Iqaluit (May 12/03) - Eelee Higgins went to work on May 2 like it was any other day. She parked her car in the Joamie school parking lot and proceeded to her classroom.

Higgins teaches kindergarten and Grade 1 and is the school's vice-principal. At a special assembly that day, she was called to centre stage to receive the Inuktitut Language Award.

News/North: Can you describe your part in promoting Inuktitut? Eelee Higgins: Well, it's not just me. Everybody is doing it here at Joamie school. We're trying to make it so that the kids will not forget the language. Inuit get together and we talk about what we're going to be doing. We usually try to have a word of the day that is announced in an assembly every morning. We tell the kids and the teachers what the word is. Each teacher assigns a theme.

For me, I did occupational words but it could be numbers or things like that. We also have what we call Inuktitut Day at the end of each month and we do something special. It could be a skit, an Inuktitut song, or a fashion show. We try to invite someone from outside the school like the RCMP or the city to participate. It's really good. Everyone participates.

N/N: So does the school try to use the word of the day throughout the day?

EH: Yes. The teachers will show a picture and then the next day we remind them what our word was yesterday. Sometimes when I pass students in the hallway or something, I'll ask them 'what's our word of the day?'

N/N: Do all grades learn Inuktitut at Joamie school?

EH: Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 5 learn Inuktitut. The rest is in English class.

N/N: What did winning the Inuktitut Language Award mean to you?

EH: I know I'm not the only one that should be awarded something like that. Since I received it, I want to do more. That's how I feel. I want to do more.

N/N: The morning of the award, you had no idea that it would be presented?

EH: No. I kind of heard from one of the teachers that I should be awarded with that. I thought that would be great. I didn't think of it. I didn't think that it was going to be this big thing. I was so excited.

N/N: Why do you think it's important to stress the language?

EH: It is very important. We don't want our kids to forget it. It's our culture. It's our tradition.

N/N: Are you originally from Iqaluit?

EH: No, I'm from Pangnirtung.

N/N: Did you grow up in a traditional family?

EH: I grew up in a camp. We moved to Pang when I was five or six years old.

N/N: Do you feel lucky that you got to experience that part of life?

EH: Yes. I do. I've been talking to my children. I have two kids and I tell them about where I was when I was growing up and what I did. For me, Inuktitut language has always been strong and that's what I don't want them to forget. Both of my kids are bilingual - for my daughter, Inuktitut was her first language. I'm married to a Qallunaaq but where she was growing up there was a lot of really strong Inuktitut. My parents were unilingual. My daughter was really emerged in Inuktitut when she was growing up in Pang.

N/N: When did your family move to Iqaluit?

EH: In 1986.

N/N: Did you learn English then when you started school?

EH: Yes. I learned it in school but a lot of it, I learned from my husband.

N/N: What do you remember about your time in school?

EH: This is the thing I remember. My name was Ungaaq when we were in a camp and even after we moved to Pangnirtung. I'm named after Ungaaq, an elder in our camp. Now, as a teacher I always ask what the children want to be called. I ask if they have an Inuktitut name. I remember when I went to school, the teacher probably thought I had a hearing problem or I wasn't listening. They were calling me Eelee and I wasn't used to it. My name to me was Ungaaq - that's who I was named after.

N/N: Did you leave that name behind or do people still call you that?

EH: There are a few that call me by that name, especially the ones that were related to Ungaaq. I know I have a good friend and that Ungaaq was their grandmother. If you've been called that name since you were born and you get used to it, it's important to keep it.

N/N: When did you start teaching?

EH: I started in 1972. I used to work at the Bay, before it was the Hudson's Bay Company. The principal came to me and my girlfriend asking if we wanted to work at the school. We weren't sure what we were going to be doing in school. He gave us the weekend to think about it. So we thought, maybe we could try. I think when we first went there, we were some of the first Inuit to work in the school.

N/N: So what did you do when you started at the school?

EH: I remember when I first started. I started off helping the teacher. I did translating. I worked at that for a year and the next year they gave me a position as an Inuktitut kindergarten teacher.

N/N: What do you think are the improvements in the way school is approached in Nunavut now?

EH: We have a curriculum now. When I was in school, we were learning about trees and cows and stuff. I had no idea what they were. Now, it's better for the kids. They're learning about what they see and things like that.

N/N: What do you think is the best way for everyone to make sure the language continues?

EH: To speak it everywhere. Here and at home. I think it's very important that it should start at home. We, as educators, will carry the education on when the kids get to school and make it strong. I think it's very important.