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IQALUIT - While she may be only four feet, seven inches tall, Martha Inookee's passion for hunting is immense.

"I love hunting," she said, her face lighting up. "I can do almost anything but I'm not strong."

Martha Inookee has a passion for hunting that came from watching her father hunt and fish when she was a child. - Carolyn Sloan/NNSL photo

To the contrary, Inookee has been described as a woman of great strength, humour and spirit. Her determination to keep hunting is testament to her character.

"When (my father) passed away, I thought I would go hunting again," she said. "Two years ago, my mom passed away and I thought more about not going to hunt.

But no, she said, "I can't give up. I'll keep going out until I'm very old."

Though her parents were from Cape Dorset, Inookee was born in Hamilton, Ont., and was one of four siblings to be adopted. It was her birth father, however, who instilled in her a love of hunting and fishing.

As a young child, Inookee would travel with her father on trips on the land and watch him at work.

"Everywhere he'd go, I'd follow him," she said. "I learned a lot of things like shooting, ice fishing. He taught me how to ride Ski-doos, how to ride boats.

"He didn't say, 'I'm going to teach you.' He only said, 'You're going to watch what I do.'"

Inookee met her husband Ipeelie when she was 14 years old. Her father approved of the match and was delighted with his skills as a hunter. It's a passion the couple have come to share.

"I love it because I see caribou and I see fox, wolf, rabbits," Inookee said. "Especially I love spring because of the ice fishing. Anything we can see, we try to catch it.

"We go out hunting...to his father's camp about 100, 80 miles, roughly there. We used to go hunt a lot and sometimes in the springtime, we'll go across to Kimmirut, go visit cousins and hunt there."

Apt at seal skinning and sewing, Inookee still dreams of skinning a polar bear.

"If someone asked me to do polar bear skinning, I would," she said. "That's the hardest. Sometimes the biggest (skin) is about 10 to 11 feet. It would take me two days."