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Inuit gather to celebrate spring Organizer hopes to bring Arctic transplants together
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 5, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
On Sunday, Suzie Napayok welcomed friends and family from Yellowknife's Inuit community to her home to celebrate spring.
Matilda Nakoolak, left, Sue Qitsualik, Roberto Manning, 9, Jeannie Manning and Samarra Qitsualik choose from a variety of Inuk foods at a spring celebration on Sunday, hosted by Yellowknife resident Suzie Napayok. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo |
It was the first time in three years that the community has gathered together to feast and party, she said.
"We don't get together like this anymore," said Napayok, adding there are no cultural programs for Inuit in the NWT capital.
"There used to be a Yellowknife Inuit Association but that faded out," she said.
Sue Qitsualik, who came to the gathering of about 25 people with her daughter Samarra, said it's hard to estimate how large the Yellowknife Inuit community is, but reckons it to be more than 100 people.
According to the 2011 Canadian census, 110 residents of Yellowknife identify Inuktitut as their mother tongue.
When Nunavut split from the NWT in 1999 many Inuit went there, said Napayok.
"They felt it was their native land," she said.
Those who came to celebrate at Napayok's home were thrilled at the spread of traditional Inuit food on display, such as seal meat, which is rare in Yellowknife, and caribou stew. There were also salads and a barbecue off to the side with hamburgers and hotdogs.
Most guests spoke a mixture of Inuktitut and English, including the children.
Jeannie Manning organized a raffle at the party for a traditional ulu knife, which Napayok ordered from Ottawa.
"I have so many uluit in my home that were made all over the North, but I had to get this one from Ottawa," she laughed.
Napayok wanted to have this party both to celebrate humanity, the end of a long winter and to remind the Inuit community that they're family, no matter what situation they're in or where they live.
She said many Inuit in Yellowknife are homeless, in shelters or on welfare and that she wants them to understand through gatherings such as this one, that they are not alone.
Napayok said she is hopeful that the celebration will inspire more Inuit get-togethers in the future.
"We're all Inuit, no matter what," she said. "We have to share our presence with each other and show that there are happy, healthy members of our community here."
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