Iqaluit (July 24/06) - Hands and fingers were flying in a conference room in Iqaluit last week.

For the first time, deaf people from across the territory were brought together to meet each other and compare notes on challenges and achievements.

Husband and wife Jesse and Rhoda Idlout, of Taloyoak, communicate via sign language. "They go through some tough times," Jesse said of Nunavut residents with disabilities. He's been advocating for inclusion of disabled people's needs in the Education Act. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

There were at least 16 delegates from various communities at the conference, some deaf, others interpreters. The overall number of deaf people in Nunavut remains unknown, however. The instance of deafness in Canada is generally one in 1,000, according to Jamie MacDougall, president and CEO of the Canadian Deafness Research and Training Institute.

It's thought to be higher in Nunavut due to a greater prevalence of meningitis, which can lead to deafness.

It was meningitis that caused Taloyoak's Rhoda Idlout to lose her hearing at age two. She was enroled at the Edmonton School for the Deaf for seven years until she turned 18. Although she eventually found work as a Hudson's Bay Company clerk and as a sewer, teaching sign language in her home community is what she really aspires to do, her husband Jesse said.

Jesse, a board member with the Nunavut Disabilities Makingnasuatiit Society, has been pressing hard for revisions to the Education Act that would see more resources provided for the disabled. As it stands, there are few interpreters available for the deaf in Nunavut.

"We hope to see some changes that will help the disabled," he said. "They go through some tough times."

There's also a possibility that sign language could be recognized in the Inuit Language Protection Act. Community consultations on that draft legislation are set for the fall.

MacDougall said recognition of the deaf's needs in territorial law would be a "very progressive step."

Among the recommendations made at last week's three-day conference was to ensure that the younger generation of deaf citizens become literate in Inuktitut.

Other concerns pertained to safety, sign language training and public awareness. The recommendations will be forwarded to the GN.

MacDougall, a pioneer in documenting Inuit Sign Language, suggested that the Internet and web cameras are technology that the deaf should exploit. It would enable them to span the vast distances while trying to better grasp their ad-libbed sign language.

Before more audiology specialists and researchers flock to Nunavut from the south, he said he hopes members of the deaf Inuit community "spread their knowledge amongst each other."