School in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., puts Inuit artifacts front and centre

A new display of Inuit artifacts atHelen Kalvak Elihakvik in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T, is exposing students to their history.

Adam Kudlak, a hunter in the community, has assembled a number of artifacts over the years and recently set them up in the front lobby of the school.

Kudlak says the projectwas motivated by a desire "toputour artifactsinto a more open area so more people have access to seeing them."

The items include parkas, drum-dance shoes and a miniature kayak made with caribou skin.

"Some of these artifacts, we don't know hold old they are if they were made in the 1900s or 1800s. Some of them could be a couple hundred years old," says Kudlak.

"Some of them were donated by people, some of them were made. But most of them came from the land."

Grade 7 student DorianKuptanagot a kick out of one particular item: a one-piece child'sparka with a hole in its back.

Goaded on by Kudlak,Kuptanaexplained: "For when the kids need to go to the bathroom."

Kudlak says he hopes to grow the exhibition over the coming years.