The lifelong Iqaluit resident and father of six works full time as a land skills program officer, volunteers as a member of the Canadian Rangers and spends his free time hunting.

News/North: You've been a Ranger for a number of years?

Dinos Tikivik: About 14 or 15 years.

N/N: How did you become involved?

DT: My father (Joe Tikivik) asked a whole bunch of guys if they were interested to re-start the Rangers because there was a guy coming over from Yellowknife who wanted to get it going again in Iqaluit. My dad was still the sergeant and 20 or 30 of us joined. When I grew up, I used to see my father giving out bullets to the Rangers. I used to help him hand them out.

N/N: The group wasn't active when you joined?

DT: No, not really.

N/N: What was it like when you first joined?

DT: We didn't really know what to do. We played it by ear. But, by the third year we knew what to do.

N/N: How long was your dad the sergeant?

DT: About 30 years. He finally retired last year.

N/N: What was it like when he first retired?

DT: He still has his caps and uniform. He's asked to come around during special ceremonies. We had to get the hang of it without him there. It was a big change.

N/N: Would you like to head up the Rangers some day?

DT: I would, but it's up to the group. They vote on the sergeant.

N/N: You must have learned a lot from your dad as a Ranger and a his son.

DT: Definitely. I had no other choice. I had two older brothers. When they said no to him to go hunting, he said to me, 'You're coming.' That was it. I had to go. In the long run, I would say I learned from him and I am very happy about it.

N/N: What's the biggest lesson you learned from your dad?

DT: Being obedient, listening to him.

N/N: Are you raising your own children that way?

DT: Pretty strict, yes. We don't spank them or anything like that. We just tell them not to do something.

N/N: Do they listen?

DT: Yes.

N/N: Youth are becoming involved more and more in violent crime and we see a lot of problems. Have you managed to keep your children safe from that kind of trouble?

DT: Yes, I try to. I'm happy my parents were strict with me and that's what I try to do with my kids. I'm strict in a way that doesn't hurt them. I don't shout. What I've seen ruins a child.

N/N: What do you mean?

DT: What I've seen and heard, parents screaming at their kids or neglecting them, the kids just do what they want to do.

N/N: Is that why we have the problems that we have here in Iqaluit?

DT: Pretty well -- the drinking, the drugs.

N/N: How will this end?

DT: It has to start with the parents. If the parents are strict and the kid gets mad -- too bad. Don't spoil them.

N/N: What's your full-time job?

DT: I'm an Inuit cultural skills program officer. I used to work on the floor as a guard at the Baffin Correctional Centre. In the last two years we started a program that would enable inmates to find their tradition again, find their culture again. They are able to hunt again and it helps them in case they get lost. They can build a shelter or an iglu or improvise using something else. It's basically survival skills.

N/N: How does it make you feel to be able to pass on those skills?

DT: It's a challenge for me. I learned how to do those things and I want them to learn how to do those things so they will be able to give something back to their parents or communities. They go back as healthier men. We teach them map training, GPS training -- all the new stuff -- so they're able to join search-and-rescue parties in their communities.

N/N: So you teach traditional navigational skills, too?

DT:: Yes, we show them how to navigate using the stars, hills, snow, currents. I have a co-worker who is an elder. He's a big help.

N/N: Do you see evidence that what you're doing is actually helping these men?

DT: Yes. We're out there with them. When they make a mistake, we like it because we can then teach them the right way and they try again. The more they try, the more active they get. It's a six-week program. A lot of guys when they first start are slow in trying new things. Once they get the hang of it, by the third or fourth week, they're active and keep asking questions. Sometimes we use the elders in town for the other traditional stuff -- how to tie knots, how to make nets or where to go fishing or how to cut up a caribou. We use several elders for that.

N/N: It sounds like a neat job.

DT: It is. I find a lot of people don't even know there are programs at BCC that are running. We do try hard, but it's up to the individual who is incarcerated to do his part.

N/N: Do the men voluntarily participate in the program?

DT: No, we ask them to come.

N/N: Do you teach it year round?

DT: Yes. When the snow conditions are right, we do iglu building and emergency shelters and snow reading or butchering caribou.

N/N: How long were you a guard for?

DT: Thirteen years. I've been doing this job for fours years. I'm in my 17th year (at BCC). It was a challenge for me to try and help out. It's a long story.

N/N: Do you feel like you've made a difference in your community?

DT: Yes, yes I have made a difference. A lot of people ask me to join politics. I say I'm not ready for it yet. I am confident to try something, but not yet. I like what I'm doing now. I like being on the land.