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IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Mary Avalak learned how to sew when she was 10 years old, living on the land in her family's iglu in Iqaluktuuq.

It was her grandmother who taught her how to make her first garments, including a pair of caribou mittens, caribou duffel coats, kamiik and eventually parkas.

It was a time when her grandmother would share stories and oral history as well as pass along valuable knowledge to her granddaughter.

Avalak loved every minute of this time together.

"It was the best thing to do," she said.

Now a respected elder in the Cambridge Bay community, Avalak is passing along the traditional sewing methods to the next generation.

Over the next week or so, she will join three other elders in teaching a course to about 60 youth as one of the special projects being organized this year by the Kitikmeot Heritage Society. Together, the class will learn how to make a parka, as well as other items such as mitts and kamiik, from sealskin.

Avalak, who taught her own brother how to sew, is looking forward to the opportunity to work with the kids.

"I'm enjoying what I'm doing," she said, adding she loves to teach. "Ooo, yeah. Very much. I have no other job right now, so I don't mind. Keeps me going. That's how I grew up, you know, sewing and teaching my brother what to do."

One of the other elders providing instruction is Lena Kamoayok, who learned how to sew from her mother when they were living in Bathurst Inlet. The first garment she learned to make was a caribou duffel coat and she remembers sewing all through the fall and winter with her mom and her sisters.

"All of my memories of learning from my parents and grandparents are like pictures in my mind," said Kamoayok through a translator, recalling that she loved hearing her mother's stories and she loved sewing.

The heritage society's program manager, Renee Krucas, is equally eager for the class to begin. With many of the instructors speaking Inuinnaqtun, the program is also an ideal opportunity for the youth to learn some of the language and hear some wonderful stories from their elders.

"It's a great program because they do learn how to sew, but also the language and then all the great stories that come out of it," said Krucas. "Just in sitting with (the elders) one day, they were telling me about things to do when you're pregnant. Mary Kilaodluk said that when you're pregnant, you have to walk outside every morning and smile at the sun!

"There's all these really beautiful things and it's just so cool because you can't read these things in a book."