Transfer of Igloo Tag trademark rights to IAF, leads to decolonization: Min Bennett

 Inuit Art Society. Image credit: Facebook page

​#IglooTagTrademark, #CarolynBennett, #InuitTapiriitKanatami, #InuitArtFoundation, #MathewNuqingaq, #BigRiverAnalytics, #IndigenousandNorthernAffairsCanada, #NatanObed

Ottawa, Jul 14 (Canadian-Media): The announcement of the transfer of Igloo Tag trademark rights to the Inuit Art Foundation (IAF)  by  Carolyn Bennett, Federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs on July 12  would enable IAF to standardize Inuit Art and how it could benefit Inuit artists in preserving cultural heritage for future generations, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada said.

Carolyn Bennett. Image credit: Facebook page

Members of an indigenous people of northern Canada and parts of Greenland and Alaska are called Inuits.

“ITK fully supports the Inuit Art Foundation taking administrative control of the Igloo Tag from the Government of Canada. ITK believes the IAF will engage with Inuit organizations, communities, and artists to ensure this important program enhances and protects Inuit artists,” Natan Obed, National Inuit Leader and President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Igloo Tag had been earlier managed by the Government of Canada and by private art wholesalers and would for the first time be managed by an Inuit-led organization.

“On behalf of the Inuit Art Foundation, I am pleased that we are taking on the Igloo Tag as part of our programming that supports Inuit artists across the country. I am excited to build on its long legacy and see how it can continue to grow and support artists into the future,” said Mathew Nuqingaq, President, Inuit Art Foundation. 

“Our government recognizes that protecting, revitalizing, and promoting Inuit language, culture, and identity can dramatically improve socio-economic outcomes, leading to stronger, more confident generations. Actions like transferring the rights of the Igloo Tag trademark to the Inuit Art Foundation are small, but powerful steps on the journey of decolonization. The Igloo Tag supports Inuit artists and culture and we are pleased that it will now be managed by an Inuit-led organization,” said Bennett.

IAF was incorporated as a non-profit organization on June 3, 1987,  and through its copyright services established in 1998,  was able to control how their work was reproduced.

A report prepared for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada by Big River Analytics -- released by Government of Canada on the impact of the Inuit arts economy -- to enable policy developers to better support Inuit arts and artists in Canada.

The Inuit arts contributed $87.2 million to Canadian GDP (visual arts and crafts, performing arts, film, media, writing and publishing) in 2015 and as a result creation of over 2,700 full time equivalent jobs in Canada, and vast majority of employees were across Inuit Nunangat.

About 13,650 of the Inuit population (26 percent) aged 15 years and older were occupied in the production of visual arts and crafts representing Canada’s continuing obligation to support arts and Indigenous culture and government’s enduring efforts towards reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. 

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)