Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

RANKIN INLET - Hundreds of people came out to join the fun during a barbecue and prize draw in celebration of Aboriginal Day in Rankin Inlet this past week.

A large crowd went through about $1,200 worth of food during Aboriginal Day activities in Rankin Inlet this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The event is co-sponsored by the Rankin detachment of the RCMP and the Kissarvik Co-op.

Another big crowd attended a celebration co-sponsored by the hamlet and the Government of Nunavut at the community hall earlier in the week.

Community Const. Adrian Pilakapsi was one of the detachment officers to attend the barbecue.

Pilakapsi said gatherings for events such as Aboriginal Day are important for the spirit of the community and give officers the chance to spend time with people.

"It's important to me, as an Inuit officer, to be as visible as I can to show our youth they can make the right choices for their future," said Pilakapsi.

"It's also important for the RCMP, in general, to be highly visible as part of the community on Aboriginal Day.

"We get to interact with community members on a more personal level and it's another chance to spend time with the youth of our hamlet.

"The kids love the RCMP, the uniforms, and just spending time with us during events like this."

Co-op assistant general manager Glenn Woodford said the large crowd went through about $1,200 of food, in retail value, and the store also gave away about $500 worth of small prizes.

He said the Co-op asked the RCMP to team up for Aboriginal Day about three years ago and he hopes their partnership lasts for many more years to come.

"Both the Kissarvik Co-op and the RCMP are members of this community, and we both enjoy the opportunity to do something special for everyone," said Woodford.

"The majority of our membership are aboriginal, so we look at this as an opportunity to show our support for the community.

"We had a bigger turnout this year than last, so we're very pleased about that because it builds good community relations.

"We hope to do this as a joint venture with the RCMP for a long time to come, with as much support from the community as possible."

We welcome your opinions. Click to e-mail a letter to the editor.