Mini Aodla Freeman facts for kids

Mini Aodla Freeman is an Inuk writer, poet, and playwright. She was born in July 1936 on Cape Hope Island (Nunaaluk) in James Bay, which is now part of Nunavut, Canada.

When she was young, Mini Aodla went to a school called Bishop Horden Memorial School on Moose Factory Island, Ontario. This was a residential school for Indigenous children. Later, her family moved her to another residential school in Fort George (now Chisasibi), Quebec, where she stayed until 1952. After leaving school, she spent some time recovering from tuberculosis in a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.

Mini Aodla's Career Journey

Freeman speaks English, Inuktitut, and Cree. While she was recovering in the hospital, she helped by translating for others. After she got better, she went back home.

She found a job in Moose Factory. Soon after, she was offered a job with the Canadian government in Ottawa. In this role, she did translation work and visited Inuit patients in hospitals across Canada. She also worked in Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit) as a translator for a government officer.

From 1963 to 1965, she was the secretary for Eugène Rhéaume, who was a Member of Parliament. Later, she worked as a secretary and translator for important projects about Inuit land use. She also served as the manager of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation for a time.

Between 1991 and 1998, Freeman worked for Corrections Canada. She was a cultural counsellor, helping Inuit and First Nations people in prison.

Her Amazing Writing Work

Mini Aodla Freeman has written many short stories, poems, and articles. Her work has appeared in different publications, including the Canadian Children's Annual and The Canadian Encyclopedia.

She wrote a play called "Survival in the South." It was performed in 1971 and again in 1973 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The play was also published in a book in 1980.

Some of her other published works include Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset and Leven in het noordpoolgebrie [Living in the Arctic].

Her most famous book is Life Among the Qallunaat. It was first published in 1978 and later translated into German, French, and Greenlandic. This book is a memoir, which means it tells the story of her own life. It shares her experiences living in Inuit communities and learning about life outside them. The book also talks about the big changes Inuit people faced in the 1940s and 1950s.

Life Among the Qallunaat was very well-received. It was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Nonfiction in 1978. The book became more widely known when the University of Manitoba Press republished it in 2016. In 2016, it won the Electa Quinney Award and the Mary Scorer Award.

Making Documentary Films

In 1982, Freeman worked with filmmaker Hugh Brody on a film called People of the Islands. This film was shot on Flaherty Island. Interestingly, her grandfather, George Weetaltuk, helped another famous filmmaker, Robert J. Flaherty, start his documentary career there many years before.

In 2013, Freeman narrated a film called Nunaaluk – A Forgotten Story. This film tells the history of the Cape Hope Island Inuit community. Mini Aodla was born and grew up in this community, which her grandfather, George Weetaltuk, started in the 1920s. The film shares the sad story of how the community was moved by the government in 1960.

Teaching and Advising Others

Since 1969, Freeman has taught Inuit language and culture. She has worked in schools, colleges, and universities across Canada.

She has also been a cultural counsellor for Indigenous people in prison. She has advised many important organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Museum of History. In later years, she served as an Elder at the University of Alberta and MacEwan University. She was also involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada from 2007 to 2015, which worked to address the harms of residential schools.