TUKTOYAKTUK
The co-ordinator of Tuktoyaktuk's three-year running music festival says his avid participation in the community is driven by a desire to see positive change and provide options for community members.

Land of the Pingos Music Festival headliners Ernest Monias and Sons, from left Orville, Ernest, festival co-ordinator Erwin Elias, and Delaney pose for a shot. Elias says the band was a highlight for everyone, leaving the crowd cheering for more. - photo courtesy of Erwin Elias

As well as his work on the Land of the Pingos Music Festival that wrapped up earlier this month, Erwin Elias has been a hamlet councillor for four years - running after friends and community members encouraged him to - and has been deputy mayor for three years.

"If you want to see change or want stuff to happen in your community, you have to step up," said Elias. "I have a young family too, I want to make sure there's stuff for everybody to do. If you don't step up and do anything, especially in a small community, it's hard to get anything done."

The 38-year-old father of three is self-employed, running a contracting company in town and currently working on the much-anticipated Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway.

The highway extension and the opportunities it will provide once completed, Elias said, is one of the reason he was moved to get involved and help the community take advantage of what is being offered.

"We're starting to plan out what we're going to do when the road opens, especially for the music festival," said Elias.

"We anticipate a lot of tourism when the road opens and want to make sure we're ready for that."

In his youth, Elias said he played many sports and was always busy - not left looking for things to do. Affording the same opportunity to other community members is part of his motivation for keeping so involved.

He also took up the guitar at age 19 - though he has always enjoyed singing - which he said is part of the reason a music festival held such interest for him.

"I enjoy it but I know what it does to a person, too," he says. "I used it as a tool for myself - when you've got nothing to do and you're feeling down, you can grab your guitar, start playing music and get away from everything. It's a really good healing method to use. I recommend it to all the young people to get into music."

While a longstanding interest in music contributed to Elias' interest in the festival, he says getting into politics was not something he foresaw.

"I never thought I'd be into politics, never thought I'd run for politics, was never ever interested to do that," he says. "I realized that being on (council), that I can make a lot of changes too, and I just want to contribute as much as I could for my community and benefit as much as I could for our community. The opportunities are coming with the road."

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