The right to be cold : one woman's story of protecting her culture, the Arctic and the whole planet

Book

The right to be cold : one woman's story of protecting her culture, the Arctic and the whole planet / Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

Summary:

The Arctic ice is receding each year, but just as irreplaceable is the culture, the wisdom that has allowed the Inuit to thrive in the Far North for so long. And it's not just the Arctic. The whole world is changing. Sheila Watt-Cloutier has devoted her life to protecting what is threatened and "The Right to be Cold" is a culmination of safeguarding the Arctic and the survival of Inuit culture. This is a human story of resilience, commitment and survival told from the unique vantage point of an Inuk woman who rose from humble beginnings in the Arctic to become one of the most influential and decorated environmental, cultural and human rights advocates in the world.

"A "courageous and revelatory memoir" (Naomi Klein) chronicling the life of the leading Indigenous climate change, cultural, and human rights advocate For the first ten years of her life, Sheila Watt-Cloutier traveled only by dog team. Today there are more snow machines than dogs in her native Nunavik, a region that is part of the homeland of the Inuit in Canada. In Inuktitut, the language of Inuit, the elders say that the weather is Uggianaqtuq--behaving in strange and unexpected ways. The Right to Be Cold is Watt-Cloutier's memoir of growing up in the Arctic reaches of Quebec during these unsettling times. It is the story of an Inuk woman finding her place in the world, only to find her native land giving way to the inexorable warming of the planet. She decides to take a stand against its destruction. The Right to Be Cold is the human story of life on the front lines of climate change, told by a woman who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Indigenous environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world. Raised by a single mother and grandmother in the small community of Kuujjuaq, Quebec, Watt-Cloutier describes life in the traditional ice-based hunting culture of an Inuit community and reveals how Indigenous life, human rights, and the threat of climate change are inextricably linked. Colonialism intervened in this world and in her life in often violent ways, and she traces her path from Nunavik to Nova Scotia (where she was sent at the age of ten to live with a family that was not her own); to a residential school in Churchill, Manitoba; and back to her hometown to work as an interpreter and student counselor. The Right to Be Cold is at once the intimate coming-of-age story of a remarkable woman, a deeply informed look at the life and culture of an Indigenous community reeling from a colonial history and now threatened by climate change, and a stirring account of an activist's powerful efforts to safeguard Inuit culture, the Arctic, and the planet"-- Provided by publisher.

"The Right to Be Cold is Sheila Watt-Cloutier's memoir of growing up in the Arctic reaches of Quebec. It is the human story of life on the front lines of climate change, told by a woman who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Indigenous environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781452957968
ISBN: 1452957967
ISBN: 9781452957173
ISBN: 1452957177
ISBN: 9780143187646
ISBN: 0143187643
Physical Description: xxii, 337 pages ; 21 cm 1 online resource
Edition: [New edition].
Publisher: Toronto, Ontario : Penguin, 2016.
Copyright: ©2015

Content descriptions

General Note:: Includes index.

Originally published: Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Allen Lane, 2015.

"Published in this edition, 2016"--Title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Introduction -- An early childhood of ice and snow -- From dog teams to miniskirts and rock 'n' roll -- A return home -- Finding our voice -- Pops and the Inuit journey -- The voices of the hunters -- The right to be cold -- Acclaim from outside, peace from within -- Citizens of the world -- Conclusion : bridging old and new, north and south.

Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; CONTENTS; FOREWORD; INTRODUCTION; 1 AN EARLY CHILDHOOD OF ICE AND SNOW; 2 FROM DOG TEAMS TO MINISKIRTS AND ROCK 'N' ROLL; 3 A RETURN HOME; 4 FINDING OUR VOICE; 5 POPS AND THE INUIT JOURNEY; 6 THE VOICES OF THE HUNTERS; 7 THE RIGHT TO BE COLD; 8 ACCLAIM FROM OUTSIDE, PEACE FROM WITHIN; 9 CITIZENS OF THE WORLD; CONCLUSION BRIDGING OLD AND NEW, NORTH AND SOUTH; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INDEX; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z
Additional Physical Form available Note:: Issued also in electronic format.
Source of Description Note:: Print version record.