Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, May 14, 2007

PAULATUK - After two decades of keeping traditional language alive in Paulatuk Liz Kuptana is preparing to retire.

She has been the Aboriginal Language teacher at Paulatuk's Angik school for 20 years and has had to adapt to deliver traditional teachings under the pressure of changing culture and emerging technology.

While the dialects of Inuvialuktun have not changed much in that time, she said the classrooms certainly have.

"It's changing. The things that we use today are all computers," she said.

Kuptana said Inuvialuktun was spoken in her childhood home, which means she learned it at an early age.

"My parents were fluent," she said.

However, since most students have little or no exposure to the language today, she added classes must start almost from scratch.

Some techniques used are flashcards, or posters with words and images, which teach basic pronunciation.

"Once you learn your vowels, you're ready to write and speak your language," she said.

Of course, she added the challenge is that traditional languages are in decline, so knowledgeable speakers are increasingly rare.

"There are less people. We're losing most of our elders. Some older people can understand, but they cannot speak," she said.

But while Kuptana is retiring, she said the language courses will continue at Angik school.

"There are some people signing up for it, and I hope they do the best that they can," she said.

She added that learning a traditional language is never impossible.

"There's always a chance if you really try."

Fellow teacher Jessica Schmidt said the school owed Kuptana many thanks, after her years of service.

"Liz has offered instruction in Inuvialuktun and taught the students at Angik school traditional crafts, songs, games and dances. She has been an amazing asset to the school and will be missed," she said.