Pihuaqtiuyugut: We are the long distance walkers

What does walking have to do with literacy?

To find out you really need to visit the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife. On Sunday September 21st, 2008, a new exhibit opened there. The exhibit takes you along a trail that people from Ulukhaktok used when they moved off the sea ice to the summer caribou calving grounds. The exhibit tells you about the literacy skills people learned and used along the way. It also shows how people in Ulukhaktok still use many of these literacy skills today. At the opening, people took part in a variety of activities like sewing, print making and Inuit games.

photo of Jean Okheena lighting the qulliq


Jean Okheena lights the qulliq




photo of Emily Kudlak dancing
                     Emily Kudlak dances

photo of Mary Okheena and Justin Memogana singing a Western drum song
Mary Okheena and Justin Memogana sing a Western drum song

photo of Alice Kaodloak and Jill Vaydik helping the sewers
Alice Kaodloak and Jill Vaydik help the sewers

photo of Mabel Nigiyok teaching print making
Mabel Nigiyok teaches print making

The exhibit is sponsored by the community of Ulukhaktok, the NWT Literacy Council, the University of Lethbridge, the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. The exhibit runs until the end of February 2009.