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A digital version of Nunavut

CD gives Southerners lessons about territory


Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 27/01) - From the moment the viewer hits the start command, the compact disc is 100 per cent Nunavut. Images of muskoxen crossing a still snow-covered river are accompanied by throat-singers -- music that is undeniably Inuit.

Welcome to Nunavut Territory, Canada -- an interactive CD designed to teach audiences everything they've always wanted to know about the country's newest territory.

The 5,000-page computerized learning tool is the offspring of Charlie Cahill, a former Nunavut resident who spends his days teaching Southern youth about where he used to live.

The inspiration for the CD -- and for his travelling lesson plan -- came when he moved his family from Gjoa Haven to Edmonton after seven years in the Kitikmeot.

He was asked to give a presentation about Nunavut at the school his children attended and one thing led to another. He developed 1,000 copies of the educational disc and in his travels to Southern schools, he's sold about half of the CDs.

He also estimated that during the last two years, he's spoken to as many as 125,000 students in more than 1,000 schools from the west coast of Vancouver Island to the eastern Maritime provinces.

"There's never a dull moment," joked Cahill, earlier this month while in Gjoa Haven to visit and promote the cd.

"I put a lot of my personal life into it and I really look forward to doing this," he said.

Home, school and play

Incorporating anecdotes involving himself and his family, Cahill said he starts out his presentation with a 30-minute slide show with pictures of Nunavummiut at home, at school, at work and at play.

He said images of arctic animals and the weather are also included to ensure students and teachers alike get a firm idea of how people in the territory truly live.

"Kids love it. It's entertaining and informative. It becomes humourous," said Cahill.

A 90-minute arts and crafts display with ulus, tusks, sealskin, sewing and artwork follows the slide show and the audience is then given the opportunity to ask questions. Cahill said that was always the highlight of the lesson.

"If there's 200 kids in the audience, 100 hands go up. It doesn't matter if it's high school or little kids. They've got oodles of questions ... and the attention for the duration is amazing," said Cahill.

"One question leads to another and there are as many hands up at the end as there are at the beginning," he said.

"I've had everything from 'How do you bury dead people in the winter?' to 'Do people have pets beside husky dogs?' "

The quality of the presentation and its reasonable price -- Cahill charges schools an average of $100 -- means that he gets busier each year.

And while he does solicit some business through the school boards, it's primarily word-of-mouth advertising that keeps him on the road and in the black.

Furthermore, the role his presentation plays in making up for outdated textbooks must not be downplayed. Even though it's been two and a half years since the map of Canada was redrawn, school textbooks are not scheduled to catch up until next year.

"It's been 18 years since they've been revised," said Cahill.

"Next year, they'll be more Nunavut sensitive ... but there's a void there and I've been keeping as busy as I can trying to fill that void," he said.

This is also where the CD proves to be helpful in schools. Including text, maps, photographs, video clips and language lessons, the disc aptly serves as an educational resource for teachers and students.

Cahill also said the CD could be valuable to Southern companies interested in doing business in Nunavut or as a gift or promotional item.

Copies of the CD are available from the Gjoa Haven Development Corporation. For more information, check out www.huskydog.com.