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CORAL HARBOUR - Elders travelled from a number of Kivalliq communities to Coral Harbour this month to share their traditional skills.

Rhoda Karetak of Arviat, Silas Aittauq of Baker Lake and Jonathan Ignerdjuk of Repulse

Rhoda Karetak of Arviat is one of three elders to share their traditional knowledge during an event in Coral Harbour earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Noel Kaludjak

Bay joined Coral Harbour's Veronica Ell for three days of demonstrations.

"The idea was to teach to the community of all ages to share the traditional knowledge they have and traditional skills like hunting and butchering," said Elizabeth Ningeogan, who co-ordinated the get-together.

The event ran from Sept. 1 to 3.

Each day the women spoke at length about the preparation of skins for clothing and gave a number of demonstrations "on cutting and sewing in the proper way," Ningeogan said.

Ignerdjuk brought along some materials from a bearded seal in his region to illustrate the art of making traditional rope in the style used for dog teams.

Aittauq, for his part, brought a group just outside of the hamlet to demonstrate the butchering of a caribou.

"We were just oohing and aahing," Ningeogan remembered with a laugh. "As he was butchering the meat around the bone, we usually struggle where we try to cut up around the shoulder joint. He just used the knife, the same knife we use at home, but it was sharp to him and came off easy.

"In Coral Harbour, we didn't really grow up with caribou, and we had to learn in the middles of our ages. A lot of stuff was new to us," she added.

The event, which was funded in part by the federal Senior Horizons program, also corresponded with a break from school.

"We were lucky to get some of the younger kids in to watch the demonstrations," Ningeogan said.

Most of the activities were videotaped and copies of the footage should be available to the participating communities in the near future.

The co-ordinator said she hopes other hamlets in the region will hold events of this type in the future.

"It was important to bring elders from a variety of communities, especially in areas like Baker Lake because they don't live near the shore. They have their own skills and knowledge and techniques, and they in turn learned something from us as well," Ningeogan said. "It turned out really, really well - more than I was expecting it to."