Quebec parka-maker promotes Nunavik

On the cover of this year’s catalogue for Kanuk parkas and jackets, you can see Geneviève Vachon, who works for the child and youth protection centre in Kuujjuaq, standing in a black parka in front of the inuksuk located near the Kuujjuaq Inn. (IMAGE/KANUK)

:Sammy Koneak, director of Hockey Nunavik, and regional co-ordinator of the Nunavik Youth Hockey Development program, models a parka called the “Kuujjuaq” in a catalogue for the for Kanuk, the made-in-Quebec line parkas and jackets. (IMAGE/KANUK)

What’s Kuujjuaq’s inuksuk doing on the cover of a promotional catalogue for Kanuk, the made-in-Quebec line parkas and jackets?

It’s got everything to do with Kanuk, says co-owner Nathalie Mongeau, who first visited Kangiqsualujjuaq many years ago and still feels a connection with Nunavik.

So much so that she comes to Nunavik herself every year to take some of the photos for Kanuk’s catalogues, which can be seen on-line.

“Here at Kanuk we love Kuujjuaq, the Torngats and the people living there,” Mongeau said. “Each year, for 25 years, my husband and me have been canoeing, flying around, fishing a bit and visiting friends in the area. And while we’re there, we take pictures of people there wearing Kanuk jacket for our catalogue.”

The catalogue displays the merchandise — and includes little stories about the 100 or so models who include filmmakers, workers, writers, students, musicians, actors, photographers, athletes, businesspeople, retirees, technicians, teachers, researchers, doctors, volunteers, civil servants, entrepreneurs and craftspeople.

The 82-page, four-colour glossy catalogue, published in English and French, reads like a more promotional brochure for living in Nunavik — and it plugs Nunavik throughout, saying, for example, in one place that “Inuit have long appreciated the warmth provided by fur” or giving a short history lesson about inuksuit.

On the cover of this year’s catalogue, you can see Geneviève Vachon, who works for the child and youth protection centre in Kuujjuaq, standing in a black parka in front of the inuksuk located near the Kuujjuaq Inn — or more correctly the innunguaq, according to the text.

And then on page 12 you’ll find teachers Eric Rousseau and Nancy Vézina, who have lived in Kuujjuaq with their children for five years.

In winter she skis to work, in the spring he fishes: “a lifestyle that’s perfect for people who love the outdoors!”

Page 55 shows Sammy Koneak in a warm-looking black parka, called the “Kuujjuaq,” good to -40C, nassak hat and a pair of sealskin kamiks.

“Sammy Koneak from Kuujjuaq is the father of six children, director of Hockey Nunavik, and regional co-ordinator of the Nunavik Youth Hockey Development program,” says the text.

“He helps local coaches in Nunavik’s 14 villages to implement the program which uses hockey to motivate hundreds of boys and girls who love the sport and are part of the Kativik School Board to do well in school.”

People called Kanuk after the brochure came out and wanted to buy his kamiks, Mongeau said. “But his mother made them for him.”

Kanuk, a small company, isn’t trying to compete with traditional Inuit parkas.

But Mongeau said she’d organize a visit someday for Inuit women to come to their factory in downtown Montreal so they could see some of the techniques Kanuk uses to make parkas.

“That could be fun,” she said, inviting Nunavimmiut to contact her if they want to visit, or think they’d make good models for the 2011 brochure.