One Skookum Woman

Cost of SKOOKUMbrand® Yukon Anorak, approximately $995 — finding an email in our inbox from a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee…absolutely priceless!

Part of the fun of being involved in the 2007-08 International Polar Year (IPY) is being connected to such powerful, strong & impressive northerners like Inuit leader and activist, Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

Sheila grew up on the land, living a traditional Inuit way of life in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Northern Quebec. She has gone on to become an important political leader at the local, regional, and international levels, and now resides in Iqaluit. Sheila has worked on a range of social and environmental issues that affect Inuit and circumpolar people and has recently focused on persistent organic pollutants and global climate change. She has received numerous awards and honours for her work and has been featured in a number of documentaries. In 2007, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize next to Al Gore.

So when we sat down and thought about where our IPY promotional anoraks should be distributed, her name quickly floated to the top of our list! And what an honour it is to present her with a token of our esteem. Thank you Sheila for your important and timely contributions, for being such a skookum person, and for making us Canadians so proud! Kudos!

Photo: Stephen Lowe

Please learn more about Sheila Watt-Cloutier’s achievements

at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards website

or one of her presentations on YouTube here