The Pauktuuit Inuit Women of Canada (PIWC) are meeting throughout the eastern coast of Canada to discuss and develop a standard vocabulary for sexual health. Currently, there are no native words for diseases such as HIV-Aids or infections such as herpes and Chlamydia.


Approximately 150,000 Inuit living in Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia share the same oral history and language. However, dozens of writing systems and dialects make it difficult to translate words across the board. "Aliasuk," for example, means "happy" in Nunavik, Quebec, but means "terrified" just 800 kilometers away on the island of Nunavut.

Elisapee Sheutiapik, president of PIWC, wants to create a spreadsheet for nurses and translators so that Inuit individuals can receive proper information concerning their ailments, according to CBS News.

The Inuit language has been endangered ever since the Arctic was colonized by Europeans. In many cases, natives were punished for speaking their own dialect. However, educators and politicians in numerous northern colonies are pushing to reverse these trends by teaching Inuit youth the language and culture of their tribe.