Rankin Inlet (Oct 11/06) - If you teach them, they will enjoy learning.

That's Lorraine Gordon of Rankin Inlet's motto when it comes to passing on traditional sewing skills to today's younger generation.

Gordon, a mother of five, has been teaching her children and a few local youth how to sew after school.

She says she desperately wants today's youth to start learning how to sew traditional clothing.

"I started sewing when I was 12 and now, at 38, I make sealskin mitts, kamiks, parkas and beaver mitts, among other things," says Gordon.

"I'm working on a number of projects right now because winter is right around the corner."

Gordon lists the fascination today's youth have with technology as the main reason why so many don't know how to sew.

She says girls spend too much time on computers, watching TV and DVDs and playing video games.

And, she says, there aren't enough people making an effort to teach them anymore.

"We might have all this technology, but Nunavut winters are still freezing and girls should be learning how to make proper clothing for themselves and their families.

"This is our culture and we can't just sit back and watch as we lose it.

"What skilled sewers make is still better in the winter than what people buy at the Northern store or order from a catalogue.

"I also sell some of the items I make and my customers stay nice and warm in the winter."

Gordon would love to be teaching sewing in a local school or travelling around Nunavut to pass on her skills.

She hopes to, maybe one day, open a sewing centre and loves to work with youth.

"Once the girls really decide to try, they learn quickly.

"I had them bring their own skins and they're learning right from scratch how to soften and work the skin before they can begin sewing.

"I don't do it for them. I teach and they do the work."

Gordon says the youth get more enthusiastic the more they learn.

She says most girls would love to learn if good skins and teachers were available to them.

"Once you give them the opportunity, the rest falls into place.

"Their culture is still inside them. We just have to provide a way to get them in touch with it."