Rankin Inlet (July 21/04) - Hamish Tatty's visit to Moscow this past month is a trip he won't soon forget.

The Rankin Inlet native was in Russia as part of a three-person Canadian delegation attending the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

Rankin Inlet's Hamish Tatty was one of three Canadians to make presentations at the 2004 Inuit Circumpolar Conference in Moscow, Russia, this past month.

Tatty was asked to deliver a presentation on the ups and downs of operating an aboriginal business compiled through his personal experiences with the family-owned M&T Enterprises Ltd. in Rankin. He was accompanied by Inuvik's Moe Hanson and Toronto's Carole Houlihan, who addressed the gathering on gender equality.

"The trip was an interesting experience, business-wise, and an incredible opportunity to learn a bit about the culture of Russia's indigenous people," says Tatty.

"Hopefully, I was able to teach them a bit about our culture, as well."

The Canadians were accompanied by translators almost the entire time in Moscow and weren't given much freedom to move about on their own.

However, Tatty says they were able to slip away for one afternoon of touring on their own.

He says they were able to visit the outskirts of Moscow and some smaller communities outside the city.

"The smaller communities looked really old and run down.

"To be honest, I expected Moscow would look like the smaller towns did.

"But it's such a huge city that there's lots of development.

"I was surprised, actually, by how modern Moscow really is, but you definitely get the impression it's the exception, not the rule."

A better understanding

Tatty says his presentation at the Russian Indigenous Training Centre went well.

He says the Russians were most curious about how funding works in Nunavut.

"They were very interested in the different programs available over here that can provide financial assistance for businesses.

"They told us their government is just starting to realize it has to help indigenous people get their projects started, but there's still a long ways to go.

"These trips are an excellent way to exchange ideas and better understand each other's cultures.

"They seemed to learn a lot from their visit to Rankin last year and look forward to returning."