Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Cape Dorset (Aug 08/05) - With threads like this, Naudla Oshoweetok was a shoe-in for the title of most traditional dress at Canada Day celebrations in Cape Dorset.

Naudla Oshoweetok won an award for having the most traditional dress in Cape Dorset on Canada Day. His wife made his outfit, except the hat which he bought at the store.

His kamiks are seal-skin, and are waterproof without the aid of modern technology.

"No superglue, nothing like that," Oshoweetok says.

The pants and parka are made of caribou.

"The best time to get the caribou skin for the clothing is August, because the fur is not too thick," he says.

If his wife had made the clothing from caribou harvested in the winter it would be far too hairy.

"I would look like a monster."

There are not many caribou around Cape Dorset in the winter anyway. The herd, once prolific in the area, is mostly near Pangnirtung now, Oshoweetok said.

"Matter of fact I used to chase caribou off the runway before the planes," he said.

Changing food cycles mean less caribou, but there is still plenty to hunt in the area, like seal, fish and walrus.

"After you've been eating the walrus meat you will forget about a T-bone steak," he says.

Settled down

Oshoweetok does not hunt much any more, he is usually too busy with his work as an accounts payable officer for the municipality. But the 57-year-old, who was born in an outpost camp east of Cape Dorset, has plenty of life experience under his belt.

In the late 1960s he spent three years at business college in Ottawa. Many people from Nunavut travel to Ottawa these days, but it was still uncommon then.

"In those days when, I was in Ottawa, there used to be only 13 of us -- 13 Inuit in Ottawa."

He knows this because the 13 used to get together on a regular basis.

Oshoweetok has also spent a couple of summers at a college in Saskatchewan and was one of the first Inuit paralegal workers in Iqaluit.

In 1976 he was voted president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, then known as the Baffin Region Inuit Association.

Even after settling back in Cape Dorset 23 years ago, he has remained busy.

On top of working and raising a family, Oshoweetok has more than 20 years experience with the fire department and the Canadian Rangers, and six years as a Justice of the Peace.

"The reason why I had to resign from that position, it's very hard to be the JP when you know everybody in the community."

He's stopped all that now, but is still active in the community.

Oshoweetok gives weekly Inuktitut services at the Church and plays guitar during the hymns.