It was a busy week in Kugaaruk from Aug. 12-16 as the Kitikmeot Inuit Association was in the community to teach traditional hunting and fishing skills.
“Our objective was to train two beneficiaries from each Kitikmeot community in this Haputi Revitilization Program... using the skills and traditional materials such as the muskox horn and the kakivak... to take this knowledge that they gain in Kugaruuk [in] the six-day program and offer [it] in their communities, where they’ll be the instructors," said Jesse Apsaktaun, Nunamin Pivaalirniq special project officer in the Kitikmeot Inuit Association's social and cultural development department.
The yearly program has nine participants in total from various communities in the Kitikmeot. Traditional materials included polar bear bone, used before metal was introduced in the 20th century, for things such as the qupqauti (needle) for sewing nets. Seal skin was also used for the netting, as it was the original material used before the introduction of nylon.
“On the last day of the project,” said Apsaktuan, “we took a trip out to the haputi, which is the fish weir. We saw how it was traditionally used by our ancestors... it helps show our unique culture... I’ve seen Facebook posts already from one individual who started on the muskox horn one day after arriving home, so that was inspirational.”
Apsaktuan added that the long-term hope for the project is to help provide Nunavummiut in the Kitikmeot region with poverty reduction by assisting them in providing for themselves on the land. By being able to catch Arctic char on their annual upstream route, the goal is to provide more country food “so that we can nourish our families,” he added.
