Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

RANKIN INLET - Eleven elders from across the region were in Rankin Inlet last month to record traditional stories.

The project, organized through the Kivalliq Inuit Association, is to help protect Inuktitut and to document traditional stories.

"They're like, this-is-why-you-should-listen-to-your-parents kind of stories," said Lisa Olooyuk, youth co-ordinator for KIA.

The elders each chose traditional fables, passed down through generations and told to children to teach them lessons.

The organization received federal funding to pay for the project. Olooyuk said this is just the first phase in getting the stories recorded on CDs.

For the next phase, the fables will get transcribed and Olooyuk will get an artist to illustrate them. The booklets and CDs will then be distributed to schools around Kivalliq.