Takuginai named best aboriginal-language program

SARA ARNATSIAQ

A children’s program produced by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation was named the best Inuktitut-language program last week at the sixth annual Telefilm Canada/APTN awards in Banff, Alberta.

Takuginai, or “Look at this,” depicts the antics of a cast of characters including Johnny the travelling lemming and Meesa the baby. The half-hour program emphasizes language and takes the characters on a variety of adventures.

The episode “Puppet Health” received the award in the Aboriginal-language category.

Cree for Kids received the award in the English-language or French-language category.

The winners were selected by an independent jury comprised of representatives from the Aboriginal community involved in film and television production, as well as individuals recognized for their contributions in cultural preservation.

“Puppet Health” was written, produced and directed by Leetia Ineak. She has been producing Takuginai for 15 years. Where does she get the energy? She says she enjoys the work, it does not drain her, the preservation of language is important, and producing the program is always an interesting process.

“[It is] something you work hard on that the audience can enjoy.” Ineak said.

She said humbly she doesn’t know what she was feeling when she was going up to the stage to accept her award. When she’s producing the shows, she said, she thinks of little kids and how quickly they learn, and that it’s important for them to learn Inuktitut to keep the language alive.

APTN has an audience of almost 90 million across the country. What does this mean to Ineak? She chuckles with pride mixed with amazement.

Ineak herself is a recipient of a 2000 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for her years of producing Takuginai.

Takuginai is really popular with kids and grown ups alike. She said that it’s the Inuktitut language usage that makes it appealing for everyone.

Ineak said that the board of IBC recently held a Puppet Workshop that approved a budget to introduce more puppets in the Igloolik, Taloyoak, and Rankin Inlet stations using their local dialects.

Although the budget has been approved, work to develop new puppets has not started yet because production work is demanding, Ineak said.

Takuginai is already popular as it is, and there is no doubt that it will gain in popularity once the other stations start producing shows using local dialects.