The place, Wager Bay. In Inuktitut it is Ukkusiksalik - a place where there is soap stone. The 26,000 square kilometre stretch of land and rivers bursts with berries, caribou, seals, char and most of all, memories.

“In talking to the communities we started hearing from the elders,”said Elizabeth Seale, Specialist for New Park Proposals with Parks Canada. “Elders asked us if there was any way they could go back.”

Seale set about coordinating a trip to Wager Bay.

Two groups were formed. The first consisted of 22 elders and family members from Repulse Bay. The second group was made up of 16 family members from both Coral Harbor and Rankin Inlet.

The initial group, the Kopak family and close relatives, started out July 25 onboard a longliner and several freight canoes.

With lots of ice and extreme high and low tides, the voyage was a difficult one.

“We couldn’t go where we wanted to go,” Seale said.

They did make it to Nuvukliit, a small island known for its abundance of seals.

Elders said each spring it wouldn’t be a surprise to see 20 or 30 families camping on the island and hunting offshore.

Elizabeth Aglukka, one of last to leave Wager Bay in 1968, rooted around some of the old sites on the island, discovering old snow knives and tin cans used for storing small items around the home like nails, fishing lines, string, needles and buttons.

Aglukka shook out each item one by one, looked at them in her hand, put it back in, laid the can down and walked away.

After a long day of picking berries and a church service, people were ready to move out with the tides and visit the Piqsimaniq River, another memorable spot.

Everyone had a hand at catching char to making pipsi (dried char).

During their four-day stay there, Seale interviewed elders and gathered stories through an Inuktitut interpreter about the old way of life in Wager Bay.

One person even described how to build a sod house.

“A sod house is used in the fall before you could build an igloo,” Seale said.

From the Piqsimaniq River it was off to Allungiqtautitalik (a place where they put rope) and then to Masavak Creek, a place two of the elders knew very well.

“It’s a really good char run, the flesh was real red,” she said.

Because of the shallow water in the creek, char were forced to swim up the river sideways. This made catching char very easy. Some people used a stick while others used their hands.

After a brief stay, the family packed and travelled to Sila Lodge. There, the other group flew in and continued the trip down memory road.

Bruce family rekindles memories

The Bruce family were right at home. They camped and lived as people did years ago, hunting caribou and seals, catching fish, picking berries.

Tweenaq Bruce, who lived there between 1925 and 1945, was happy to be back.

“For her it was a magical trip,” Seale said. “She even found her grandmother’s grave.”

During the rest of the time there, family members reflected on the old days while Seale captured everything on film, video camera and paper.

“We wanted to collect the stories, we wanted to make sure we had the stories.”