RANKIN INLET
A series of special events were held to celebrate Inuit Culture Week in Rankin Inlet from Feb. 25 to March 1.
The events were sponsored by Nunavut Arctic College's Kivalliq campus in Rankin, and included a fashion show, traditional games, throatsinging, bannock making and an interactive scavenger hunt, among others.
The event was planned and co-ordinated by Gloria Uluqsi, Dorothy Tootoo and Apolina Manilak.
Tootoo said it was an opportunity for students and staff at the college to show their pride and share their culture and language.
She said three special classes were also held during the week for people who don't speak Inuktitut.
"We also sewed some sealskin pins and that gave everyone the chance to sew and chit chat, while getting back to the basics of being able to sew while having some family time together," said Tootoo.
"The official Nunavut Culture Week was the week prior to ours, but it just didn't fit our schedule because everyone was into some really heavy accounting courses at the time.
"It's tough for them to go from an accounting course to something low key and still have fun, because most people have to put in extra hours of study time when they're in the accounting modules.
"So, we just thought there would be too much tension while they were in those heavy courses for everyone to truly enjoy our culture week."
Tootoo said the college students enjoyed the week and helped spearhead a number of the events.
She said the students in the Nunavut Teacher's Education Program were instrumental in assisting and organizing many of the activities.
"Literacy is also a big part of this.
"The Literacy Council (Ilitaqsiniq) had a program that taught the students literacy while they were learning to sew an amauti, so that whole group came to take part in the fashion show.
"The show was all about the different amautiit each one made."
Tootoo said it's important for a community's educational institutions to really promote events such as culture week.
She said their focus on the week sets a good example for the rest of the community to follow, and encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the events.
"We're supposed to be leaders and it's all about having an inclusive, barrier-free learning environment.
"And, sometimes, for newcomers coming into our college, language and culture, it's an opportunity to see what we're all about.
"It's also a wonderful chance to just have some great fun, try some country food and, maybe, talk about our history a bit and where we want to go.
"Education is part and parcel of where we're headed and, while we need an educated workforce, we also need to be culturally relevant and proud of who we are as a people."
