"My senior administrative officer called me to his office and said he wanted to talk to me in the chamber. The first thing I saw was people and cookies. I knew something was going on," said Akumalik.

He said the collar is new and very beautiful. He wore it at the council's inaugural meeting which welcomed three newly elected members on the evening of Jan. 6.

In medieval times, a guardian's collar or chain of office was given to officers in Britain as a symbol of their position. Today, mayors in many parts of the world still wear a mayoral collar.

"It's the first time to my knowledge we've had a collar for the mayor," said SAO Cecil Marshall.

Although the idea behind the collar is an old one, the Arctic Bay one just right for a North Baffin community: the hamlet crest is on a silver emblem which hangs from the sealskin collar.

The hamlet asked for sealskin in order to include a cultural theme.

Marie Akumalik, the mayor's wife, was commissioned to make the collar near the end of Oct. 2002. She said it was not hard to keep the collar a secret.

"Joanasie had been travelling a lot and when he left I made it. It took about two weeks," said Marie.

She used the white skin of a harp seal which her husband caught and the black skin of a regular seal from a friend. The design of the collar was completely her own.

The collar is now a permanent part of the council and will be passed on each time a new mayor is elected.