Communication Breakdown

The morning began with a meeting at the elders cabin with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. The KIA is similar to the Heritage Society regarding its stance on preservation of local culture and traditions. This meeting served as a forum for new ideas for elders programming and was conducted in both English and Inuinnaqtun. One of the ideas was that the elders cabin be spruced up and invested in, as currently, many community groups use it as a meeting place and it is not being kept up properly. One of the elders got really excited about this idea and pumped his fists as he spoke of taking ownership of the cabin. Later on during the conversation, he said, "I do not understand, because now you are saying something different." He had thought that they were proposing that an entirely new building be built! I asked Renee if this kind of communication mishap happens often, and she replied, "all the time!"

Steve and the rest of the elders decided to do a traditional fishing trip in August

I began filming in the afternoon for the documentary about Cambridge Bay that I am making to show my scholarship program; hopefully I can help put something together to send to the Jane's Walk program or show the Cambridge Bay community. I began by filming some of the 6th graders doing throat singing and jigging. They get really excited whenever I pull out my camera or videocamera, and I have to let them take turns holding and using each. This means I usually end up with many very unflattering pictures of myself later. (Check back later...I'm going to try to put up the video of them throat singing!)

Me and Shaina, one of the 6th graders

I am glad to be starting another project, because I feel in a rut here. I want to do more organizing, but I don't know what I can do as a white outsider. As we made muffins this afternoon for tomorrow's elders meeting, Renee and I spoke about the potential power of youth in Cambridge Bay. I feel strongly that if anyone is going to spark change in this community, it will be the youth, simply because they have not yet accepted everything as "the way it is." The concept of change does not bother them. They seek improvement. However, it doesn't seem like anyone is encouraging them, showing them how to take charge. They have no role models who could show them how to lead a social movement. I would love to be able to provide a forum to discuss social issues or help them organize protests (like the protest against alcoholism that students of Kugluktuk sponsored), for example, but as a white outsider it may be inappropriate for me to do so.

Sometimes, I wonder at how much I will actually be able to accomplish here. Though I have learned much about the culture, history and social issues, I do not feel like I have done much to help this community. As my passion for these people, and my understanding of their problems, grows, I feel more helpless. I want so badly to empower them, but must walk a fine line that may prevent me from doing so.

Speaking of change and empowerment, I discovered this really cool article online today, entitled 25 Big Ideas. Though some of the ideas are controversial (getting rid of syllabics for example), they are all proposed by Nunavut residents, who are obviously more qualified than southerners at judging what their region needs. I was particularly interested in the ways that Nunavut could become a leader in the environmental movement. Take a look and see what you think!