Fun, friendship, leadership

INUKJUAK — Two circles of kids play ball in the growing darkness. Behind them, lit-up white tents glow like jewels. The only sounds are the happy voices of ballplayers and the wind sweeping across the campsite.

The peaceful scene marks the end of another busy day at the Okpiapik Junior Ranger camp near Inukjuak.

For the 120 Junior Rangers who have come here from every community in Nunavik, from two communities in the Cree territory and four villages from along Quebec’s Lower North Shore, the day starts early at 6 a.m.

After cleaning their tents and making sure every sleeping bag is lined up neatly and every duffel bag is zipped shut, the Junior Rangers march off to breakfast in the huge kitchen tent.

They will spend the day learning how to make dream catchers, to cook bannock and to shoot an arrow or a rifle.

One group gets some first-hand experience in carving. The kids sit outside the carving workshop tent with a piece of soapstone or antler to ambitiously plan their projects. One boy wants to make a kayak, another a seal. A girl starts filing down a piece of antler for a ring.

“I’m doing the Montreal Canadiens logo,” one boy says of his rough soapstone.

Another group heads off to a nearby site where an instructor will teach them how to rappel, that is, climb down a smooth cliff using only a rope.

“You have to do it, it’s your only chance!” urges one girl to another after she successfully completes the steep climb.

Each of six patrols at the camp has 24 Junior Rangers. Every day one of these patrols heads off by canoe to the “24-hours site” to spend a day and a night on the land. There, the Junior Rangers build their own shelters and hunt and fish for food.

At the campsite, lunch consists of regulation army rations heated up and eaten in the tent.

Supper is a full hot meal in the dining tent. After this meal, there are presentations or a movie for the entire group.

One evening is devoted to public speaking. The kids listen patiently for two hours as Junior Rangers from various communities talk about where they live, speaking in the language they feel most comfortable speaking.

The Junior Rangers from Tasiujaq show off a kakivak or fishing spear. From Cheverie on the Lower North Shore comes an explanation about how lobsters are trapped in lobster pots. A pot is presented to Inukjuak’s Ranger platoon leader Simeunie Nalukturuk.

Four Junior Rangers from Blanc Sablon have brought a quilt they made, which illustrates what their community is best known for: puffins, lobster, bake apples, or agpiks, whales and paved roads. “But if hockey was represented, it would be the whole quilt,” a boy adds.

The daily “parades” or drills are a popular activity that require punctuality, discipline and teamwork. “They eat it up,” says an officer.

Ranger Sgt. Allie Ohaituk from Inukjuak gives the group a warm-up before the morning parade.

He gets everyone counting to 10 in Inuktitut and saying “hello” in several languages during the exercises. A latecomer has to do push-ups.

Ohaituk is also the one who checks tents every morning to see if everything is in order.

“They’re kids, but they have to learn to respect the standards,” Ohaituk says as he pulls up a tarp under the sleeping bags to check for trash.

“Every tent should have the same standard. At the end of the camp, they will be better.”

Ohaituk is just one of the many Rangers from Inukjuak and several other communities in Nunavik who give generously of their time to make the camp work smoothly.

The Junior Rangers at Okpiapik camp are 12 to 18. This year the group is made up of Inuit, Cree, Montagnais Innu and English and French, making the camp a mix of cultures and languages.

“I have three different nations in my patrol,” says Ranger Adamie Alayco from Akulivik. “But they all get along.”

The only scuffle in his group so far is between two kids from the same community. One gets a warning that he’ll end up washing pans and peeling potatoes if he’s not careful.

“You’re here for fun, friendship and leadership,” the Junior Rangers are reminded.

Overall, the camp’s combination of non-stop activity, fresh air, good food, discipline and reinforcement from role models seems to work like a charm: participants are attentive, well-behaved and happy. It’s not hard picturing them as adults who will have happy lives and contribute positively to their communities.

“The education system could learn from this,” one Ranger comments.

The camp’s winning formula also impresses the deputy chief of Eastmain, Norman Cheezo, and band chief David Masty from Whapmagoostui, who came up the coast for a visit. The Cree are just beginning to get involved in the Ranger movement, and these Cree leaders like what they see.

Contacts between young Inuit, Cree, French and English in Quebec have been rare in the past, but the camp provides new hope for more cooperation for the future.

Next year’s camp may be held in Kuujjuaraapik-Whapmagoostui, the twin Inuit and Cree communities. Another potential partner in the Junior Ranger camp is good news to its organizers.

Over the past six years, as the number of Junior Rangers has grown and the camp’s price tag has risen, the week-long camp has do more with less — a situation Ranger supporters in the Canadian Armed Forces want to change.

The Kativik Regional Government, Makivik Corporation, Air Inuit, local businesses and organizations all chip in to cover costs and assist with the camp’s logistics.

“If we look at the support from the community, it’s essential. We’ve had incredible cooperation from Inukjuak,” says Major Claude Archambault, deputy commanding officer of Quebec’s 2nd Ranger Patrol Group.