Proud of Who We Are
Life in Tuktoyaktuk - Tuktuuyaqtuuq in Inuvialuktun by the people who live here - has changed a lot in recent years, but in just as many ways it has stayed the same. In one lifetime it has gone from six or seven houses at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to a small hamlet and travel destination for people around the world.
The Arctic Ocean sign in Tuktuuyaqtuuq
Roy Cockney recalls, “In those days, my dad was just a trapper. He’s out trapping, maybe he is gone for a week. He comes to Tuk for a few days. There were a lot of people living in a small tent, but they have ice blocks all around the tents. There were quite a few people who lived like that long ago.”
Inuvialuit have lived in Tuktuuyaqtuuq since ancient times and Inuvialuit from all along the coast would gather yearly nearby through the winter months. The location has always been an important gathering spot, known for the distinctive pinguqsaaryuit of the area. When it became an official settlement in 1905, it was chosen as the favoured fishing spot with a safe harbour. From here supplies could enter and leave, reaching all other communities in the area. In 1950, it became the first place in Canada to officially change back to its traditional name and is widely known as “Tuk” - a nickname shared between Inuvialuktun and English.
Peter Nogasak, Elder
“We never had any - what I call it today is - chores,” explains Peter Nogasak. “We did what we had to do, learning from our Elders. Nobody was told what to do. They did what they had to do to make a living. That’s all done with family.”
The mix of modern living and traditional ways are alive in Tuk. The people who have lived in both worlds bring that experience through in their art - keeping traditional stories and techniques alive and resonating with the people of today.
As time goes on and life in Tuk changes, the long history of teaching through art continues. Old ways and old stories inspire art in all different forms. Teaching those techniques and forms is the way artists keep a connection to history alive in the artists of younger generations.
Eunice Nasogaluk still believes in the importance of that storytelling. “A lot of the stories that they told had a meaning behind them, to teach you how you should live.”
Eunice Nasogaluk, Elder
Things change for better and for worse and, while many Inuvialuit still find time to get out on the land in the ways they remember from their childhoods and their elders, it becomes more difficult for younger generations to get that same appreciation for the experience.
“We need to keep that,” says Joe Nasogaluak, “You know, it’s not bringing it back - it’s here but we need the motivation for young people to be proud of who we are - where we come from.”
Now, Tuk is home to almost 1,000 people and is a popular destination for road trippers making their way through the Western Canadian Arctic, up the Dempster Highway, and to the very coast of the Arctic Ocean. The history of life in Tuktuuyaqtuuq is kept alive through the stories told through the arts, living in the new artists and shared with the people who travel to Tuk.
Hamlet of Tuktuuyaqtuuq, NWT
Betty Elias is excited about the response in the community and the opportunity to share history and culture with travellers from outside Tuk.
“We’re encouraging each other to sew and make crafts and make sure we make something that’s relevant to here and our culture,” explains Elias. “So we can show them what we have.”
She knows that what makes these pieces unique is the same thing that makes her history unique, “They’ve come all the way from Tuktuuyaqtuuq.”
The long history of teaching the arts and passing these stories through the generations is one of the main goals of the Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture. The centre will be a dedicated space for this knowledge and history to be promoted, passed down and preserved. It will hold the same prominence in Tuk as the arts do in the history of Inuvialuit.
Check out our the first episode of our Saliqmiut mini-documentary series highlighting the rich heritage, culture, and history of arts in Tuktuuyaqtuuq. Be sure to follow our social channels to be the first to know when a new episode is released!
