Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 18/02) - As autumn turns to winter and the snow begins to fall, parents prepare to do battle with their sons and daughters.

The issue involves neither curfews nor appropriate forms of entertainment. Even here above the 60th parallel where winter dominates our lives nine months of the year, it's over the choice of suitable winter footwear.

"Every once in a while, they try to sneak out of the house, especially in the fall," says Kim Crockatt, a resident of Cambridge Bay since 1989. Crockatt is the mother of seven children who range in age between four and 22.

"We always have the battle of the cut-off point," says Crockatt. "Mine is the end of September. If they had their way, they'd wear them until the end of December."

Crockatt also struggles with the cost of supplying her brood with winter wear. Swapping sizes and recycling boots and kamiks through her children helps keep costs down. Kamiks ring in at about $150 a pair and if she watches the sales, Crockatt can pick up Sorels for about $30.

"The older kids like wearing kamiks, but the younger kids like Sorels. They have better traction when they're out playing," she says.

Crockatt says elders and people past their teenage years also prefer to pull on a pair of kamiks. Their beauty and style reflect the culture of the territory -- a weapon Crockatt uses in her battle to dress her troops.

"I remind my kids that if they are true Inuks, they'll know what kind of clothing to wear. That works better than saying, 'Because I said so.'"

Inuk or not, 12-year-old Muckpaloo Nuvaqiq prefers Nike sneakers to kamiks or Sorels -- at least for now. She says sneakers make walking easier in Iqaluit, even though she faces the difficulty of getting by her mother on her way out the door.

"I don't like to wear boots," says Nuvaqiq, admitting that most of her friends also don Nikes. "Boots aren't comfortable. These are better to walk in. But, I'll switch to kamiks when there gets to be more snow," she says.

Warm enough or too cool?

It's more than just footwear fights that face parents.

Tulita resident Benny Doctor says when it comes down to a decision between bundling up when it's cold or looking good, the local kids seem to favour the latter.

"When they're on the outdoor rink they're only wearing nylon jackets," says Doctor.

He'd only wish they'd dress warmer when lacing up their skates in sub-zero temperatures to enjoy the outdoor rink in the tiny Mackenzie Valley community.

"They want to look cool," says Doctor. "My son's like that."

Colville Lake's acting chief, Sharon Tutcho, on the other hand, says her kids -- ages 19, 15, and 12 -- know when it's time to break out the parkas and mitts.

"If it's cold they dress for it," says Tutcho. "I just let them be themselves. They're not little children. They can dress-up themselves."

In Hay River, many teens wear runners year-round, says Darrell Budgell, the vice-principal of Diamond Jenness Secondary School.

The best that can he hoped for is that they might wear hiking boots in the winter.

- with files from Mike W. Bryant and Paul Bickford