INUVIK - Nine-year-old Olivia Lennie said she no longer needs her parents to remind her that learning Inuvialuktun words are important.

The Grade 4 student has taken it upon herself to memorize as many as she can from her grandparents, Edward and Jeannie Lennie, as well as the Inuvialuktun classes she takes at school.

Grade 4 student Calvin McDonald shows off the display for his project Making Dry Fish during Sir Alexander Mackenzie School's Heritage Fair on Thursday. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photos

"I know taakti is doctor and this other one is called munaqri, that's nurses," she said.

She chose to do her Heritage Fair project on the inukshuk, one of the most recognizable symbols of the Inuit.

"When the Inuit went hunting they always brought rocks with them so they can put inukshuks up," she said. "So that way they'd know where they're travelling because there wasn't any trees."

Grade 4, 5 and 6 students at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School jammed the school's gym on Thursday to display their projects at the annual fair. Challenged to come up with a topic of local or national historical significance, the students' projects ranged from Northern Games to Inuvialuit drum dancing to a biography on Terry Fox. Fifteen judges were recruited to decide on the top three projects for each grade.

Lennie cut slender blocks out of styrofoam, painted each grey and then assembled them together into an inukshuk. Her bristol board display had several photographs of inukshuks, complimented by a smattering of fun facts about it.

Justin Digby, one of the judges who spent the day sizing up the projects, said Lennie should be proud of her effort even though she didn't end up with a top three finish.

"Olivia threw herself out there and really believed in her project and showed a lot pride in her culture," he said. "That's great to see."

Calvin McDonald, also in Grade 4, titled his project Making Dry Fish. The Gwich'in fisherman filled his display with pictures of family members making dry fish as well as diagrams of some of the fish commonly caught by people in the Delta, including whitefish and lake trout.

He said he first learned the traditional practice from his grandmother Alice Andre, who has since died. Now he rolls down the Dempster in the summer to do so some fishing in Tsiigehtchic. He said there's a knack to the preparation.

"You have to cut the head off, scale it and cut the fin," he said.

Jason Dayman, SAMS vice-principal, said he was again impressed with this year's crop of projects, of which five will be selected to compete in the upcoming territorial Heritage Fair in Yellowknife. He said the fair most importantly allows students to express their passion about who they are and where they come from.

"There's a lot of projects about family, about culture and traditions of Inuvik, so that's why I like it," he said. "That's why you see so many great projects, because the kids are connecting with what they're doing."