Shingle Point

“Shingle Point is a beautiful place. It’s peaceful, I can hear the sound of waves on the oceans. My family comes out here every year,” says Manny Arey. “It’s a good place for fishing, whaling, and berry picking.” We are at the beach of Shingle Point, where there are about twenty cabins, close enough together that visiting the neighbours for a cup of tea is only a hop and a skip away. The midnight sun glows red over a beach of driftwood, and lights up the people on it in a magical way. I can’t help but think about what elder Elijah Allen says, “People used to travel a long way from West Whitefish Station to Shingle Point. They come to whale and in the evenings, after the work is done, people play games and drum dance. It makes us elders happy to see the younger generation playing games again, like we used to.”

Gerry Kisoun says, “Shingle Point is made up of four parts, we call them ‘the point,’ ‘middle camp,’ ‘up the hill,’ and ‘down the hill.’ There are cabins all over. Not only do people from Aklavik come here, we also have many relatives from Alaska. In the 1900s, Inupiat (many of who became Inuvialuit) would arrive here at the same time every year, this was their stomping ground for entering Canada.”

“ Some settled right here. Some years, there are more people, other years less, this year we have a good crowd.”

In the morning, children are playing games outside Danny A. and Annie B. Gordon’s cabin at ‘the point’, while breakfast is cooking inside. Their daughters Faith, Evelyn, and more volunteers from the community are arranging toys and prizes on a wooden stage. Children are already crowding around, picking out what they want to win.

“Nowadays, people come out here for Shingle Point games, we have sing-alongs, play games like the ring toss and dizzy stick, everyone has a good chuckle as long as nobody gets hurt,” laughs Gerry.

“The Games started about four and a half years ago…we didn’t have it when I was a kid, but Danny A. Gordon brought it back. He is a respected elder from Aklavik, he passed away last year, so this year the games are dedicated to him,” says Manny. “He would always tell stories to make us laugh. He’s also a close friend, he always told us about his culture.”

“ He taught youth to drum dance, he taught me to drum dance the right way, to do it from the heart. That makes the drummers really drum.”