NAUJAAT/REPULSE BAY
Eight students have been busy cutting, stretching, softening and sewing seal skin as part of an intensive course offered in Repulse Bay.

Chris Tungilik works on his first pair of kamiik in the fur production course that wraps up at Nunavut Arctic College in Repulse Bay this week. - photo courtesy of Elsa Pinkohs

Run through Nunavut Arctic College, the course teaches students every step from the preparation of the seal to sewing the pattern.

Students have learned the proper way to sharpen and use an ulu and how to remove the fat. They have also learned about preparing the udjuk, the tougher and thicker bottom part of a kamik.

The students were also shown how to dry the seal and soften it with their feet or hands, before learning to trace out a pattern and begin sewing.

Elder Rosemary Sandy of Rankin Inlet is the lead instructor of the course. She enlisted the help of several local experts to help deliver the program.

Out of the eight students, there is only one male, Chris Tungilik, who normally works for the hamlet.

Tungilik registered for the course after his nieces and nephews started asking questions about how to cut and sew sealskin.

“I didn't know how to answer them. My dad made kamiik and I still didn't know how, so I took this class,” he said.

Elsa Pinkohs, a teacher at Tusarvik School has been bringing students from the school for frequent visits.

Tungilik's participation was a lesson in itself.

"He didn't know all the answers and felt bad over the fact he couldn't quite explain it,” she said.

"When I spoke with Chris (Tungilik), he told me it was traditional for males to help the women with sewing and cleaning.”

Near the beginning of the course, Tungilik cut his thumb open on a sharpened ulu.

“It's OK, I can still sew,” he said.

Pinkohs said the Grade 4 students couldn't resist asking questions about every step, even though many have already been exposed to traditional sewing at home.

"Some of the kids had a parent in the program and all of them were very, very excited to visit the class.

"You could see the kids with a parent in the class were so proud and excited to see their mother working on something really important.

"The first time we went, I had the opportunity to use an ulu to clean the fat away and that was pretty cool."

There's a demand for seal pelts in Nunavut. The table at the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association sale this summer was a perfect example.

Within an hour of opening, the table that had once been piled high with locally sourced skins and pelts was down to remnants.

But with the higher demand for pelts, there comes a need for production and design courses, such as the one ending in Repulse Bay this week. Similar courses have also been held in Arviat, Coral Harbour and Rankin Inlet.

- with files from Darrell Greer

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