Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Gjoa Haven (Apr 03/00) - A recent word workshop set up by the Qikiqtarmiut Heritage Society in Gjoa Haven took George Porter on a little trip down memory lane.

He said it started him thinking about words he hadn't heard or spoken in decades.

"As elders we still use Inuktitut a lot. But there are so many mixed people in each settlement. I think there are five different languages here in Gjoa Haven and they're all getting mixed," said Porter.

Realizing the grave danger the local dialect was in, and wanting to preserve many of the words -- and in particular geographical terms -- Porter participated in the workshop led by three of the community's elders.

"I find that us Nattilingmiut are not really using our own language any more. So we had these instructors and we asked questions and they were giving us the meanings. Words we used to use 20 and 30 years ago are coming back to us and giving us more ideas to find other words to be explained by elders," said Porter.

That in itself speaks of the success of the workshop funded by Arctic College.

Organized to promote literacy in Inuktitut, the trio of elders who led the workshop were selected for their expertise in land-based terminology.

Hired in conjunction with the local elders' society, the instructors led groups of students, teachers, elders and other Gjoa Haven residents through different geographical topics -- including weather forecasting, ocean and land features and safe navigation techniques -- and taught them the words in Inuktitut.

Porter said the give-and-take style of the workshop and the experience in general changed him and left him wanting more.

"I hope we can find some funding somewhere to do it again because I'd like to see this turn into a dictionary for our younger people," said Porter. "It's their future."

His wish will, at least in part, come true thanks to co-organizer Darren Keith.

A cultural geographer from Yellowknife, Keith said through his company, Meridian Geographical Consulting, he tried to create products that allowed people to maintain their culture.

The workshop, and the three days of video and audiotape he captured, will help that happen.

"If we don't record this and start discussing (these terms) again, they might go by the way," said Keith, a familiar face in Gjoa Haven.

He also said that he and his fellow organizers were putting together a glossary of terms collected during the event to be published by the GN's department of education.

That will go a long way towards ensuring the knowledge of the elders isn't lost.

"We're producing a glossary of terms so that there is some written material that can be used in the schools or even by individuals," he said.

Paulette Tymko, a co-organizer and the adult educator at Arctic College, added that the glossary and the future video would also help preserve the dialect and the relationship between the elders and the younger people in Gjoa Haven.

"The video we'll be getting will only be in Inuktitut so people will have to learn the language or view it with an elder to get a real appreciation of it," said Tymko.

To look for funding to produce that video, Keith said he also wanted to find additional money to host a second, similar workshop.

"It underlined that we were just scratching the surface."