Students exchange culture
Kugluktuk High School hosts twinning partners ahead of trip to Nelson, B.C.
Beth Brown
Northern News Services
Monday, March 13, 2017
KUGLUKTUK
Seven vegetarian students from B.C. were faced with muktuk and moose meat during a cultural exchange in Kugluktuk last month.
The hamlet's high school has "twinned" with Nelson Waldorf School in Nelson, B.C., for a cultural exchange program funded through the organization Experience Canada.
From Feb. 23 to March 1, 15 Grade 8 students visited the hamlet. In April, 13 Kugluktuk students in Grades 7 and 8 will make their own trek to B.C. to visit their new friends.
The students had a true Northern experience, learning iglu building, drum dancing, sewing techniques, square dancing and Inuit games. They also viewed the Northern lights, witnessed a fox skinning and attended a community feast.
"In teenage terms, it was mind blowing. It really opened their minds to another way of life," said
Marcelo Porto Goncalves, Grade 8 teacher at Nelson Waldorf School.
"The likelihood of anyone being able to go (North), even for adults, is small."
The students billeted with families in the hamlet as well as teachers from the school.
KHS student Beau Taptuna, 13, had two visitors stay with him, Sol Snir Shaool and Matheus Loureiro.
"It was cool, I played music with them, guitar, piano, drums and bass."
He said he most enjoyed "iglu building with the exchange students," and "sewing, drum dancing and jigging" were favourites for the visitors.
He's looking forward to skiing during his first trip to B.C.
"The kids are counting down days when they get to see each other again," said KHS teacher and program organizer Danielle Scarlett.
"They were all crying when we dropped them off at the airport."
Kugluktuk High School's three objectives for the exchange program are to grow student appreciation for Canada's regional diversity, to explore arts and culture and to develop a greater understanding and appreciation for Northern history, heritage and community.
Kugluktuk students will spend their trip camping, exploring the mountains and hot springs, visiting museums and learning about indigenous cultures in B.C.
"It will be great for them to witness and participate in something that is completely different from Inuit culture.
"(Our students) don't see a lot of different cultures here," said Scarlett. "We want them to see how that community works together and in contrast to see how we differ."
As for the visitors, "we wanted to share what the North has to offer," she said.
The program also aims to foster student experience of indigenous issues in Canada and build awareness on topics like food and housing security and reconciliation, Porto Goncalves said.
Despite it being February in the Arctic, what his students were most struck by was the warm and welcoming environment they found in Kugluktuk, he said.
"(Students) were greatly impressed by the beauty of the landscape and seeing how people work together."
