Elder Violet Twyee and two of the Kataujaq day care's tiny regulars, Madeline Towtoning and Jeremy Mayly. - Jorge Barrera/NNSL photo

Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (July 11/01) - The halls of the Kataujaq day care in Rankin Inlet are covered with colourful construction paper cut-outs, the ABCs and toddler-style caricatures depicting the world.

These are things you would see in any other day care, except the ABCs are in both English and Inuktitut, the caricatures are of narwhals and caribou and Inuktitut syllabics pepper the cut-outs.

Here, Oh Canada is sung every morning in English and Inuktitut and an elder takes centre stage during story time.

"Every week we have a word of the week in Inuktitut," said Debbie Urbanski, manager of the day care.

Urbanski said the day care includes Western and Inuit culture in all their activities. "Here the kids get it early," said Urbanski. "They learn the alphabet and colours in Inuktitut."

The day care also mixes traditional foods into the daily snack menus, serving everything from bannock to caribou.

On Aboriginal Day, June 21, the children dined on smoked char and caribou stew.

Elder Violet Twyee tells the children stories in Inuktitut -- "about old things," she said. "I like to tell them about fishing, hunting, cooking, sewing."

"Some of the children are learning Inuktitut," she said.

"They always want to listen," added Twyee.

Hannah Pilakapsi, who oversees the special needs children, said it's important to teach young children Inuktitut if they're living in Nunavut.

"I want kids to learn to read in Inuktitut," said Pilakapsi. "(For some) it's their first language."

Urbanski said all children, whether Inuit or non-Inuit get the same education at the day care.

"You don't have to teach a child to say peach to enhance their development," said Urbanski. "You can use culturally relevant things and still get the same results."

"We provide a multi-cultural environment here," she said.