Nunavut Communities, 1999

The Creation of Nunavut...

"Nunavut means "our Land" to me because we will own the Land, we will have to take care of it and watch over it. We will have a flag of our own. We will need more education to have good jobs. We will have more responsibilities. This will be our Inuit land so we will have to speak more Inuktitut. If there will be more Inuktitut classes we will need more Inuktitut teachers." -Jonah Angutiqkuaq, grade 8

"I think Nunavut makes us Inuks proud to have our own territory. " -Angela Idlout, grade 9

"Nunavut means a lot to me. It is our future home. It means that we will have more independence. More things to do. More opportunity. There will be more Inuktitut to learn, so we can get good jobs, so that will mean that you’d have to stay in school to have a good education if you want to have a good job to have a good career. We will have more responsibilities. There will be more things to take care of, more things to do. We will have to control Nunavut. If we don’t, a lot of things can go wrong. We’d have to take care of a lot of things like electricity, power, and all sorts of things. If you do something wrong, you will have to be responsible for it." -Naomie Pudluk, grade 8

"We will have a stronger nation because we may have a stronger territory, and we are on our own. More people will help because we are on our own. -Lucas Allakariallak, grade 8

The Community of Resolute

"Resolute Bay is a small community on the Southeast corner of Cornwallis Island. Resolute Bay has approximately 200 people. The school has about 60 kids, from kindergarten to Grade 12. There’s one gym where people have fun. They go there for feasts, games and all sorts of things. There's 3 hotels. One is called South Camp Hotel, another is called Narwhal, and the last one is called The Coop hotel. There's a new terminal at the airport, it’s a nice bigger one." -Naomie Pudluk, grade 8

"The airport is six miles away. The roads are all gravel. There is a road that is around the houses. It is called the ‘ring road’. During the winter, it can be dark twenty four hours a day and in the summer, there is sunlight twenty four hours a day. Sometimes we stay out all night and all day during the summer. People in Resolute have all kinds of jobs, for example working for the Co-op, cleaning in hotels, working in the Hamlet office, government office and the gym. At Christmas time they play all sorts of games at the gym, for all ages. Sometimes we have special events like dances." -Angela Idlout, grade 9

"We have approximately 110 houses. We have a police station with 2 officers. We have a "Signal Hill" overlooking the town and it is about 500 feet above sea level. Students in Resolute go to school and adults work for a living. After work people go ski-dooing and kids go to the gym from 7-9 pm while from 9-11 pm teens go to the gym. Some people watch T.V. for fun." -Jeffrey Kupaq Kheraj, grade 9

"When you fly above Resolute you see a river going into the ocean, nice land and there is a lot of animals and very little vegetation. Resolute Bay is icy cold but in the summer it gets pretty warm and people go swimming at the river when the sun is out. In their free time students can get part time jobs. There are some elders here and one of them carves and he sells them to the Co-op stores. When they have free time kids go to the river or the pocket to go sliding with their one-skiis. Lots of people in town go out hunting for seals, polar bears with tags, and many other animals." -Stevie Amagoalik, grade 8

Resolute Bay, ten years from now...

"In ten years from now, I think Resolute will have more people, so it will be polluted a lot more. We will have more than one school. We will also have more Inuk people working in Resolute Bay. There will be more Inuktituk classes and more Inuk teachers. There will also be more jobs and bosses. More of us Inuks will have a good education. We will have a hang-out where kids and teenagers can be. There probably will be a swimming pool, rollerblading place and a theatre, so that less things will be vandalised. More people won’t be so bored and have nowhere to go. (I will probably be finished high school and college. I’ll be in a big house, have a good paying job in Nunavut.) Inuks will be a lot more independent. A lot more people in Nunavut will speak more Inuktituk. Less people with education will be on welfare. People with no education will get the leftovers of jobs. There will be a lot more inns and hotels in Resolute and other places." -Angela Idlout, grade 9

"All the hunting stuff like hunting seals, bears and other stuff will be more restricted and every year they will catch less polar bears." -Stevie Amagoalik, grade 8

"We think the school will be larger ten years from now. There will be two library rooms, and more classrooms. The school will be a two-storey building with a huge gym and a swimming pool, where we could take swimming lessons. There will be a green house for plants, an aquarium, and a small zoo. There will be a cafeteria so students can eat lunch at school. Some of us would miss our parents’ cooking at lunch. The recreation hall will be larger and warmer. There will be a movie theatre in town. There will be more houses and more roads. There may be paths for bicycles only. There will be a bigger store." -Grade 4/5/6 class