KUGLUKTUK/COPPERMINE
After 16 years of operating as a volunteer organization, with 200 volunteers in its heyday, the Kugluktuk Radio Society is in limbo and likely closing its doors.

The volunteers numbers are dwindling and those that remain are burned out.

The society's two buildings are for sale - the Milukshuk Centre and the staff house. The plan is to transfer the funds into "a trust for scholarships to help reinvest back into our core educational mandate, without all the work and stress of running a daily operation," said executive director Mike Webster.

But there's more than money left in the wake of the radio society.

It serves as an example of a successful community development venture, where countless youth benefitted from their experiences through the organization and listeners from all over the world have tuned into the station that houses what Webster calls "the largest regular playing collection of Inuit music and stories in Canada."

It's uncertain, at this point, what will happen to the station's equipment and material.

Joe Kanary was, in the early 2000s, regional manager with the Government of Nunavut's Department of Economic Development.

"They were trying to get this radio station going and it required some capital investment. It's amazing, really that they've hit the 15-year mark for keeping that project going. Community projects like that aren't easy to sustain," said Kanary from Halifax.

But what he also remembers is that the proposal that came across his desk "was one of the best ones I saw in my time in the North. It was a really good initiative for the government to support."

Points in the proposal's favour included youth involvement, "to do radio, do work around radio, communications - on a volunteer basis."

"That's the kind of thing that spurs long-term development. Because you never know what interest you spark (in youth). They made something viable and tangible in the community and in the Kitikmeot."

Chad Hayohok became involved with the radio station at the age of 10, at the very beginning in 1999.

"Just a pup," he says. "I learned how to use a mixing board, writing down messages and greetings. I used to be a really shy boy until I started working with the radio station. When I started working with them, that's when I came out of my shell.

"I became me with the radio station."

Hayohok developed from reserved to masterful over the years.

"There would be radio bingos but I would never, ever call because I was so shy. But Mike and Donna would encourage me. 'Speak up!' 'Use your voice!' 'Let yourself be known!' Now I'm a really loud person."

From calling bingos, Hayohok, who now has his own drumdancing group, went on to help promote his language and culture, and interview notable Northerners.

"(The radio) was a very important part of my life. Very much so. We've done a lot throughout these 15 years. When we first started we were in a tiny little room at the youth centre. Eventually we managed to get our own building. We've gone through a lot, a lot of successes and a lot of doubt from a lot of people," said Hayohok.

In fact, the society has had a few run-ins with the hamlet, including an instance when its members were evicted from the youth centre.

Tammy Tiktalek, a behind-the-scenes volunteer who created 140 feet of original and complex decorative plaster crown moulding for the society's new building in 2010, remembers the youth centre days as ideal. The society was the anchor tenant in the youth centre's building from 2003 to about 2009.

"There were kids helping and behaving, back then. And now, today, they're rough. Kids were helping out, they were good with each other. They were helping out with cooking and cleaning. No bullies back then," she says.

It's impossible to follow all the threads of success and influence. There were bingos, radio shows, interviews with prominent territorial personalities, community messages through their own specially designed system from as far away as Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit and Ottawa, contributions to other community radio stations and the Community Radio Operators course.

Notably, the society raised $20,000 for the Kugaaruk Gospel Band to tour the Kitikmeot, exemplifying the regional impact.

As the station became available on its website for audiences around the world, more people started listening.

"Our best hard-core Copper Inuit show reached nearly 100,000 people," said Webster. "Pretty good for the little guys. And respected elders, not just youth, drove it. Even elders who helped us or watched us said we changed things for the better on a lot of levels."

Sadly, the world is different than it was 16 years ago.

"Back then, half the houses didn't even have radios, so we bought 130 or something and gave them out. Little radios with night lights for kids," said Webster. "Nowadays, people have Internet, download music, have cell phones, iPods."

It's time to move on. Hayohok, for example, who currently works at the day care, plans on going back to school.

The core group is discussing a final show, while wrapping up the society's business.

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