Iqaluit (Apr 18/05) - Leena Evic knows music has the ability to reach people and make them remember.

As someone who's spent more than 20 years as a school teacher, she also knows that when it comes to teaching Inuktitut, good materials are pretty scarce.

Leena Evic recorded an album intended to help keep the Inuit language alive. It goes on sale during Toonik Tyme. - John Thompson/NNSL photo

That's what prompted her to combine the two and record the album "And There Were Inuit," which will officially be released during Toonik Tyme in Iqaluit this month.

"When I was very young, I grew up with music all around me, so that's been my source of inspiration," she said.

The album is a bouncy mixture of traditional folk music and more contemporary children's songs, accompanied by a bevy of instruments, including guitars, mandolin, banjo and clarinet.

The title track, written by Evic, is an idyllic description of life in the old days, when Inuit lived on the land.

"They only knew their own culture and they didn't know that would one day all change," she said.

The track's music is based on a Russian folk song she heard while visiting St. Petersburg many years ago. The fact she could recall the tune shows how effective an aid music can be for memory, she said.

"When you love music, you remember tunes."

Her friend and business partner Gavin Nesbitt remembers the song "Open Them, Shut Them" as the blizzard song because it taught him words he could use to tell from Inuktitut radio broadcasts if the government office he used to work at would be closed due to bad weather.

A songbook could also be released in the future.

The CD goes on sale on April 22 at the Legion during a night of music which will also feature Night Sun.