ULUKHAKTOK/HOLMAN
Residents were waiting to welcome the sun when it returned to Ulukhaktok last month. Though it officially returned on Jan. 17, the third annual Return of the Sun Festival was held on Jan. 23, said elder Agnes Kuptana.
Elders Mary Akoakhion, Agnes Kuptana and Mary Kuglak prepare to feed the sun during the Return of the Sun ceremony in Ulukhaktok on Jan. 23. - photo courtesy of Lisa Allikamik |
The festival includes a special feeding the sun ceremony. Community members placed pieces of frozen traditional food on a caribou skin, which was carried by elders and thrown toward the sun.
"It's traditional and cultural and the history of our ancestors, that's how they always welcomed back the sun," Kuptana said. "We try and teach our children and grandchildren, so they too will learn and be able to carry it on."
Organizer Emily Kudlak said the ceremony was traditionally conducted by people in the area after long winters to thank the sun for returning and to help ensure good hunting in the year ahead.
"Once the sun returned, they would put bits of meat and fish, and any other pieces of food they could find, on a seal skin and throw it at the sun giving thanks and hoping for a good year of hunting, welcoming the sun back," Kudlak said. "So we're just reviving that tradition among our people, showing the youth what the ancestors used to do when they lived out on the land. The youth are really getting their own traditional stories and events back."
The community's youth and children were active participants. The population of Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School attended the ceremony.
"Just about the whole town came out, from kindergarten to high school," Kuptana said.
While feeding the sun was the big event, there were other activities as well, said organizer Lisa Allikamik.
Residents fished for cod, thanks to the RCMP members who helped auger holes in the sea ice. They also launched paper lanterns into the sky and ate chowder, soup and bannock together.
While everyone was on the ice, a young man took his dog team for a run, which Kuptana said added to the festivities.
Kuptana said dog teams are now rare, but she remembers when people gathered on the ice to watch dog team races during Easter celebrations.
"Oh, it was like coming back to early Easter all over," she said. "Once they hear the dogs being hitched up, every dog is barking and wanting to go. It's just like back then."
A community feast was held later that evening at the school.
"Some of the students got involved and volunteers joined in and we had an afternoon of cooking," said Allikamik.
The feast also featured central- and western-style drum dancing, as well as the youth square dancing group's first public performance.
Kuptana said the performers did a great job.
"They did a very awesome show for the people and the elders," she said. "It was a really great evening."
Diamond Jubilee Awards were presented during the feast.
Kuptana thanked RCMP members, the elders committee, youth and volunteers for the festival's success.
