Yose Cormier
Northern News Services

Repulse Bay (Sep 01/03) - Ten-year-old Rita Uttak of Repulse Bay was showing off her new skills last week to as many people as would watch.

"I learned how to do this yesterday," she said, as she created a fox.

She then repeated the process, without looking. Then it was a rabbit.

Uttak was playing with a piece of string, creating images by weaving her fingers in and out.

She then takes the string, wraps it around your finger, pulls hard and while it seems it will pull your finger off, it turns out it wasn't really around your finger at all.

Her next trick is making the string look like an elastic, stretching it between her fingers.

Give any child a piece of string and they'll figure a way to turn it into a game.

Give that same piece of string to an Inuit, and they're likely to turn it into art.

The string game used to be played with sinew as a way to pass the time during the long cold winter hours.

It's one of patience, concentration and dexterity.

While seen in the south, it's a game Inuit have taken to another level.

Animals, moving flames, drum dancers: they're all subjects Inuit can create using a small piece of string.

Uttak is just starting out, learning forms and patterns from her elders.

She said her dad is very good at it.

"He can make a drum dancer," said Uttak.

The shapes and forms are intricate, detailed and realistic.