Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, April 9, 2007

INUVIK - Inuvik's Peter Lennie is a decorated athlete, who seems to have a knack for unusual sports.

What kind of unusual sports?

Well, consider the "flour pack" race one of the events held during Aklavik's carnival on March 31.

The goal of the flour pack is to run on ice, while carrying a heavy bag of kitchen flour.

It's a tricky situation, Lennie said, and in some cases the flour is replaced with a bag of muktuk.

"This is my favourite time of year, I play just about everything," Lennie said, relaxing after the race.

Lennie said he learned many traditional games from his grandfather Edward, whom he calls a "really cultural guy."

Traditional knowledge seems to have paid off for the 18-year-old, who, like many Beaufort kids, calls himself "Gwich'uvialuit." (Half Gwich'in and half Inuvialuit.) Lennie won two gold and four silver at the Canada Games in Whitehorse for the Dene Games competition. He competed in the snow snake, finger pull, stick pull, pole push and handgames competition.

And, during Aklavik's carnival held March 31 to April 1, Lennie tried a variety of games, such as the plank walk, the nail drive, the sled pull, the 'dizzy stick' and many others.

"They are all good games," he said.

Indeed, whether it's an egg toss, a tug-of-war or a snowmobile race, Lennie said games bring the community together. "It's nice to see so many people participating," he said, as another runner picked up the flour bag.