Dr. Brendan Griebel has twenty years’ experience living and working in Nunavut, where he facilitates the documentation of Inuit knowledge surrounding the making, use, and interpretation of cultural objects ranging from archaeological materials and traditional technologies to architecture, museum collections, and digital media. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Toronto, was the 2022 Fulbright Research Chair in Arctic Studies, and is a research associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Brendan specializes in cultural revitalization initiatives alongside Inuinnait communities in the Central Canadian Arctic. He is a long-term employee of Cambridge Bay’s Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq / Kitikmeot Heritage Society, where he serves as manager of collections and archives, general manager for the Arctic social enterprise Pitquhikhainik Ilihainiq Inc. (producer of Kaapittiaq coffee) and project lead for the construction of Kuugalaaq, a cultural campus bridging climate adaptation and Inuinnaqtun immersion that will open in September 2024. Outside the Arctic, Brendan holds a separate curatorial career as co-owner and director for the Museum of Fear and Wonder. He is in residency at the National Humanities Centre to develop a book and exhibition about craftwork created by those incarcerated in historical Canadian Prairie institutions.