Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Sanikiluaq (Oct 21/02) - Mina Meeko has been the manager of Sanniit Co-operative Ltd. since 2000.

"It's a little store and we buy eider down from people in the community," says Meeko.

Mina Meeko says she loves her job. She loves helping people and loves her community. - Christine Kay/NNSL photo

In the fall, people from Sanikiluaq go out to collect the down. Once they have gathered enough, they can bring it to Sanniit Co-op and make some money off of it.

"They make some money and so do we," Meeko says.

The Sanniit Co-op collects a lot of down. It collects so much Meeko spends most of her time at work cleaning it.

"The first machine is for the big dirt. After I use that one, it goes through another machine for the smaller dirt," she said.

Once the dirt is taken care of, the eider down is sterilized.

The cost of the down ranges between $300 and $800 a kilogram depending on the market. Even when the price is at its peak, profits are still low. The members of Sanniit Co-operative said they do make money, but it isn't much. The cost of cleaning the down is so high that a lot of the profit gets eaten up.

Meeko first got the job without even applying. She says the members of Sanniit Co-op were looking for someone they could trust and who was available to work.

Sanikiluaq is a small community, and most everyone knows everyone else.

"They called me and I said yes. Ever since then I've worked," says Meeko.

She says she loves her job because it helps the community. She said she likes co-operating with the people in Sanikiluaq.

The Sanniit Co-op sells down to a company in Quebec and to anyone who else interested in it. It also sells down-filled coats or vests made by people in the community.

Besides eider down products, Meeko helps her customers with other sewing materials, such as needles, threads and even baskets.

"I like being busy. I love being busy. That's why when I go home at night, I just pass out," says Meeko.

The Sanniit Cooperative was incorporated in 1991.

It came to be through an economic development project focused on eider down.

There are about 50 members of the co-operative in Sanikiluaq.