Aliqa Illauq

Aliqa Kanangnak Illauq was born and raised in the Baffin region of Nunavut. Her father, Jushua Illauq, is from the Apitak family which settled in the Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet) and Kangirtugaapik (Clyde River) area. A student of Carleton’s Law and Human Rights program, Illauq is committed to social justice for Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples.

“Inuqatigitiarrupta kisulirmat ajungnangituq – as much as we connect well, everything is possible,” said Illauq, speaking in both Inuktitut and English.

As her family travelled and camped extensively on the land during her childhood, Inuit culture and language is deeply ingrained in Illauq’s life. In 2018, she founded the Carleton Inuit Student Club, which has introduced activities such as traditional sewing and qulliq, a soapstone oil lamp.
As a member of a family which survived the residential school system, Illauq has experienced first-hand the effects of intergenerational trauma and has learned a great deal about healing and cultural determination as a “Canadian” Indigenous woman.

Illauq is an active Reconciliation Advocacy Campaign member for Carleton and mentors Indigenous students at Queen Elizabeth Elementary School. She is an advocate for her home community of Clyde River, Nunavut. Illauq lives in Pontiac, Quebec with her tri-cultural Indigenous family.

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