INUVIK - Inuvik musher Herbert Blake can hardly wait to hear from a trio of legends of the sport who will be visiting the town May 22.

Huslia, Alaska, elder George Attla, Joee Redington, and Yellowknife resident Grant Beck will be at the Curling Club Saturday afternoon to talk about the sport and their careers.

Musher Herbert Blake gives Natun a bit more attention than the others at his 22-dog kennel on Tuesday afternoon. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Attla is a 10-time winner of Anchorage's Fur Rendezvous, and an eight-time winner of Fairbanks' North American Open Championship. Redington, also of Alaska, is a champion musher of more than 60 years. Yellowknifer Grant Beck is a four-time winner of the Canadian Championship Dog Derby.

"I'm pretty eager to meet them," said Blake, a lifelong musher. "A lot of us want to get good at it and it's difficult when you don't have the kind of mentors and the knowledge to succeed in the way you want to utilize your dogs."

The free event, which is being put on by the NWT Dog Sledding Association, will begin at about 1 p.m. and, depending on the interest, it could run until 6 p.m. said association spokeswoman Carol Beck.

She said the purpose of the event is to raise interest in mushing and give people an inside look into a sport rich with history.

"It's grown a bit but we'd like to see it grow more," said Beck. "Here's a an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about it. It's also a professional development session."

The trio will give individual presentations documenting their own careers. Other topics including the evolution of dog sledding will be discussed.

The 1979 film Spirit of the Wind, which was based on Attla's life, will be shown at the event. It dramatizes his successes and challenges, including his battle with tuberculosis which resulted in a fused right knee.

The film, Beck said, will fascinate whether you're a mushing fan or not.

"One of the main messages Attla states in the film is that winning is in the mind, and he doesn't let his disability get to him," she said. "It's got some great messages in it about life in general."

As for Blake, he's hoping many residents will turn out to support such a rare event.

"There are some of us trying to maintain that relationship we have with dog power," he said. "It's a very important tradition, mushing, and worth holding on to."