INUVIK - For more than a week Kyle Kuptana wowed spectators in downtown Vancouver during the Winter Olympics where he performed one Inuit traditional game demonstration after another.

Kuptana, who just arrived back to Inuvik from Vancouver, said his proudest moment came on his first day of performing after completing the swing kick and one-foot high-kick demonstrations.

Kyle Kuptana, shown participating in last summer's Circumpolar Northern Games in Inuvik, arrived back home on Tuesday from a 13-day visit to Vancouver where he performed various traditional games for visitors to the Olympics. - NNSL file photo

Kuptana said an elderly couple approached him in disbelief and lavished the 23-year-old Inuvialuit with praise.

"They came up and asked 'how did you do that?' and I told them I practised a lot and they said 'you know you could put some Olympic athletes here to shame.'

"That felt good," he said.

Kuptana was among six Northern games athletes selected from the Delta to represent NWT at the Olympics. They were also joined by teams representing Nunavut and Yukon where they performed at the Northern House venue, which held a variety of Northern cultural performances. Several other cultural ambassadors from Inuvik also performed at different venues throughout the games, including the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers.

Kuptana said the venue was constantly flooded with people, most of whom he said showed a genuine interest in the demonstrations that covered every traditional game possible.

"It's my proudest moment. I really feel lucky to have been able to show my games to so many people who seemed just so amazed by it."

Kuptana, who spent 13 days in Vancouver, 10 of which he spent performing, was lucky enough to have his dad, Donald Kuptana, the team's coach, with him. Although Inuvik Drum wasn't able to reach Donald by press time, Kyle said his father also savoured every moment of the experience.

Like so many, the Inuit games athlete said he couldn't help but feed off the positive energy produced by the games.

"You walk down the road and people would be chanting 'Go Canada Go.' It was so intense. It was a amazing. I was really surprised to see the spirit and how the Olympics brought everyone together. It made me feel proud to be a Canadian."

One of his more memorable moments came on Sunday, just after our men's hockey team beat the U.S. for the gold medal. He happened to be watching the game at his hotel room, just a few blocks away, when all hell broke loose.

"We went out and joined the crowd," he said. "It was just crazy on Robson Street. You couldn't walk down it at all. You couldn't get from one side to another."

The experience already has Kyle looking forward to this summer's Circumpolar Northern Games where he'll once again put his talents on display.

"I'm ready to take it up a notch," he said.