Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 26/00) - Caribou meat dries on the rack, pine bows blanket the tent floor, and Inuit huddle, warm in their iglus.

Not really, but the three-dimensional dioramas done by J.H. Sissons Grade 5 students are an excellent depiction of Inuit and Dene culture.

"The title of the projects were the Dene/Inuit of Long Ago," said teacher Lynn Lalonde.

"The curriculum deals with our past, present, and future. I think that learning about the past connects us to who we are today. We are Northerners and this is about our Northern heritage."

Lalonde's 16 students split up into teams and, after doing a lot of research, they spent over eight hours creating miniature landscapes out of paper mache, toothpicks, pieces of traditional fur and hides.

Student Lloyd Heron worked on an Inuit diorama -- complete with two iglus, a dog sled carrying hides, polar bears and Inuit hunters ice fishing.

"I learned that the Inuit used to live in iglus and put hides on the bottom," said Heron.

"It's actually pretty warm in an iglu. They can have a fire in there."

Amanda Morrison was pretty confident the diorama she worked on was accurate because she used to live in Lutsel K'e. Her Dene summerscape had a canoe, teepee, and dried caribou meat.

"I lived in a Dene community for two years so I already knew a lot -- but I never knew the Dene used spruce or pine bows on the floor of a teepee to keep from getting wet," said Morrison.

An added bonus to the dioramas is that they will appear in a new program at the Prince of Wales Heritage Centre. Museum exhibit designer Terry Pamplin said they are opening the mezzanine gallery at the centre to Yellowknife schools to display their art.

Pamplin said the Inuit and Dene dioramas will be on display starting in February as part of their Heritage Day celebrations.

For Lalonde, it will be a fitting tribute to her student's hard work.

"It's significant because the projects will be on display for the public, which gives the students a sense of pride and allows them to contribute to the education of society," said Lalonde.