The Community Centre - Parents and Tots

     I got the chance to go to the Community Centre today, where Katie (my house-person) has a large involvement through her work. The centre is used for Parents and Tots every Sunday, where parents can bring their kids to run around and play, and are served a country meal. I was lucky enough to be invited to play with the kids and have some of the tuktu vinniq (please pardon the spelling, I got a few different ways to spell this from a few different people; it means “caribou meat”) in a soup. We also had pudding and fruits for dessert. The picture above is of some of the kids in the community playing. You’ll notice the ceiling is a montage of assorted paintings, a previous project from Alexa and Patrick (mentioned in my last blog, the founders of Embassy of Imagination). The artwork was done by the children in Cape Dorset (amazing!).

(The aforementioned, tuktu vinniq)

     Not only was I lucky enough to just have the experience at the Community Centre today, but I was offered the one item that my heart was set on finding while I was up here: an ulu! The ulu is the traditional knife used by Inuit women. As Louisa told me today at the hall (as told to her by her father), you are not a woman until you have an ulu. While at the hall, Kooloo, another woman, asked if I would be interested in purchasing her late sister’s ulu, which of course I was! I held the ulu in the air to show Louisa, and I let out a happy “Yiii!” and Louisa laughingly said, “Ha! You are now a woman!” and gave me a happy little dance.

     Above are Louisa’s son and grandson, and another little girl who was at the Centre. The first little fella didn’t want to smile because he wanted to “look strong”, the second fella wanted to show off the gun he had built with the blocks, and the little girl wanted to show off her fishing skills. I had a great afternoon and really enjoyed making connections with the community. Some of the mothers who were there ended up being the parents of some of the students in my class, so I got to know a whole new aspect about my classroom kids, as well.