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IQALUIT - Students at Ataguttaaluk high school have been spending time out on the land with local hunters as part of an eight-week program.

Every week, the youth take turns going on field trips where they learn Inuit ways of living off the land.

Tapia Qaunaq, in the pink scarf, and Jacob Kublu, to the right, join students in eating fresh seal meat during a trip out onto the land with three local hunters. - photo courtesy of Patricia Tidd

Recently, the students have been spending time with three hunters from the community, who take them out in groups of 14 for a day of seal hunting.

“We went on Ski-Doo and I stayed on the qamutiik,” said Grade 8 student Hayley June Ammaq. “It’s fun going there, but it’s cold!”

Ammaq’s father was one of the three hunters leading the crew of students and it was a rare opportunity for her to watch her dad in action.

The best part was “eating the seal and when my dad caught it,” she said.

Ammaq said it takes a lot of patience to harvest a seal.

“Where the seal holes are, the cracks, there’s a little bump, a little hole where you wait,” she said. “You stay there for awhile and then the seal comes up. (It can take) hours!”

Out on the land, the hunters demonstrated how to hook the seal and how to cut it as well.

It was fun to get out onto the land during school hours, Ammaq added. She’s looking forward to doing it again this week.

“The students learn the Inuit ways of the land and they enjoy it immensely,” said Vincent Pickett, the school’s principal. “Every student that went out came back really, really happy.”

Initially, the land program was intended solely for senior students, but after discussions with staff, it was decided that everyone should have the opportunity to participate.

Not all students have the chance to go out onto the land outside of school time, said Pickett.

“We decided that it would be in the best interests if everyone could go out onto the land,” he said.