John Curran
Northern News Services
Monday, April 02, 2007

CAMBRIDGE BAY - Born not far from Bathurst Inlet, Jimmy Haniliak moved to Cambridge Bay exactly a half-century ago this year at the tender age of three.

His family had to relocate after the Hudson's Bay Company trading post on the mainland closed, leaving his father no place to sell his furs.

"There wasn't much here when we came," he said. "There was the trading post, and it had a warehouse, and a handful of small homes and that was about it."

While his life since then has often focused around construction and small engine repair, he is still very connected to the land and Inuit culture.

"I've got a hunting camp across on the mainland," he said. "There's lots of game there - caribou and muskox right now."

His camp sits on the Kent Peninsula at Cape Alexander. It's about two hours from Cambridge Bay by snowmobile and he makes frequent trips across the ice come winter.

Haniliak is also a licensed hunting guide who takes visiting sport hunters out on the land in search of trophies.

"I enjoy taking them out," he said.

A skilled hunter, Haniliak knows not all Inuit are as fortunate to be able to go hunting as he does.

"I share what I catch," he said. "My parents taught me how important it is to share what we have."

On one Sunday recently he managed to get three caribou.

"It was all gone by Tuesday," he said. "I gave it all away."

While elders and single mothers are always high on his list when he's got fresh meat to hand out, they aren't the only ones he visits.

"Even sometimes people who are working, because they can't get out hunting due to their jobs," he said. "Everybody likes fresh caribou."