Baker Lake Elders are building strong connections with local youth at their monthly gatherings, including visits by full classes of elementary students.
Community wellness co-ordinator Karen Yip said Elder programming has been growing in popularity during the past few months, with the number of Elders attending the gatherings on the rise.
She said the Elders seem to be enjoying a number of different aspects of the gatherings, including food, games, socialization and interaction with youth.
“We invite youth to the Elder meetings regularly,” said Yip. “We've had four classes of elementary students visit, which represented about 80 or 90 kids.
“The Elders seem to enjoy interacting with the kids. We've already had storytelling with them and we plan to hold more in the future. The Elders really enjoy having the opportunity to share their experiences and, traditionally, storytelling was the way in which they would pass on those experiences.
“They enjoy talking about life on the land and the old ways, and it's a way for them to pass on Inuit culture and tradition to the kids.”
Yip said there's little doubt there are parts of the life that the Elders used to live on the land that they continue to miss today.
She said that's what the Elders know, so, for them, it's quite different than what folks may experience today.
“It would be a hardship (living on the land) for a number of people today. But, most of the Elders lived a substantial portion of their lives out on the land, so they're highly-skilled in traditional ways.
“During one meeting, we talked about the skills involved with the lighting of the qulliq. Mrs. (Nancy) Aupaluktuq gave a demonstration to explain what she was doing, what she was using the qulliq for, its origin and how she came to acquire, or make, it.
“This was all really interesting because it was something new to the kids. They were fascinated by the fact that she had made these things. You know, she couldn't just go into the store and buy them while they were living on the land. She acquired everything on her own.
“In a future gathering, I'd like to ask the Elders to bring an antique type of object that may have some type of story — they may want to tell —associated with it. People keep things from the past that hold sentimental value. Having them talk about something like that — and why they have this attachment to it — would be both interesting and educational.”
