Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Dec 04/00) - Almost three years ago, I asked Rebecca Mike if I could interview her. She said no.
I asked her again a year later. She said maybe. Finally, after hounding her at coffee shops, sneaking up on her in restaurants and dropping by her office, she agreed.
 Rebecca Mike |
News/North: When you look around your house at these things, what is your favourite possession?
Rebecca Mike: My pictures and my plants. The watercolour painting done by Joel Maniapik from Panniqtuuq. I have a collection of his artwork.
News/North: You must have green thumbs with all these plants around.
Mike: They seem to like it here, maybe because it's always so warm. I especially like them because most of them I got from cuttings or from sales when they were almost dying from the store. They've done really well here.
News/North: So plants are important to you.
Mike: Plants are one of the ways to keep in touch with yourself. I find my plants don't do good when I'm not looking after myself well. They're good indicators. When they start to look like they're drooping, it's about time I paid attention to my own needs.
News/North: How do you turn that around?
Mike: I just catch up on the things I like doing like sewing or knitting or crocheting. I also really love taking photographs, but ... it's an expensive hobby so I'm not into that as much as I used to be. One day I'd like to pick it up.
News/North: How long were you an MLA?
Mike: Four years, from 1991 to 1995. I was on cabinet, too. I had Health and Social Services, Personnel, Municipal and Community Affairs.
News/North: If you had to give the Government of Nunavut a grade between one and 10, with 10 being the best and one being the worst, where would you put them?
Mike: They're sitting between six and seven. They're doing not too bad considering this is the implementation stage of our new government. They have a lot to do in terms of catching up on legislation that is not Nunavut made. They're still using a lot of GNWT legislation. A lot of that was imported from the south.
Our government could do a lot more in updating that and making it more suitable for Nunavut.
News/North: How long do you think it will take them to get caught up?
Mike: It depends who sits on the cabinet and their leader in terms of pushing his cabinet and getting everything up and running.
News/North: Was Paul Okalik the best choice for premier?
Mike: Yes, because he's young, with new ideas. No, because he's inexperienced. Yes, because he's a lawyer and you need that background. Given the choices that are there, he was the best pick.
News/North: If he wasn't premier any more, who would be the best choice to step in?
Mike: That's not an easy question. There are two others who could take over -- Hunter Tootoo and Peter Kilabuk.
News/North: Do you think we need more women as MLAs?
Mike: We always need more women in any organization. It was too bad there was only one female elected because women certainly put in a lot different perspective.
We women tend to be more fair about things. We do less politicking and get down to work quicker than men do and I think women don't avoid hard decisions that need to be made.
News/North: Are you sorry not to be involved in territorial politics?
Mike: Not really. Sometimes I miss it, but the majority of the times I don't miss it. It's hard for me to know if I will want to be involved in that in the future.
News/North: If you could take a step out of your own life and do whatever you wanted to for one day, what would you do?
Mike: Catalogue my slides and do my art work.
I got interested in photography in the late 1960s, early 1970s. I bought myself a little cheap 35 mm automatic camera. I liked what I could do so I got interested in it. After that I bought myself a better camera. I ran into teachers from Lutsel K'e and they told me my photographs were really good and to keep it up. That's when I really got into it. I took photographs, hoping I would use them as subjects for oil painting.
News/North: What's the best photograph you've ever taken?
Mike: I have a few really good photographs. One is of Billy Edzo, a resident of Lutsel K'e. It was in the late evening in the spring time when the sunsets are nice and red. It has that beautiful colour and it's a profile of his face. Just the way his nose is shaped...
The other one is a sunset between the trees. I also took a shot of lightning striking.
News/North: Have you had your photographs published?
Mike: A few of wildlife were published for posters when I was working for the government and a few of my photographs were used for Inuktitut magazines.
News/North: What are your regrets in life?
Mike: I don't have any. I've enjoyed my life. It hasn't always been easy, but I can't say I regret this or that.
News/North: What made your life not easy?
Mike: All the change that has happened. The best memories I have are from my childhood. I long for that peace and quiet. Our family used to go camping every spring, just outside of Panniqtuuq, close to where my dad was born, just to hear the noises of nature. I really miss that. I get pretty tense with all the machinery noise and trying to meet all the deadlines. I really miss that life. It was completely different than it is today. I'm one of the fortunate ones to have gone through that experience and lifestyle. Not too many people get that today.
News/North: What keeps you living here in Iqaluit?
Mike: Mostly work. If it wasn't for that, me and Mike would be in Arviat.
News/North: Where I'm told the caribou meat is the best.
Mike: You've never had caribou from Arviat? You should taste it.
