“Inuit-Driven Solutions for Improving Food Security”
with Natan Obed, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)
Thursday, March 10, 2022, 12:00-1:00pm (ET) on Zoom
We are delighted to hear Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami for the 3rd session of the HCT Indigenous Issues Series.
Joining us is Dr. Sherri Ann Charleston, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Harvard University’s Office of the President and Provost.
Inuit experience the highest prevalence of food insecurity of any Indigenous people living in a developed country.
President Obed will focus on this critical issue, the Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy released in 2021 and next steps. The strategy’s priorities include Inuit self-determination through food sovereignty, poverty-reduction, addressing climate risk, community-led harvesting and sharing networks, and investing in Inuit food system’s infrastructure.
Biography:
Natan Obed grew up in Nain, the northernmost community of Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador) and graduated from Tufts University in 2001. In 2015 he was elected President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) in 2015 and was acclaimed to a third term in 2021. As ITK President, he implements the direction set out by Inuit Leadership from the four regions of Inuit Nunangat — the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut. ITK represents Canada’s 65,000 Inuit whose landmass is roughly 35% of Canada, as well as 50% of its coastline. President Obed also serves as Vice-President of Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada.
Sherri Ann Charleston is a leading expert in diversity and higher education, and assumed her role at Harvard in August 2020. Dr. Charleston is a historian trained in U.S. history with a focus on race, women, gender, citizenship, and the law, and an attorney with a specialization in constitutional and employment law.
HCT’s Indigenous issues series (2021-2022)
Further to Harvard’s Charter of 1650 which mandated Indigenous education, we are dedicated to promoting the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP), as well as the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The series’ goal is fostering a dialogue with experts in Indigenous issues, as we listen and learn. We hope, together, to make a difference through these conversations.
Resources:
Some pre-reading materials and groups to consider supporting:
- Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy (INFSS): https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ITK_Food-Security-Strategy-Report_English_PDF-Version.pdf
- Northern food initiative: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-country-food-box-program-1.6327096
- Harvard University Native American Program: Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP)
- Background information, provided by Dr. Tracey Galloway, assistant professor of anthropology, University of Toronto Mississauga .
Please circulate this invitation to hear President Obed to friends and colleagues. Hope to see you for this very special event on March 10th!