Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services

Resolute (Oct 22/01) - Most Nunavummiut look around and see traditional food, Inuit legends and polar bears. John Lapp, Nunavut Tourism training co-ordinator, sees them, too, only he calls them untapped resources.

A fusion of past and present, he says, may mean big business for Resolute.

Nunavut Tourism, in partnership with the Kakivak Association, is on a six-community tour of Baffin Island.

Lapp led the two-day workshop Oct. 4 and 5.

Dishwashers, front-desk clerks, outfitters, cooks and high school students took part.

Norman Nungaq, for one, wants the world to know his community. The Qarmartalik school Grade 9 student also wants his community to grow -- something tourism can help bring about.

Working in groups taught Nungaq about traditional skills, such as tool-making.

"I liked learning about new things," Nungaq said.

There is no shortage of people visiting the community, Lapp said. North Pole trekkers, business travellers, geologists studying on the drifting continents, Parks Canada employees -- the list goes on.

The trick is spreading the good word.

"I was lucky enough to see several polar bears, which I'd never seen before. I loved it," Lapp said.

Discussions are underway to expand the workshop into a career-technologies course at Qarmartalik school.

Lapp said he hopes the workshop's benefits surface during the next summer tourism season.

Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay, Qikiqtarjuaq and Pond Inlet are next on his growing list of places to visit.