Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 09/00) - Women's work has always been a valued part of the Inuit lifestyle. Nunavut Tunngavik is continuing that tradition.

At the age of four, Sarah Takolik sat beside her grandmother and learned how to thread a needle.

As her fingers strengthened and she got the feel of the tools, she learned to patch together pieces of softened caribou skin.

At six, when her grandmother died, Takolik went to live with her auntie who was involved with the Anglican ladies sewing group.

Takolik joined the group more than 20 years ago and firmly took her place among Inuit women who have clothed their families in animal skins and thereby made an essential contribution to the hunting economy.

"I sew parkas and duffels, kamiks, mitts, everything you pretty well need," said Takolik, a Grade 1 teacher at Netsilik school in Taloyoak.

"I do quite a bit of sewing. We have to in such a cold weather place," she said.

"We have to, otherwise our husbands will freeze. If my husband is going hunting, I'm not going to let him have store-bought clothes because they're not warm. I want him to wear caribou skins from top to foot."

Women's work has always held tremendous value in Inuit culture, and this year Nunavut Tunngavik underlined that fact with financial support.

The land claim organization bought 58 heavy-duty Singer sewing machines, worth $1,550 each, and distributed among women's groups across the territory.

The heavy-duty machines will speed production of clothing and gives women an opportunity to make their stitching skills more marketable in the wage economy.

Iqaluit resident Monica Ell is one of the many women in Nunavut who has built a successful business on the magic made with needle and thread.

Ell has been at her craft since the age of 11 when she got her first sewing machine from an aunt. Her business, Arctic Creations, specializes in sealskin products and also offers custom work and repairs.

As generations of women before her have done, Ell sits at her kitchen table and sews the pieces that are sold in the store.

"There's no longer a kitchen or living room," said Ell.

"There are sewing machines everywhere."

Rannva Simonsen Erlingsdottir, owner of the Iqaluit-based Rannva Designs, also runs her design and sewing business from her home.

Since completing a skin-sewing course at Nunavut Arctic College last year, Erlingsdottir has found success with her designs that bring a contemporary interpretation' to Inuit tradition.

"We were at the International Fur Fashion show in Montreal. We had two pieces in the show," said Erlingsdottir, adding that the coats later appeared in an Italian fashion magazine.

"This is something special. You can really see it works, the links between tradition and new clothing."