Sachs Harbour (Dec 08/03) - For Priscilla Haogak, teaching is as much about passing on knowledge to others as it is about learning herself.

Priscilla Haogak loves passing on her language and culture at the Inualthuyak school. She often wears mukluks made by her grandmother Edith Haogak. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

Haogak is a 24-year-old aboriginal language teacher at Sachs Harbour's Inualthuyak school.

She became a language teacher because she wanted to learn more about her language and culture.

"Our language is almost lost and that's the main reason why I want to teach. I really had a yearning to learn my language and this is a great opportunity to learn and teach it," said Haogak.

Haogak is not completely fluent in Inuvialuktun but knows enough to teach her 30 kindergarten to Grade 9 students.

"The hardest thing is being able to retain what they've learned," she said, adding the students don't hear a lot of their own language outside of the school.

"My kids catch on really quickly though. I encourage them as much as possible to speak to the elders because they will be so happy to hear them."

She said she learns something new about herself, the language and the culture everyday.

Not new to the community

This isn't Haogak's first time to Sachs Harbour or at the school.

She used to be a student there until her family moved to Yellowknife when she was in Grade 9.

After that she went to Aurora College to take the teacher education program and one year of nursing at the Yellowknife campus before returning to Sachs Harbour as a teaching assistant last year.

Haogak said her friends often wonder why she returned to the isolated community of less than 200 residents.

"I feel like I have to be with my people and give back to them what they gave to me," she said.

"Coming back is awesome. I really enjoy my time in Sachs Harbour."

Eventually Haogak would like to return to university to get a degree so she can become a full-fledged teacher. In the meantime Haogak will continue to teach in Sachs Harbour and is expecting her first-born this April.