From the community hall to the premier's office, Nunavummiut are raising and sending money to help victims of last week's devastating earthquake in Haiti.

On Monday, Premier Eva Aariak announced a $25,000 donation from the government to the Canadian Red Cross. The government is also working with municipal officials to ensure a coordinated approach to Haiti relief efforts, Aariak said.

"We have a long tradition of providing for those in need. Helping each other is one of the reasons we have survived in this climate for many, many years," Aariak told reporters Monday in Iqaluit.

"Inuit know first-hand what hunger is, and many people have stories of family members starving when the hunt was not sufficient. We can empathize very much, with the hardships that are being experienced by the families and people in Haiti at this time."

Inuit donations top $90,000

Late last week, a number of Canadian Inuit organizations, including Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said they would donate a total of $90,000 to earthquake relief efforts.

That $90,000 donation includes $20,000 from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the territory's Inuit land-claim organization, and $10,000 each from Nunavut's three regional Inuit associations.

Nunavut Tunngavik president Paul Kaludjak told CBC News that Inuit leaders met in Ottawa last week to discuss ways they can help in the aftermath of the earthquake.,

"With the other regions like Nunavik and Nunatsiavut and Inuvialuit regions, through [Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami], the total contributions from the Inuit side is close to, if not over now, $90,000," Kaludjak said.

Both Aariak and Kaludjak said it's not the first time Inuit have contributed money towards helping victims of natural disasters: the Nunavut government and the Inuit organizations responded to a call for help following the Asian tsunami in 2004.

Communities host events

Meanwhile, people in Nunavut communities like Rankin Inlet, Arviat and Taloyoak have been hosting fundraisers for Haiti relief.

A talent show will take place Wednesday in Rankin Inlet, where organizer Cathy Towtongie said residents feel a unique connection to Haiti through Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, who is of Haitian descent.

When Jean visited Rankin Inlet last year, she made international news for eating a piece of raw seal heart that was offered to her at a community feast.

Critics had accused Jean of eating the heart as a political gesture in support of Canada's controversial seal hunt.

Towtongie said Jean "was in Rankin and she's originally from Haiti, and she had helped a lot with the seal industry for the Inuit."

"I felt the people of Rankin Inlet could do something to help," she added.

In Taloyoak, residents donated nearly $5,000 during Charlie Lyall's and James Eetoolook's three-hour local radio program on Friday night.

Lyall said it was especially amazing that people donated so much when it was not a pay week.

"Had it been a pay day, I think ... we would have made a lot more money," he said.

Lyall said people in the North know what it is like to live in harsh conditions, so they want to help the people of Haiti in some way.