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Sharing her traditional skills with others

Kathleen Lippa
Northern News Services

Cambridge Bay (Dec 01/03) - Mary Kilaodluk, 58, a long-time member of the Ladies of Nunavut in Cambridge Bay, was getting over a flu bug going around her community last week.

NNSL Photo

Mary Kilaodluk drum dancing at the opening of the Ladies of Nunavut sewing centre in Cambridge Bay recently. - photo courtesy of Sandra Eyegetok


But she was more than happy to revisit memories of her youth and talk about why it is so important for young girls to learn traditional skills, such as sewing.

At first Kilaodluk, who speaks Inuinnaqtun, answered questions slowly in English, but then enlisted the help of fellow Ladies of Nunavut member Sandra Eyegetok for the interview.

Kilaodluk is a proud member of the Ladies of Nunavut, a group that passes on traditional skills like preparing hides and meat, and drum dancing.

"She enjoys passing on the sewing skills. She is happy to share the traditional skills, especially with the young girls. When they do not know how to sew... they are poor or pitiful," Eyegetok said, translating for Kilaodluk.

Born amidst the expansive backdrop of Bathurst Inlet, Kilaodluk travelled with her family as a young girl. They did a lot of trapping, mostly foxes. For food, they hunted caribou and seal.

"During the summer to the fall they lived around Bathurst Inlet. That's where she learned a lot of her traditional skills, like how to butcher meat, how to tan the furs. She never forgot," Eyegetok explained.

"When she was a little girl, she watched her mother sew. Every time her mother was sewing she would teach her a little. Mary remembers making her first pair of mittens."

Kilaodluk went to school in Cambridge Bay up to Grade 3.

She married Tommy Kilaodluk in 1958, after meeting him at the Dew Line camp where her father worked. Mary and Tommy had 10 children, but two died.

Kilaodluk has continued to sew fine caribou skin clothing all her life.

"Survival depended on sewing. To have warm clothing was very important," Eyegetok said.

Change has been a constant in the North and Kilaodluk, at 58, has seen a lot.

She said people in the North do not travel around from place to place as much as her family did.

"People live a more sedentary lifestyle," Kilaodluk said.

"They did a lot of hunting and went to a lot of areas to explore and see where animals were," Eyegetok explained.

"During the fall, they would gather furs and dry meat for winter. She doesn't see that now. She remembers her parents had piles of caribou skins for winter clothing."

All of Kilaodluk's work has made her stand out in Cambridge Bay as one of their finest clothing makers.

"She makes her own mitts, kamiks, parka, everything," said Eyegetok.

"She is one of the best seamstresses in town."