Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 09/00) - Remember when reading the dictionary was a form of punishment?

Imagine reading and editing a 630-page dictionary with 15,000 entries packed between the covers.

It may sound like torture, but it led to the debut of the first-ever dictionary printed wholly in Inuktitut in the Tununiq dialect.

"It took about a month to edit and proofread," said Joanna Quassa of Qikiqtani School Services, which guided the reference book through publication. "It was difficult because there were a lot of words and phrases that I hadn't seen before and I had to keep stopping and calling to make sure everything was right."

Quassa, who had partner Pat Qulaut to help her with the mammoth task, laughs before she answers how many hours a day she spent reading the dictionary.

"Usually it took a good portion of every day. We had to really look at everything and we had to get it done," she said.

Now that the words are bound between two beautifully illustrated covers, the origin of the project could easily be overlooked.

As a Grade 11 student searches for the perfect word, will they ever know that years of hard work and perseverance by many Pond Inlet elders went into every page, every word, every character?

The idea was the brainchild of the education committee in Pond Inlet. Elisapee Ootoova, who also works for Qikiqtani School Services, said the idea was born seven years ago.

"I didn't want to lose my language," she said speaking through a translator from her home in Pond Inlet.

"I wanted to do something that I knew would preserve my language forever."

Fair enough, but exactly how difficult is it to compile a dictionary and how do you know when you have all of the words?

"The hardest part was looking for words and writing definitions," she said. "I am very happy to see it finished now."

The dictionary will be distributed to all schools in the Qikiqtani region and other schools in Nunavut upon request.