Arviat (May 04/05) - A little piece of the Kivalliq is on display in a Fort Smith, NWT, museum.

Three former Arviat residents pooled their resources to create the display at the Northern Life Museum.

The museum's curator of collections, Kevin Brunt, says the gallery is nearing the end of two years of planning and construction.

Brunt says a corner of the main display area had remained empty due to costs associated with its future plans.

"Linda Sheesley appr-oached me a few months back about some Arviat dolls and artwork she had that we might want to use for a temporary display," says Brunt.

"I was very busy at the time and forgot about it. Luckily, Linda came back and mentioned her collection again.

"This time we moved on the opportunity right away and married her private collection to our empty space in the main gallery."

The display was enhanced by the addition of photos belonging to George Lessard and Annelies Cusack.

Brunt says the museum's connection to Eastern Arctic regions comes from Fort Smith once being the administrative centre for the Catholic Church.

That made for a lot of traffic as missionaries came and went from their work sites.

"A number of the items people collected ended up being donated to the church, and that collection became the museum's collection.

"So, even though we try to centre on South Slave as much as possible, we do have that connection to Nunavut."

The Arviat collection has been on display for about two months and has gathered its share of attention during that time.

Different display

Brunt says the collection is different from other displays in the museum.

"There's a stark contrast between artwork done in this area and that done in Arviat, so it automatically captures everyone's attention.

"Visitors to the museum have to walk around it, so that also draws extra attention to the collection."

Brunt says the exhibit should be quite popular during the summer months.

"These former Arviat residents have given us something genuinely interesting from a part of the country that's quite similar to our region in some respects, yet quite different in others.

"We're very lucky to have it."