FROM THE M AYOR’S OFFICE Peter Malgokak, Mayor of Ulukhaktok

“Forthe month of March and April, all the people are getting ready to go out on the land for sports hunting. It’s the best time to get polar bear fur, it’s thicker now. Around May, their skin gets thinner. They hunt around the Ulukhaktok area and the Banks Island area. This year, there is a lot of open water and not enough ice, so it will be more difficult. Ulukhaktok was originally set up for people to pick up supplies from Hudson’s Bay Company; such as tea, you can pick up tea and go back to your outpost camp. People used to travel a lot more, and trap. The biggest challenges these days are drugs and alcohol, now people are a lot more reluctant to do what older people used to do.”

“They are all looking for something easier, such as using snowmobiles instead of dogs for traveling. Our plan is to educate the community as much as possible, about what drugs and alcohol can do to you, especially with young people. We hold workshops to talk about these issues. When the oil and gas starts coming along, the committee is worried about social impacts, so we will set up workshops too and seek solutions. We will have a lot of people coming up to talk about it. Nobody has come to talk to me about social impacts yet. Ulukhaktok is far away on the coast, quite a ways from the pipeline, so maybe they will come later.”

“On April 1st we will be having our name change, we will have some games in the day, and in the evening celebrations. The original name was Ulukhaktok before it became Holman. An explorer came and named it

Holman. Two years ago we started talking about it with the self-government committee at meetings. I brought it up to the Hamlet and we went to ECE and MACA to have the name changed.”

“The Hamlet looks after the roads and public services. We wished there was more funding, that was a problem a couple of years ago. Our funding got cut, the government was short of money and we had to get through a hard time. Right now it’s starting to go back up.”

“I was on the council for years from 1995, and then I was the deputy mayor for four years. Two years ago I decided to run for Mayor because so many people have asked me to so many times.”

“In June, on the 16th to the 18th, we will have Kingalik Jamboree, and in July, from the 14th to 16th, there will be the Billy Joss Golf Tournament. That is the best time to visit Ulukhaktok. Everybody comes out here and has a really good time.”