Nunavik launches Arctic guide training

This group of Nunavimmiut guides took part in a training session in Inukjuak last week for the newly-created Nunavik Arctic Guide certificate, coordinated through the Kativik Regional Government, while Nunavik’s Avataq Cultural Institute delivered the cultural component of the training Feb. 13. Here, the group poses for a photo in an igloo build by Inukjuak’s Unaaq men’s association. (PHOTO BY ROBERT FRECHETTE/AVATAQ)

KUUJJUAQ — The South has offered its expertise to the North for decades in the form of fly-in professionals and consultants.

But when it comes to tourism in Nunavik, its regional government wants to build that expertise among local Inuit.

“Our main goal is to highlight Inuit culture,” said Christian Bouchard, the Kativik Regional Government’s tourism coordinator.

And while the region relies on support and training from more established southern tourism operators, they don’t necessarily understand how tides work in the region, or how to build an igloo, Bouchard said.

That’s why the KRG and other regional partners are working towards a formal Nunavik Arctic Guide program and cooperative, which aims to offer an authentic visitor experience tailored by people who know the region best.

The new program also hopes to offer support and higher salaries to new guides as well as those already working in Nunavik.

“The guides are kind of a key factor because they receive the tourists,” Bouchard said. “At the end, they have control of the tourist experience.”

With the help of St-Félicien college in southern Quebec, Nunavik’s regional partners helped to develop a 225-hour training pilot project geared at about 20 Inuit guides in the region.

The training kicked off last month in Inukjuak, where 20 guides gathered for cultural training, delivered by the Avataq Cultural Institute.

The group has since moved to Kangiqsujuaq to do a segment on wilderness and survival training. They’ll meet again in Kuujjuaq at the end of April to study small machine repair and food preparation before heading to Kuururjuaq National Park to complete 90 hours of practical activity.

The training will blend modern and traditional forms of guiding, Bouchard said. For example, guides will use GPS devices, but also employ traditional Inuit navigational tools.

Those 225 hours of initial training can then be put towards completing Arctic Guide Level 1, a 1,200 hour program set to start in September 2015.

“Eventually, if they complete all 1,200 hours, they’ll see an increase in salary,” Bouchard said. “With that recognition, you deserve a good salary.”

Most Inuit guides who run excursions and fishing camps for tourists make about $150 a day; Bouchard said that once trained under the new program, they should be making $200 a day.

The goal of the program is also to create a Nunavik Inuit guide cooperative: a one-stop shop for all tourists’ needs.

But that should help guides access better benefits, like insurance and high-quality equipment, he said.

An Arctic Guide program would be unique to the circumpolar world, Bouchard said, and help to build a group of qualified ambassadors for the region.

The program has spurred interest; two park wardens at one of Nunavik’s newest parks, Tursujuq, are currently enrolled in the training, director Alicia Aragutak said.

Bobby Tooktoo took the cultural training in Inukjuak, and enjoyed it so much he encouraged fellow park warden Isaac Tookalook to sign up, Aragutak said.

“The archaeological part was the most interesting,” Aragutak said. “He was excited to learn more.”

The training will help guides understand how to approach the many archeological sites identified within Tursujuq’s 26,000 square kilometres.

Aragutak said that having access to that expertise will also help create and deliver tourist packages for those visiting Tursujuq.

But the development of a formal guide program is just one element in the Arctic Tourism Destination Strategy, a larger tourism plan for Nunavik.

Its goal is to build a community-based, outdoor and cultural tourism package for visitors, run by Nunavimmiut, for the benefit of the whole region.

The first phase of that strategy is set to begin rolling out this year through 2018 and will focus on training, infrastructure and local food and arts in seven Nunavik communities.