As a little girl in the early SA国际影视传媒�80s, Lucy Tulugarjuk said she would spend most of her time playing outside instead of in front of a screen.

Her family and friends in Iglulik did not own televisions, she said, with most households choosing to keep television out as a way to protect Inuit culture.

But she recalled that when she was five years old, she heard people in the nearby community of Hall Beach were watching TV, and the medium piqued her interest.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was interesting to see what TV had to bring. And we heard that it was just in English and French, no Inuktitut,SA国际影视传媒� Tulugarjuk said.

SA国际影视传媒淎t the time, I didnSA国际影视传媒檛 understand why.SA国际影视传媒�

Now, Tulugarjuk is the executive director of an independent broadcaster whose mission is to bring Inuit language and culture to the small screen not just in Nunavut, but across the country.

Preserving Inuit storytelling has become fundamental, she said, since she described witnessing an erosion of culture when local kids watched TV in English and French: SA国际影视传媒淚t did impact our children.SA国际影视传媒�

In 2021, TulugarjukSA国际影视传媒檚 Nunavut Independent Television Network launched Uvagut TV, meaning SA国际影视传媒渙ur TV,SA国际影视传媒� becoming CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 first national Indigenous-language television channel.

It delivers 90 per cent of its 24/7 broadcast in Inuktitut, including national and regional news and childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 programming.

And it is dreaming even bigger. The network is applying to the federal broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to be a mandatory part of the coverage in basic TV packages.

If their application is approved at a hearing, which is expected sometime this year, it would require broadcasters across Canada to carry Uvagut TV.

SA国际影视传媒淚t would be such a gift for all Canadians to have access, and to be able to see and learn about Inuit with Inuit,SA国际影视传媒� said Qajaq Robinson, who is the secretary treasurer of the NITVSA国际影视传媒檚 board of directors and also served as one of the commissioners of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

SA国际影视传媒淭o have access to the language and content that reflects them and speaks to them SA国际影视传媒� that supports the promotion and protection of life.SA国际影视传媒�

Robinson pointed to Inuit broadcaster Rosemarie KuptanaSA国际影视传媒檚 1982 SA国际影视传媒渘eutron bombSA国际影视传媒� speech at a CRTC hearing.

Kuptana described the arrival of southern mainstream media in Inuit communities as SA国际影视传媒渢he bomb that kills the people, but leaves the buildings standingsSA国际影视传媒� because of the impact the media had on languages.

She said it was SA国际影视传媒渢he kind of television that destroys the soul of a people but leaves the shell of a people walking around.SA国际影视传媒�

One year after her speech, the federal Liberal government established a northern broadcasting policy.

Television can be an important medium to reintroduce Indigenous languages to people, just as it introduced mainstream English and French to those in the north in the SA国际影视传媒�80s, Robinson said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he dream of Canada has to have authentic space for Indigenous people, Inuit specifically,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淚ndigenous people arenSA国际影视传媒檛 a monolith. TheySA国际影视传媒檙e not all the same.SA国际影视传媒�

Step toward reconciliation

While Uvagut TV offers almost all of its content in Inuktitut, CBC TVSA国际影视传媒檚 offering of Indigenous-language programming amounted to about 367 hours from April 2021 to March 2022, according to the national broadcaster.

About 227 of those hours were in Inuktitut, CBC said, which works out to about nine-and-a-half daysSA国际影视传媒� worth of content.

Should Uvagut TV be granted mandatory inclusion in basic TV packages, itSA国际影视传媒檇 be a step toward reconciliation, said Robinson.

The company has until Feb. 9 to submit an application, and it says it believes its pitch is in line with the federal governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 mandate, though the CRTC is an armSA国际影视传媒檚-length body.

In 2019, Parliament passed the Indigenous Languages Act, which states in its preamble that it aims to implement the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The document affirms that Indigenous Peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages.

While Uvagut TV broadcasts mainly in Inuktitut, English subtitles are available for many of its programs, making it accessible to a broader audience.

The networkSA国际影视传媒檚 610,000 subscribers currently watch through Shaw Direct satellite TV, Arctic Co-operatives Limited cable in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec cable in Nunavik.

SA国际影视传媒淏roadcasting is natural storytelling,SA国际影视传媒� Tulugarjuk said, adding that Inuit communication is SA国际影视传媒渕ore verbal than writtenSA国际影视传媒� and oral stories are how the community shares its past and its dreams for the future.

SA国际影视传媒淪o itSA国际影视传媒檚 a way of using our voice and expressions to (reach out to) the world. Not just to Inuit, but to everyone.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒擝y Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press