Kinngait teens explore what Ottawa has to offer

Making friends with strangers at an Ottawa Senators game and checking out Nunavut Sivuniksavut stood out for a group of Kinngait teens as highlights of their trip to Ottawa last week.

Kinngait teens Iqaluk Samayualie, left, and Clyde Ettuk, take a break during a paint night Saturday, the last day of a five-day group trip to Ottawa. (Photo by Corey Larocque)

Amelia Ottokie, a Grade 8 student, said she was surprised to find herself making friends with the couple in front of them at Thursday’s Senators game. She and some friends started chatting with a man named Gavin and his wife to the point they stopped paying attention to the National Hockey League game.

“That guy, he’s a great guy. He jokes around a lot,” Ottokie said Saturday.

She was one of 10 Kinngait teens who spent five days in Ottawa touring Carleton University, Algonquin College and Nunavut Sivuniksavut, a post-secondary program for Inuit.

The teens taught the couple some Inuktitut words and he helped them with some French phrases, Ottokie said.

A couple of guys in the group said seeing hockey players drop the gloves in an on-ice fight stood out during the Detroit Red Wings’ 2-1 victory over the Senators.

The plan for the Ottawa trip started with a gathering in September called Rise Up Kinngait Youth, for 120 of the hamlet’s young people.

By November, the program identified 10 high school students who might be interested in pursuing post-secondary education in the south.

A trip to Nunavut Sivuniksavut, where students put on a drum dancing and throat singing performance, was popular.

“It felt like home,” said Gisille Ashoona, a Grade 9 student. “I was so happy to be there … I’m so going to apply there.”

A smile lit up Susie Tunnillie’s face as she showed a video of the performance and demonstrated the kicking dance she had seen the Sivuniksavut students do.

“I can learn how to dance it,” she said, after squatting on the floor and imitating the kicking motions in the video.

Christopher Lampron, a 13-year-old Kinngait boy, shows the artwork he created Saturday at a paint night on the final day of a five-day visit to Ottawa. (Photo by Corey Larocque)

The trip was the reward for good school attendance, passing courses and running after-school programs for younger students. They also made Christmas treats for elders.

“I’m a believer you have to give something back,” said Dawn Currie, a consultant working with the hamlet, who organized the youth gathering and the Ottawa trip.

“These kids have been amazing. Our hope is that they now see that there are additional opportunities available to them in life.”

The Kinngait group stayed at a hotel near the Rideau Centre mall, giving them a chance to do some shopping. Some boys in the group sported new Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto Blue Jays caps.

The crowd ended the trip with a paint night at their hotel, where an artist coached them in making their own versions of a pink fish she had painted.

The Ottawa trip was funded as part of a $140,000 project for Kinngait’s youth that also included the youth gathering in September. It was funded by various sponsors including the Government of Nunavut, Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corp. and Healthy Horizons Foundation.