Kelly Owlijoot first thought of becoming a helicopter pilot while working as a wildlife technician based in Arviat, Nunavut.
It wasn’t an obvious career choice. Even though Nunavut relies on air travel for so many things, Inuit have been traditionally under-represented in the aviation industry.
That’s now changing and Owlijoot, 46, hopes to inspire more Inuit to follow in his footsteps.
He decided to become a pilot when he was working with biologists from the Nunavut government’s Environment department, studying the migration and habits of Qamanirjuaq caribou herd. Sometimes that work would take him to the skies, riding in helicopters over parts of Nunavut’s Kivalliq region, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
