Sikumit Aisimajugut - At Home on Ice - ᓯᑯᒥᑦ ᐊᐃᓯᒪᔪᒍᑦ

Organized around two panels, the “Sikumit Aisimajugut / At Home on Ice” roundtable will examine the idea of the home from the inside-out and outside-in in Arctic cultures. “Inside-out” will centre on the ideas shaping cultural understandings of housing, from the ways people live inside the home, to going out on the land as an extension of the home, as well as the importance of traditions such as country food. “Outside-in” will consider the larger, often exterior, forces shaping housing issues in the North—policy, logistics, and climate change—and challenges in delivering appropriate housing in the region. Speakers from government, industry, cultural advocates, planning, and architecture, all with lived or working experience in Inuit Nunangat, will share perspectives, and participate in a unique round-table discussion. In an era when housing in the Canadian south is understood as commodity and property, lessons from Inuit Nunangat question what constitutes a house, a home, and a community from the inside-out and the outside-in.

“Sikumit Aisimajugut” roundtable is organized by Mason White (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) and Lola Sheppard (University of Waterloo). It is supported by The Irving Grossman Fund in Affordable Housing.

Speakers include:

Nicole Luke (Winnipeg), Shyniaya Duffy (Calgary), Jimmy Main (Arviat), Maggie Putulik (Kuujjuaq), Jesse Ajayi (Ottawa), Catherine Orzes (Montreal), Helena Lennert (Nuuk).

An exhibition of the same title runs in the Larry Wayne Richards Gallery at the Daniels Faculty until February 16, 2026.