Our History
Everything begins with an idea, some motivation and comitment.
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2013-2014 Projet-Karibu, source of inspiration
A ski expedition from Montreal to Kuujjuaq, called Projet Karibu, inspired a group of Kuujjuaq youth, who wanted to spend more time out on the vast land of Nunavik, under their own power.
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2014-2015 Kuujjuaq pilot projectSpurred by the excitement of a number of students who had followed Projet Karibu, a year-long leadership program was launched with a culminating ski expedition. Over the course of the year, some 15 students took part in the program, 7 of whom took on the ski expedition.
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2015-2016 Expansion to 4 communitiesThe success of the pilot project lead to the creation of the non-profit entity Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus. The project expanded into 4 northern communities, making it available to a greater number of participants. Some 50 youth took part in it over the course of the year, 30 of whom also did one of the two expeditions.
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2016-2017 Expansion to 7 communities
Riding a wave of success from the previous year, Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus was able to reach 7 Nunavik communities, and attempted to standardize programming across the board. Some 45 students took part in expeditions on the Hudson and Ungava coasts, while 70 participated in the year long program.
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2017-2018 Expansion to 11 communities
Given the success of Nurrait, it was time to establish a more solid base. This meant setting up an official coordination team, and finally offering programming to all 14 communities, 11 of which signed on. In the end, some 43 students from 9 communities took part in 3 expeditions in Nunavik’s parks. Over the course of the year, 140 students from across the region took part in programming.
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2018-2019 Expansion to 14 communities and creation of 2 new programs
For a second year in a row, Nurrait program is offered to all 14 communities in Nunavik and Tuttuit program is piloted. Throughout the year, 201 youths take part in Nurrait program, 11 to Tuttuit program and 70 complete one of the 3 annual expeditions.
In addition to this, Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus launches a 3rd program, Ikaartuit. On its first edition, 8 teenagers take part in the program and 7 participate to the kayak expedition. |
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2019-2020 Nurrait and Tuttuit programs offered to the 14 communities, creation of an assitant coordinator internship and creation of an Online program. For a third year, Nurrait program is offered to all 14 communities of Nunavik. 12 of them decide to take part in the programming. 246 students participate to this program while 7 interns take part in Tuttuit program, 3 of which take on an assistant coordinator role.
It is difficult not to mention the impact of COVID-19 on our programmig. In March 2020, our 3 annual expeditions in Nurrait program are cancelled as well as our Tuttuit program expedition in collaboration with On the Tip of the Toes. The coordination team quickly came together to create the Online program. In the context of this program, 30 workshops were developped. Finally, because of the continuing pandemy, the 2020 edition of Ikaartuit program was also cancelled. |
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