QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE - A traditional skills camp near Resolute last month helped youth reconnect with the land outside their community, according to recreation co-ordinator and program organizer Joadamee Amagoalik.

Angela Idlout and her son Jerome Idlout cozy up in a tent while camping outside of Resolute in August. - photo courtesy of Joadamee Amagoalik

"We went there to re-teach the youth about certain areas that used to be hunted before, but they are no longer hunted," Amagoalik said. "We wanted to reintroduce some areas that youth didn't know about, where they are able to go hunting."

Amagoalik said the camp was mainly geared toward youth whose parents might not be able to take them out on the land regularly, while one camper was chosen because of her excellent marks in school last year.

"We were trying to find some youth in the community who had one single parent and they didn't always go out, but we picked one student because of her exceptional school year," he said.

The camp has been running for about five years, Amagoalik said.

"Five years ago we started, we had meetings with the elders to figure out what the youth might need to learn around our area," he said. "From there we consulted with the school and they made the students available for whatever time we needed them for."

"We always have limited space and what we do is we know we'll take three youth this year, some more next year," he said.

The camp began Aug. 13 and ran for about 10 days. It took place at Crooked Lake, Amagoalik said. Three elders and three youth spent their days fishing, camping and helping to repair the Hunters and Trappers Cabin.

The main goal was to teach campers proper camping techniques and the best places to catch fish and caribou, Amagoalik said.

"We showed them where the hunting areas are and the lake where the fish are, just basically to teach them how to camp out there, how to be safe," Amagoalik said. "When we talked to them after the trip, everybody learned quite a bit."

For 13-year-old Monica Simeonie, it was her very first hunting trip outside her community.

"It was my first time going hunting from Resolute," she said.

Simeonie said she learned how to properly fillet fish for the first time, as well as how to cook, clean and maintain a proper campsite.

Amagoalik said Inuit have used the area around Crooked Lake for fishing and hunting for over 30 years, but the distance and expense to get to the lake has prevented many community members from travelling to the spot in recent years.

"They used to go there in the late 60s and early 70s by dogteam and they used to go fishing for whitefish, supposedly this lake has lake trout, whitefish and Arctic char all in one lake," he said. "There used to be quite a few caribou around that area."

The camp used to take place in the spring and sometimes involved activities such as polar bear hunting, Amagoalik said.

"In the beginning, the HTA kindly donated two polar bear tags for our project and in March we were going out twice a week, but the last couple years its been in the summertime," he said.

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association, CLEY, Kenn Borek Air, the Polar Continental Shelf Project and the hamlet of Resolute provided funding for the camp, Amagoalik said.

Amagoalik also said many members of the community came together to make the program a success.

"Right now I want to thank everybody that helped out program this year," he said. "Quite a few people pitched in and it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for them."