'We're seeing such an impact.'

The planting of an evergreen tree, throat-singing, Inuit games and sunny, warm weather marked the official opening of the new Tumiralaat or "Little Footprints" Inuit child care centre in Ottawa.

As temperatures soared into the mid-20s on Oct. 17, two five year old girls, dressed in mini-amautiit, sat down to listen to throat-singing by Charlotte Carlton and Allison Zakal.

Born in Ottawa, but with family ties to communities like Gjoa Haven and Pangnirtung, Melissa and Lena are typical of the children who attend the Tumiralaat child care centre.

Tumiralaat first opened its doors this past July to 24 children, aged 18 months to six years.

Located at 224 McArthur Avenue in Vanier, it's the first and only Inuit child care centre in the Ottawa region.

"We're seeing such an impact. We've had some young moms go back to school. We've had some people get employment and we're seeing growth and development from the children," says Karen Baker-Anderson, executive director of the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre, which runs Tumiralaat.

Baker-Anderson says Tumiralaat's goal is simple. The centre wants the Inuit children in its care to acquire a strong sense of pride in being Inuit.

So, from the time the children arrive to the moment they leave, they hear Inuktitut spoken.

When the children line up in the morning, they count out loud in Inuktitut, and they start their day with Inuktitut songs, including one about families, with important Inuktitut words like anaana (mother) and ataata (father).

During the day, they eat country foods and participate in activities, like drum dancing, bannock making or modelling clay with dull-bladed ulus, which are all designed to build up their knowledge about their Inuit heritage.

"We try to focus on having Inuktitut spoken in the classroom," Baker-Anderson says.

"But some of the children are coming from English environments, and if you're working with a toddler who doesn't know what you're saying, you have to speak a language they understand."

Still, when you walk into the centre, the first thing you see and hear is Inuktitut.

Reepa Evic-Carlton, a board member originally from Pangnirtung who has two grandchildren enrolled in the centre, oversees cultural content in Tumiralaat's programs.

The children at Tumiralaat are all Inuit, including several adopted by non-Inuit families in Ottawa. Children with roots in every region of the North attend Tumiralaat, but many now come from Labrador, Baker-Anderson says.

In contrast to many child care centres in Nunavik and Nunavut, there's no waiting list at Tumiralaat.

And if the children also attend the head start program next door, they can also benefit from a free, door-to-door pick-up service in the morning.

Ottawa's Tungasuvvingat Inuit community centre established the half-day Sivummut head start program in 1997,

Head start programs provide a rich learning environment to preschoolers who may need extra stimulation.

And, about half of the Inuit children in southern cities like Ottawa live in poverty, according to a Statistics Canada survey on aboriginal children, which was released Oct. 29.

TI remained in charge of the Inuit head start program until April, 2006 when the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre took over. Parents wanted more input into the program, Baker-Andersen says.

However, leaving TI was a "difficult transition for some people," Andersen says. "There was some political stuff around it that was uncomfortable at first. Have we tried to move past it? Absolutely."

TI still provides services, such as visits from a diabetes counselor, to the head start and child care centre, but its main focus is now providing services to adults, while the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre focuses more on children.

"We are focusing on this area, and I think the community is benefiting from having two agencies," Anderson says.

The head start program is free, while the rates paid by parents for full-day child care vary according to family income. Almost all spots are fully subsidized.

The centre received money from the Ontario departments of children and youth and aboriginal affairs, which covered the purchase of the $280,000 building next door to the head start program's home at 230 McArthur.

In addition to Tumiralaat and Sivummut programs, the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre also supplies after-school tutoring and cultural workshops to children seven to 13 through its "bridging the gap" program.

A "bridging the gap" school liaison worker also consults with teachers and principals about Inuit culture and refers students to "culturally appropriate services" when they need help.

Recently, Heritage Canada also gave the centre three-year funding for free language courses for youth seven to 13 and for adults, which will start sometime this month.

"This is going say it's important that you speak your primary language," Baker-Andersen says.

The Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre serves an estimated population of 2,000 Inuit from every region of the North who now live in Ottawa.

Its expansion is part of a push to provide more services to the growing number of Ottawamiut, through projects like the Maison Inuksuk House, a proposed complex with residential apartments, a retail and cultural storefront, and a community meeting place.