Activist and administrator likely born in the early 1960s in Kugaaruk (Nunavut).
Mary Nirlungayuk is an activist, director, and board member known for her commitment to Indigenous governance and to the cooperative movement. She was born in Kugaaruk, a village in present-day Nunavut, likely in the early 1960s.
In 1982, Mary Nirlungayuk began her career as an office coordinator at the Koomiut Co-op in Kugaaruk. In 2000, she moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to serve as corporate secretary and vice-president of the corporate service division of Arctic Co-operatives, a federation co-managed by 33 Inuit communities across Canada. As part of this role, she has actively advocated for the adoption of the cooperative model at the local, regional, national, and international levels. With over 20 years of experience in Indigenous governance, Mary Nirlungayuk has lectured on Indigenous governance and cooperatives worldwide, including at the Co-operatives in Indigenous Communities symposium in Australia in 2012 and at the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals Leader’s Summit in Brisbane in 2023, where she presented Arctic Co-operatives Limited as a model for modern Indigenous empowerment. Mary Nirlungayuk sits on the boards of several influential organizations.
In 2014, Mary Nirlungayuk contributed a chapter, titled “Standardize or bust!,” to Uqausivut sivummuagutivut: Our language, our leadership, a volume edited by Jeela Palluq-Cloutier and Louis McComber.
Mary Nirlungayuk firmly believes in the need to involve Indigenous peoples and women in decision-making processes relating to climate change. For her dedication the cooperative movement and to Indigenous empowerment, she received the Distinguished Cooperator Award at the Manitoba Cooperative Association banquet in October 2019; this award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the cooperative movement in Canada.