Kimmirut, Nunavut
The name Kimmirut means like a heel. Kimmirutialu is a big rock that sticks out of the harbour that looks like a heel. Kimmirut is a hamlet and about 480 people live there. There are different kinds of jobs in Kimmirut. Some people support their families by carving and hunting. Some people work for the government, the hamlet, the health centre, the day care and the school. Some people work for the two local stores. Some people work for the airport.
We eat many different things here. The traditional food, that we call "country food" that we enjoy eating is seal, caribou, ducks, geese, ptarmigan, arctic hare, berries,clams, arctic char, cod, walrus and some plants. We also like to make bannock that is like a bread. Bannock and tea is a good breakfast. When we make things from food that we buy at the store we like to eat chicken, pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, fries, noodles, and rice. The store brings in apples, bananas, kiwis, oranges and some vegetables.
Even though we know that "junk" is not good for you we like to have pop, chips, chocolate bars and candy.
It is very beautiful here. On many nights we see the Northern Lights dancing across the sky. An Inuit legend says that the lights are our family and friends who have died and they are playing a game of soccer in the sky. People can skidoo from here to Iqaluit during the winter time. The trip takes about five hours but some people go faster. The trail goes through the newest of Canada’s Parks.. Katannilik Park. Some people hike through the park in the summertime. Because we live beside the ocean we can go boating too. There are many beautiful places to visit and camp at around here.There are many hills around Kimmirut. In the fall we gather berries while we are out camping or hiking. We pick blueberries, blackberries and cranberries.
If you come to visit us you could see polar bears, foxes, wolves, lemmings, weasels, arctic hare and caribou on the land. In the sea you might see seals, beluga whales, walrus, arctic char or cod. In the air you would definitely see ravens all year round. Depending on the time of year you might see ptarmigans, terns, geese, ducks, falcons and different shore birds. In our hamlet you would see lots of dogs!
Our community is special because the people are friendly and we help each other. There are people that you know always around you... family and friends. There are many things to do outdoors here. It is safe place to live. It is a beautiful place to live.
You might think because it is cold here that we spend a lot of time indoors but that is not true. We like to slide, skate, skidoo, play hockey, go hunting, camping and hiking outdoors. We spend a lot of time outdoors at all times of the year. Have you ever played baseball in the snow? We do. We are hoping that soon we will have an arena built here. We do have a gym that is used by the school during the day and by the hamlet at night.
In the future we know that Kimmirut will get bigger because there are lots of new babies. We will need more houses and bigger buildings. We would like a bigger airstrip. Some kids would like a pool.
We are happy that Nunavut is here. We now will have our own territory. We know that things will be different but right now we are not sure how. As we grow up we will find out more.