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Pond Inlet teacher makes culture fun
'I don't want him to retire,' student says of Mosesie KoonarkCasey Lessard Northern News Services Published Friday, February 3, 2012
"I don't want him to retire," said Nasivvik Grade 9 student Mishal Pewatoalook, "because I want him to teach other young kids what he taught us before. He's a good teacher and he teaches us good stuff." Students in Koonark's class learn how to make qamutiq, cultural tools, hunting tools, and how to carve and play accordion. He learned these things himself by observing his parents at home and on the land, and transfers his skills to Pond Inlet students. "I teach tradition and culture because I realized there are some who never observed or looked at what their parents made," he said through an interpreter. "Some students are eager to learn because some go out with their parents hunting, so some really participate well and are really eager to go to the shop." That eagerness is encouraging, and represents a revival of interest in traditional Inuit ways. "In the past, Inuit culture and tradition were dying a bit," Koonark said, "but now teenagers seem to be eager to learn Inuit culture and traditional ways. That helps students learn more traditional and cultural things." Pewatoalook agrees. "We want to keep our tradition going and not lose it," he said. "It's about learning Inuit ways and nowadays we have Internet, so I think we're doing less of these things." Born at an outpost camp near Pond Inlet, Koonark says he enjoys teaching traditional ways "because that's the only thing I know." It's possible he will end his time at Nasivvik before Pewatoalook finishes school, but he hopes it won't mean an end to cultural education in Pond Inlet. "Sixty-five is around the corner, so I will try to retire," Koonark said. "If I retire, I hope someone will continue to teach Inuit and cultural traditions."
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