Photo: Celebrating the drum

Attima Hadlari of Cambridge Bay drum-dances Oct. 18 at the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s community feast, held in Cambridge Bay’s Luke Novoligak Community Hall. The drum-dancing capped off the official launch of Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit or “Stories Told Through Drum-Dance Songs,” a KIA book project led by its programs co-ordinator, Julia Ogina, who spoke at the event about the process of compiling the songs. The work in transcribing the songs from the Nattilimgmiut and Inuinnaqtun-speaking communities in western Nunavut involved learning old words that are no longer used, she said. Ogina’s hope is that the book—which, apart from its introduction, is in Inuktut—will encourage discovery of the language and drum-dancing tradition. Working on the project provided a “glimpse into our ancestors’ way of life,” Ogina said. The book is published by Inhabit Media. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)