Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, April 23, 2007

INUVIK - In the sport of wrestling, the athlete's goal is to always keep moving - to rearrange circumstances and to create better opportunities.

It's good advice on the mat, and also applies to life.

Consider the case of Matthew Kuptana and Barbara Memogana, who just recently moved to Inuvik.

Whereas Kuptana said he'd been searching for work in Ulukhaktok (Holman), he said there wasn't much available.

At an impasse, he decided to move, along with Memogana and his two daughters and son.

The gamble worked, and he quickly found a job as a custodian at the Inuvik Regional Hospital.

Memogana, who formerly worked at Helen Kalvak school, now works at a preschool in Inuvik.

On April 15, the couple watched their son Craig compete in a wrestling workshop, which is something they said wasn't available in Ulukhaktok.

"It's good. It's a new sport for my boys, it's a different sport," Kuptana said.

Of course, Kuptana added it was difficult to move from the town he grew up in.

When asked what he'd miss about Ulukhaktuk, population 400, he replied "my family," and added he knew almost everyone in town.

Yet, he said the move, to the larger community of nearly 3,500 people, was ultimately a good decision.

"It's a good thing, there is more stuff to do, he said.

Memogana agreed, and said the family enjoyed the swimming pool and lower food prices.

"I like the convenience. It's so much cheaper," she said.

Between games of "British Bulldog" and some friendly sparring matches, 10-year-old Craig Kuptana said he liked his new life in Inuvik.

"It's good," he said, simply, and then entered another match.

And while it might be difficult for Kuptana and Memogana's friends and relatives to say goodbye, the are benefits to knowing people in Inuvik.

On April 15, Kuptana said his family welcomed two Ulukhaktok, Brendan Kanayok, 11 and Jarett Kitekudlak, 12, who also wanted to attend the wrestling workshop.

"They don't have that in Holman, so it's worth it that they come down," he said.