Sheila Watt-Cloutier ( Eng. Sheila Watt-Cloutier ; Kuudzhuak , Canada ; December 2, 1953 ) - a public figure, politician, writer, activist and fighter for human rights and respect for the rights of Inuit and other indigenous peoples, as well as their culture. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2006, in 2005 she was awarded the Sofia prize , and in 2015 - the prize “ For a decent lifestyle ” [1] .
Sheila Watt-Cloutier | |
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Awards | Sofia Award ( 2005 ) [d] ( 2005 ) |
Biography
Sheila Watt-Cloutier (nee Watt) was born on December 2, 1953 in the settlement of Kuudzhuak , Nunavik . Her mother, Daisy Watt (1921-2002), was a translator and a doctor. Father - George Cornelson, explorer of the North. In 1956, the family moved to New Fort Chimo, a former US military base. During the first ten years of her life, Sheila was raised by her mother and grandmother on the maternal side, because her father left the family. For her academic excellence, at the age of 10, Sheila became a participant in a federal government educational program in southern Canada. This is the time when she was relocated to the south and settled in a family of Europeans living in the province of Nova Scotia she described as rather traumatic. At the new place, Sheila persistently undertook to study English , which turned out to be that she began to forget her native language and cultural characteristics. Two years later, she was transferred to the Churchill Vocational Training Center. Here she mastered such professional skills as cooking , housekeeping and sewing , as well as engaged in basketball , volleyball and gymnastics . Upon returning home in about 1970, Sheila worked as a translator at a local hospital for four years. In the spring of 1974, she married Denis Cloutier, a French-Canadian dispatcher , whom she met at Fort Chimo Airport. In marriage, the couple had a daughter, Sylvia, and a son, Eric. In 1977, the family moved to Montreal , where they lived for several years before moving to the neighboring city of Saint Eustache . During this time, Sheila worked in the Montreal suburb of Dorval , doing administrative work in the main office of the Katiksi school board. In 1990, Watt-Cloutier was appointed authorized by the Regional Health Council. Her responsibilities included studying the effects of alcohol and drug abuse in northern communities. In 1993, Sheila participated in local elections, but lost. In 1998, under her leadership, the documentary Breathtaking Spirit: Inuit Journey was released. The film revealed the problem of suicide, drug addiction and poverty among Inuit, due to the loss of cultural identity. In 1995, she was elected President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), which represents the interests of Inuits living in Greenland , Canada, Alaska and Chukotka , occupying it until 2002 [2] . In 2007, Sheila was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental and political activism, in combating the effects of climate change on Inuit people [3] . In 2015, for the protection of the rights of the Eskimos in the Arctic, she was awarded the prize “For a decent lifestyle”.
Notes
- ↑ The names of the owners of the alternative Nobel Prize 2015 (Russian) , RIA Novosti (October 1, 2015). The appeal date is January 24, 2018.
- ↑ Robinson, Amanda . Sheila Watt-Cloutier (English) , The Canadian Encyclopedia . The appeal date is January 24, 2018.
- Ila Sheila Watt-Cloutier . Library and Archives Canada (October 2, 2000).