Western Nunavut culture on display in Inuinnauyugut exhibit

Pam Gross stands beside the famous parka that was hand-sewn by May Hakongak in the 1970s. (PHOTO BY KELCEY WRIGHT)

Elders gathered throughout the Inuinnauyugut exhibit on Jan. 14 to see the final presentation of artifacts they’ve spent years helping to assemble and prepare for the May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre in Cambridge Bay. From left: Mary Avalak, Mary Kaniak, Annie Atigihioyak, Mabel Etegik and Mary Kilaodluk. (PHOTO BY KELCEY WRIGHT)

Special to Nunatsiaq News

CAMBRIDGE BAY — There are traditional tools, clothing and photos.

And, along with that, crowded into one room, there are generations of Inuit history.

The May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre’s Inuinnauyugut exhibit is finally complete.

To launch the exhibit. organizers held an open house Jan. 14 to showcase its contents for the community.

“It’s been years in the making,” said Pam Gross, the centre’s program manager. “We just finished it [Jan.14].”

With this addition, the cultural centre’s exhibits number more than a dozen.

Inuinnauyugut presents a rich history of the Inuinnait — the people of this region.

“The overall goal was to showcase our culture,” said Gross. “We’re always evolving as a people.”

And the evolution of culture is clear within the exhibit’s carvings, paintings and pelts, which also include artifacts from hundreds of years ago alongside tools that are still used today.

“A lot of the things on display here were made during past projects, or on land-camps or in workshops here,” said Gross.

The main piece on display: a parka that was once owned by the centre’s namesake — May Hakongak, a revered community elder and mother of eight who passed away in 1999, the year Nunavut became a territory.

“The parka has a neat story actually,” said Brendan Griebel, the centre’s executive director.

Hakongak sewed the brown caribou and wolverine fur sunburst parka in 1974.

After that, Jude Dale purchased the parka from the Cambridge Bay Co-op store. When Dale moved back to British Columbia, she donated the parka to the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver.

“In 1989, she requested that [the parka] be transferred to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,” according to the cultural centre’s website, so it could be closer to home.

In 2012, Dale contacted the Kitikmeot Heritage Society wondering if the items could be returned to Cambridge Bay. After extensive negotiations between the society and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, the parka and kamiks were returned to town permanently in the summer of 2013.

“It was important to get it back up here,” said Griebel. “Now the children and the grandchildren get to see them.”

The cultural centre also plans to facilitate the passing of traditions between generations through new programs which will be offered this year. These include a qulliq-making workshop.

All programs offered are free for participants and “they’re all community-driven,” said Gross. “They’re based on what elders and people in the community want to see.”

Another program to be offered this year: Elders’s Mentorship, a program where elders can train and mentor incoming elders in the community, one-on-one. The newcomers will be able to learn local traditions from local elders.

The centre will also organize a summer camping trip to Perry River.

“A lot of people here [in Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk and Gjoa Haven] are from Perry River,” said Gross. “We want to bring people back to learn about where they’re from.”

There, participants will learn about the history of the area, including the fur trading traditions, and the trip will be filmed as part of a documentary.

“Inuit are always trying to protect and preserve their culture,” said Gross. “Building this centre [and programs] allow us to not only showcase the culture with [Cambridge Bay residents], but we’re able to touch people who visit as well.”