I L D LIFE CAMP!

WGbeen taking youth and elders out on the land as part of an Elder's Committee initiative in Tuktoyaktuk. We spoke to Georgina when she returned from a summer camp at Topkak with youth.

“It was just beautiful out there, we all got sun tanned,” she said. “Each day I would have children come up to me to say things like, ‘Thank you for taking me out here,’ and ‘this is the best day of my life’, and when I asked them why, they would say “because I learnt how to swim!” She laughs, “You know, and then you can’t get them out of the water for the next task.”

“We did a lot of swimming and eating; we also went beach combing on the mile-long beach, these children looked for rocks that caught their fancy. We set fish nets, and told traditional stories around the campfire as we ate the fish that they caught. The children also got to observe wildlife nesting.” Barney told the children fables about Raven and Fox, to encourage their respect for the natural environment.

David Nasogaluak teaches Youth Participants (Bo Raddi, Devaughn Raddi, Gilbert Katigakyok, Matthew Jacobson, Mitchell Jacobson, Vaughn Taylor, Teigan Raddi, Kane Raddi) how to clean

David Nasogaluak, Yvonne Camsel and two of Georgina’s grandchildren also came along. The women would make breakfast for the children, and then David and Barney will take over. “My main job was to make sure that the kids got to play, and also learnt how to clean and cook. We had lots of bonding time, and we ended up cooking a lot on the beach. The kids did their chores really fast.”

In fact, the youth were observed to have all their little problems melt away as soon as they got out to the land. Instead of being competitive for attention, they got along well together.

“It’s too bad that at the last minute, 3 kids decided not to come. The land was just beautiful. The only thing that bothered us were mosquitoes that swarmed us, but the winds kept them away mostly. This year, we’ve the right amount of rain for berries and flowers to grow.” The children also enjoyed having visitors to the camp.