Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Jul 10/98) - Elders will help by teaching how to make bannock.

Counsellors will teach arctic sports such as the one-foot kick, Alaskan high kick and the arm pull. And children aged six through 12 at the Inuvik summer day camp will learn more about traditional Northern culture on camp outs when a week-long camp focused on Northern life starts July 13.

"Keep in mind this is supposed to be fun and light hearted," says summer day camp co-ordinator Kirsti de Vries as she passes a thick stapled booklet describing several arctic sports.

"It's not to drum into them that this is their background. We're trying to have fun with them."

The day camp on Northern traditions is the only camp with many spaces left, possibly because children in Inuvik can simply phone or visit elders for free to learn about their history.

The day camps cost $60 for the first child and $50 for each additional child.

The camps started June 29 with a sports camp while the week of July 6 through 10 was dubbed the splash camp.

After the Northern traditions camp comes the arts camp, to coincide with the Northern Arts Festival, a science camp July 27-31, and a carnival camp running Aug. 4- 7.

"This camp is teaching how to be safe when swimming," splash camp participant Alan Edwards says.

"There's so many good camps and it's lots of fun. I'm in four of them."

The science camp is held in conjunction with the Aurora Science Institute and de Vries says the kids will probably spend time in lab coats and around microscopes but that many of the activities will be outside in nature.

"We're going one week at a time," she says.

Another way the camps justify the cost is that they provide supervision for children whose parents work or who are wanting a safe place for their children to play.

It is basically a way to keep kids busy.

All counsellors are trained in first aid and CPR.

Meanwhile a second program offered in Inuvik focuses on teenagers from 13 to 17 years of age. For 10 days, a small group stays at a base camp outside Inuvik.