuit region of the Northwest Territories, Nunavik in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador.
Uvagut TV is calling itself the first language-focused Indigenous television channel in the country. Content will be primarily in Inuit languages, with English subtitles, says the network's executive director, Lucy Tulugarjuk.
"For me, Uvagut TV is a dream come true — to see Inuit culture and to hear our language full time on TV," Tulugarjuk said in the news release.
"As our elders pass away, we are fighting against time to keep Inuit culture and language alive for our children and grandchildren. TV in Inuktut all day every day is a powerful way to keep a living language for future generations."
Tulugarjuk said the network will also have programming in Inuinnaqtun, an Inuktut dialect spoken in western Nunavut, and Inuvialuktun, which is spoken by Inuit in the Northwest Territories.
Both of those languages are considered dying languages, and the organizations from those regions that create cultural programming for television, like the Inuvialuit Communications Society, often create content in English as well.
Tulugarjuk says the network is hoping in the future to have content from Alaska and Greenland.
