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INUVIK
A group of 10 students from the teacher's education program at Aurora College put on a play for elementary students at East 3 on Tuesday morning.

The second year class of the teacher's education program at Aurora College put on a play in the East 3 gym on Tuesday. Back row, from left, are teacher Lois Lafferty, Susie Firth, Maribeth Pokiak, Priscilla Haogak, Alecia Lennie, Jayneta Pascal and Twyla Amos; middle row, from left, are Joanne Francis, Germain Voudrach and Margaret Noksana; in front is Janesta McLeod. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo

Based on the Inuit legend Tiktu's Journey, the play told the story of a child who has to catch the sun to save an ailing grandfather.

The moral of the story is that a person's courage is not dependent on their size, said elementary school principal Janette Vlanich before the play started.

The students worked on the play for a little over a week and designed and handcrafted all the props.

"It was a lot of work," said Margaret Noksana, who played the strongest hunter. "We worked on them every day."

The play featured segments in Gwich'in, English and Inuvialuktun.

"We're placing a lot of emphasis on aboriginal education," said Lois Lafferty, the teacher of the course. "These students can be the role models and pass on the information first hand. It's part of our oral tradition."

Jayneta Pascal was one of the two narrators who led students through the story. She agrees with the importance of having aboriginal role models.

"It's really good, they can see us aboriginal teachers in training," she said. "We know what it's like to go to school here."

As for the play, Pascal said it went a lot better than they originally thought.

"It was really fun. We thought we were doing it once but it's a shocker that the older students are coming to watch now too."

Priscilla Haogak played Tiktu's mother and said once the play was done they'd be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"A lot of work and effort was put into this," she said. "Personally, I feel it was great and I'm happy it went well."

Originally, the students performed the show for kindergarten through Grade 3, but the resounding success of the production – its carefully-crafted props, sets and dance numbers – created the need for an encore presentation for the older students.

It was part of the students' literacy, drama and aboriginal language arts classes.

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