Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Sheila Watt-Cloutier is an Inuk who advocates for the environmental, cultural and human rights of Inuit of the Arctic. Born in Kuujjuaq, Québec, she had a traditional Inuit upbringing until age 10, traveling only by dogteam. She was later sent away to school, including three years in a residential school in Churchill, Manitoba. At age 18, she worked as an Inuktitut interpreter at the Ungava Hospital in Kuujjuaq. In 1992, she contributed to a report on Nunavik’s education system, Silaturnimut - The Pathway to Wisdom. In 1995, Watt-Cloutier was elected President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, where she served two terms, later serving as the International Chair from 2002 to 2006. The recipient of many national and international honours, Watt-Cloutier was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for her pioneering work linking climate change to human rights, and she continues to raise awareness of the human costs of climate change in the Arctic. Her book, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, was published in 2015.

“People today are too concerned about saving time and having convenience.”