Julia Haogak Ogina, an Inuit drum dance teacher celebrated for her tireless efforts to preserve her community’s culture and language, is being honoured on a new stamp unveiled today by Canada Post.
At a ceremony in Ogina’s hometown of Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., Canada Post revealed the first issue in its 2025 Indigenous Leaders stamp series, describing Ogina as a “devoted advocate for the preservation of Inuit traditions” whose work has had lasting impact across the North.
According to Canada Post, Ogina’s leadership helped retrieve and safeguard ancestral drum dance songs and inspired community-based learning initiatives to keep Inuinnaqtun language and customs alive. Her work, the corporation noted, reflects a deep commitment to intergenerational knowledge-sharing and cultural revitalization.
The stamp features a photograph of Ogina in traditional drum dance regalia, taken at the QAGGIQ 2021 festival in Iqaluit, Nunavut. It is available beginning June 20 in booklets of six Permanent stamps, along with a souvenir sheet and Official First Day Cover cancelled in Ulukhaktok.. The cancel mark depicts a traditional Inuit drum.
Today’s release marks the beginning of Canada Post’s fourth annual Indigenous Leaders series, which honours Inuit, Métis and First Nations individuals whose leadership and legacy continue to shape communities across the country. Two more stamps in the 2025 series will be revealed in the coming days: one honouring Sophie McDougall on June 17 in Prince Albert, Sask., and another for Bruce Starlight on June 19 in Tsúut’ínà Nation, Alta.
For more details on the honourees, read this previously published article.
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