Gjoa Haven (May 17/04) - Mary Porter, 60, smiled softly as she joined her classmates on the stairs of the hamlet hall on April 27.

Decked out in a long, black graduation gown and cap, Porter had just received a diploma in Inuit and Native Childcare Services, an accredited college program funded by the Kitikmeot Development Corporation.

It was a long time coming for the woman born at Chantrey Inlet who never went to school at all until she took the course which began in 2001.

"Mary is very happy about it," said Veronica Ullulaq. She translated for Mary, who only speaks Inuktitut.

Ullulaq is program director at the preschool where Mary has worked the last four years.

Course instructor Carmen Firlotte said Mary is an inspiration to students everywhere.

"She is a role model," Firlotte said. "She was an active participant in the course even though she doesn't speak English. She is a terrific role model for anyone who thinks they have obstacles."

Porter was born in a tent on the land. She remembers travelling a lot in those days. Her father hunted, and she always had fine caribou skin clothing to wear, sewn with care by her mother, Palla.

"She used to watch her mother when she did the sewing," said Ullulaq.

But when Mary was in her early teens, her father died suddenly, leaving Palla as the sole provider.

"She had to be a mother and a father," Ullulaq explained.

Palla, who died a few years ago, took on the jobs the father once did: hunting for the family, as well as continuing the things she always did, scraping and preparing the skins, and sewing all her children's clothes.

Mary watched and learned.

She talks about the only schooling she ever really knew: "following in the footprints of her mother," explained Ullulaq.

The family settled in Gjoa Haven when Mary was about 15. It was the first time Mary saw white people, or tried "white people food," like biscuits, flour, sugar, or milk. Until then, country food was the staple of life.

To this day, Ullulaq said that whenever people comment on Mary's youthful looks -- her lack of white hair, and her smooth, virtually wrinkle-free skin, Mary always points to her early country food diet as the reason.

Mary's first impression of white people was that they were all shiny and new.

"Like you know when you see something for so long, and then you see something totally different," said Ullulaq. "They looked so clean, their iglus looked clean, and they smelled good," Ullulaq explained as Mary told the story and laughed.

In her late teens, Mary was introduced to Ralph Porter. Ralph's mother told Palla she would like Mary to be her daughter-in-law. Palla said that sounded fine. Mary remembers she thought Ralph was good looking, which made the event pleasant. "And he liked her, too."

They had 13 children, including two who died in infancy.

It was because of her husband (Ralph Porter's father was white) that Mary eventually got used to "white people's food."

But it took her a long time.

"She would watch her husband eat the food at first, and it was like she was tasting it herself," said Ullulaq. "She didn't like it. But she got used to it."

When Mary enrolled in the Inuit and Native Child Care Services Program course, she took a big step. Even after a lifetime caring for her own children, she wanted to learn more.

Mary kept working full-time while taking the course. Leaving home to work and attend school wasn't easy for this grandmother of 27 years.

But since Mary finished the training, Ullulaq finds that Mary is much more confident.

"She is committed to the children," said Ullulaq. "She is a good worker. She comes into work on time. And she loves the pre-school."

Over the years, Mary has noticed a big change in the way parents raise their kids.

"Parents are not the boss anymore," said Ullulaq, continuing to interpret for Mary whose voice became very animated about this topic. "She listened to her mother, everything she said. Today the children are not listening."

When it comes to a good marriage, Mary thinks young people need to trust each other more.

"If they are going to stay together," Ullulaq said, "they have to agree with each other. Trust each other. We used to trust our parents. Whatever they'd say, we'd keep. What her parents told her she still follows."