Inukjuak men’s association teaching the next generation of Inuit hunters
Global News
The stops throughout the Governor General's visit to Nunavik, were meant to showcase resiliency, reclamation of language and culture, and community-driven solutions.
Elder Simeonie Ohaituk sits on a caribou skin on the floor of the Unaaq Men’s Association in Inukjuak, Que., pulling and cutting a stretchy, cylindrical piece of sealskin.
He makes smooth, even cuts, the length of rope piling up on the ground as he pulls and another elder stretches and turns the sealskin over and over. It’s a two-man job, he says, requiring an even stretch each time.
The skin has been carefully cleaned of fat and fur by another elder using an uluk, a woman’s knife with a distinct crescent moon shape.
Ohaituk explains what he’s doing in Inuktitut with Charlie Nowkawalk translating his words into English as about a dozen young boys crowd around to watch.
Within minutes, the patch of skin is a rope more than 30 feet long, consistently the width of a thumbnail. It can be tied in knots before it’s dried into a hardened line that’s strong enough to haul a bearded seal, which weigh up to 800 pounds, from under the ice.
This used to be the only way Inuit could make rope strong enough for hunting and pulling dogsleds. It was also, Ohaituk says, a good excuse for men to spend time together.
“We really admire our elders,” said Tommy Palliser, assistant manager of the men’s association. “They tell us stories about how it has been before and you really can’t learn that anywhere else.”
These elders — men and women — are passing their skills on to young men in Inukjuak, ensuring they have the knowledge to hunt, fish and live on the land.