Iqaluit (Aug 18/03) - You have to be careful when walking into Moses Atagoyuk's home not to bump your head on the windchime hanging in the doorway.

The house sits not too far from the water in Apex, and Atagoyuk calls it home.

It has five rooms, a beautiful living room and a cozy kitchen. Atagoyuk likes this house. He, his wife Ita and a few remaining children are happy in it.

The kitchen is small and cozy and a small table with room for three is set against the wall.

It's clear Atagoyuk is still full of life and keeping busy.

But he's retired now and has all the time in the world. Atagoyuk worked with CBC North for 23 years.

He was the host of Tausunni, an Inuktituk afternoon program where he talked about Inuit life, culture and traditions.

He also hosted Sinnaksautit, a show featuring Inuit "bedtime stories".

Lots of plans

He's also worked for the NWT government before Nunavut was born, and he was a Canadian Ranger for nine years.

But don't think this 63 year-old is going to sit at home all day and do nothing. He has lots of plans.

He's returning to the land as often as he can, and passing on what his father taught him to his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren.

Atagoyuk and Ita have seven children of their own and six adopted ones. They have 28 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He's teaching them not just hunting and tracking skills, but their history and language.

He admits it's hard now to just speak Inuktituk.

"When I talk to my wife, it's always in Inuktituk, but with my kids, sometimes it's in English," he said with a sad smile.

He hopes he can do his part in preserving his language for future generations, but he sees many more English speaking people coming every year and he finds that hard.

"It's changed so much since I first started with CBC. Almost everyone now is from the South," he said.

Language and culture

And that's one reason he would like to pursue a career involved with preserving the Inuit culture and language, maybe working with the government on those matters dear to his heart.

Atagoyuk grew up on a small island off Qiqiktarjuak called Padloping.

It served at one time as an American radio base.

"That's how I learned to speak English. I talked to Americans," he said, adding that he has never attended school.

"The land was our school. We grew up that way," he said.

He remembers his first kill like it was yesterday.

"I was eight years old. My father had taught me how to find seal holes. We found one, and as I shot the seal, my dad was ready with the harpoon," he recalled fondly.

His first kill

He admits that seal hunting is his favourite, but also likes caribou hunting in the winter and casting nets for char.

Atagoyuk also remembers leaving his home when he was 16.

"My father said it was time to go out on my own, to go get a wife," he said.

So he left and found a wife and a life for both of them. Ita was only 15 at the time.

"I had never seen her before. That was the way of the Inuit back then," he said.

The couple moved to Broughton Island and settled there for a while, until his father-in-law decided to move the family to Iqaluit in 1971.

He's been here since.

"I like it here. Hunting and fishing is not far away."

But he does admit he was homesick for Broughton Island for a while.

Not anymore.

The family even has a few new additions: puppies.

The new mom, Tiny, is just a furry little dog, and the pups are so cute Atagoyuk already has some people wanting them.

Tiny is still protective of her pups -- they're still only a couple of weeks old -- but she's all show.

Atagoyuk enjoys his life. He pets a pup his daughter brought over, and then pets Tiny. He returns them to a back room and he sits back, a wider smile on his face. Life is pretty good.