Nunavut Curriculum Strands: How to Document Each One in Your Homeschool Portfolio

The Nunavut Department of Education doesn't organize learning into subjects like "science" or "social studies." It organizes learning into four integrated curriculum strands grounded in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit — the system of traditional Inuit knowledge, values, and principles that the Education Act requires to be at the foundation of all education in the territory.

For homeschooling families, this matters because your portfolio documentation must reflect this framework. A portfolio organized around traditional southern subject categories — Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies — will look structurally incomplete to a DEA reviewer and to the school principal who assesses it twice per year. More importantly, it will fail to capture what's actually distinctive and rigorous about an education grounded in Arctic life.

Here's what each strand covers and how to document it effectively.

Nunavusiutit: Heritage, Culture, History, Geography, and Environment

Nunavusiutit addresses the relationship between people, place, and history. In the Nunavut curriculum, this strand encompasses environmental science, civics, economics, geography, and world news — but all through the lens of Inuit relationship with the land, sea, and community.

What it looks like in practice:

• Learning to read and navigate sea ice conditions using traditional Inuit knowledge
• Studying local place names (Inuit Uqaujjait) and the historical and geographic knowledge embedded in them
• Documenting climate change observations — changes in ice, weather patterns, animal migration — as environmental science
• Analyzing local and territorial news, government decisions, and their effects on northern communities
• Studying traditional seasonal rounds: when and why communities moved, what resources were harvested, how these practices evolved

What to include in your portfolio:

• Written reports, observations, or journal entries about environmental topics
• Maps or sketches made during land-based travel
• Notes from discussions with Elders about local history and traditional knowledge
• Photographs of environmental conditions with written observations (ice thickness, animal tracks, weather patterns)
• Clippings or notes from territorial news sources with the student's written response

When documenting Nunavusiutit evidence, note the specific IQ principles engaged. Environmental stewardship activities align with Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq (respect for the land and environment). Historical and community knowledge activities align with Tunnganarniq (being open and welcoming) and Inuuqatigiitsiarniq (respecting others and relationships).

Iqqaqqaukkaringniq: Mathematics, Innovation, Technology, and Science

Iqqaqqaukkaringniq focuses on analytical thinking, problem-solving, and the application of mathematics and scientific reasoning to real challenges. In the Nunavut framework, this includes what southern curricula would call mathematics and natural science — but always in the context of applied, practical knowledge.

What it looks like in practice:

• Budgeting for a hunting or camping trip: fuel costs, food requirements, weight calculations for equipment
• Navigation mathematics: reading a GPS, calculating distances, understanding time and direction on the land
• Applied mechanics: maintaining snowmobiles, outboard motors, or generators; diagnosing and repairing breakdowns
• Aquatic monitoring and data collection: measuring water temperatures, recording population counts, analyzing environmental change
• Structural reasoning: calculating materials for building a cabin, shelter, or storage unit
• Traditional measurement: estimating skin requirements for garments, calculating harvest yields

What to include in your portfolio:

• Dated mathematics work samples, including applied problem-solving
• Science observation logs from field activities
• Notes or reports from mechanical or structural projects, with calculations
• Budget planning documents showing mathematical reasoning
• Any standardized mathematics assessments

Iqqaqqaukkaringniq evidence is often the easiest to document because calculation and problem-solving naturally produce tangible artifacts. The key is ensuring that applied mathematics done in real-world contexts is explicitly labeled as Iqqaqqaukkaringniq evidence rather than filed as "extra" or omitted entirely because it didn't happen at a desk.

The IQ principles most relevant here are Qanuqtuurniq (being innovative and resourceful) and Aajiiqatigiinniq (decision making through discussion and consensus, applied to collaborative problem-solving).

Aulajaaqtut: Wellness, Safety, Leadership, Survival, and Traditional Values

Aulajaaqtut is the strand that most directly captures the experiential, physical, and social dimensions of Arctic life. It encompasses physical and mental wellness, safety skills, community leadership, cultural continuity, and goal setting. In southern terms, this touches on physical education, health, life skills, and character development — but its scope in the Nunavut framework is considerably broader.

What it looks like in practice:

• Wilderness survival training: navigation without GPS, emergency sheltering, safe travel on ice
• Firearm safety certification and hunting preparation
• Traditional food preparation and preservation: butchering, drying meat, preparing country foods
• Physical stamina development through extended land-based activities
• Community volunteerism and service: helping with community feasts, assisting Elders, organizing events
• Cultural practices: drum dancing, throat singing, sewing traditional garments (amauti, kamik)

What to include in your portfolio:

• Safety certification records (firearm safety course completion, for example)
• Activity logs for extended land-based or survival training periods
• Photographs with written descriptions of cultural activities
• Notes on community service participation with dates and roles
• A wellness log noting physical activity patterns, health goals, and progress

This strand is often the hardest for non-Inuit families to document confidently because it's most culturally specific. For Qallunaat (non-Inuit) families homeschooling in the territory, the equivalent activities — community participation, outdoor education, physical development, and health practices — are still legitimate Aulajaaqtut evidence. The strand is about holistic wellness and community belonging, not exclusively traditional Indigenous practice.

Key IQ principles here include Pijitsirniq (serving and providing for family and community) and Pilimmaksarniq (skills development through observation, mentoring, and practice).

Uqausiliriniq: Communication, Language Arts, and Artistic Expression

Uqausiliriniq covers the full range of literacy, communication, and artistic expression — including reading and writing in English and Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun, oral communication skills, reflective thinking, and creative expression through traditional and contemporary art forms.

Bilingualism is a core expectation of this strand. The Inuit Language Protection Act and the Education Act together assert the right to instruction in the Inuit language and set a goal of producing functionally bilingual graduates. For Inuit families, documentation of Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun development is mandatory. For non-Inuit families, demonstrating some engagement with the Inuit language and recognizing its importance in the portfolio shows good faith and jurisdictional awareness.

What it looks like in practice:

• Regular reading across genres, documented in a reading log
• Writing development: journals, essays, stories, reports — dated samples showing progression
• Oral communication: discussions with Elders, community presentations, storytelling
• Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun practice: language learning through apps, community immersion, syllabics writing
• Audio or video recordings of oral narrative, language practice, or performance
• Creative arts: drawing, carving, sewing, drum dancing, throat singing — documented as expressive and cultural communication

What to include in your portfolio:

• Dated writing samples from across the year
• A reading log
• Audio or video recordings of oral language activities (filed on USB or linked digitally)
• Language learning logs for Inuktitut
• Photographs of art or crafts with written reflections connecting them to cultural and expressive outcomes

The IQ principle most directly expressed in Uqausiliriniq is Aajiiqatigiinniq (decision making through discussion and consensus), which requires strong oral communication. Tunnganarniq (being welcoming and open) is also expressed through generous, skillful communication.

Documenting Across All Four Strands: The Integrated Reality

The strands are not separate subjects studied at separate times. A single week at a spring camp on the land will generate evidence across all four strands simultaneously: mathematical budgeting and navigation (Iqqaqqaukkaringniq), environmental observation and traditional knowledge application (Nunavusiutit), physical skills and survival training (Aulajaaqtut), and oral communication with Elders and written reflection on the experience (Uqausiliriniq).

This integration is a strength, not a complication. But it requires that your documentation deliberately notes the strand connections for each activity — because a portfolio full of photographs and activity descriptions without strand labels looks like a photo album to a reviewer rather than an academic record.

The most efficient documentation approach: as you record each significant learning activity in your weekly log, note in the margin or adjacent column which strand(s) it addresses. At term end, pulling together strand-organized evidence is then a matter of sorting rather than reconstructing.

The Nunavut Portfolio & Assessment Templates are built around this four-strand architecture, with dedicated log sections for each strand, evidence prompts for both indoor and land-based activities, and a DEA reporting summary sheet that presents your documentation in the exact format a school principal needs to complete their written review report.

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