The Inuit Qaujimajatuqanginnik Adventure
We Inuit grew up learning by observing, watching carefully and listening to those who know what they're doing. Then, when we're ready, on our own we'll imitate what we've seen.
I also clearly remember building my own little igloo, after studying how my father did it. Watching him I learned something about how to survive.
And we survived by using the entire animal. No parts were left behind, or thrown away. The entire animal was used. For example, the stomach of the seal became the window of our tents, back when Inuit had tents of sealskin. And we used the bones from the seal's flippers as our childhood toys. So while we were learning survival, we were also learning how to have fun.
Rocks were extremely important to us. We used them in many ways to survive...we used rocks to build traps for fox, for carving, as the foundation for our tents. They served to cache our food, protecting it from animals. The qulliq was made of stone, giving us light and heat.
And we invented new technologies, here in our land...the qajaaq (kayak) to travel in summer, and also the sealskin boot, which our women invented to keep us warm, and then Inuksuit and Inuksugait of different kinds, with various uses, all related to survival, but also they tell us where we've been, where we are today, and show us where we're headed.
Do you know what Inuksuit are? Can you hear the message they are sending us?