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HALU INUIT. KANUGITPIHI. UVAGUT NAMAINAKTURUT. NIGLALIKTUK NUNAKPUT ILAA. KANIKATAKPAKTUK ANUGAINAKHUNILU. INUIN HUMAGITUT. AUDLALUKAKPAKTUT TUKTUHIUKHUTIK KANILGUMI. MIKIYUT NUTAKAT ILIHAGIALIKPAKTUT UBLANUAMI ILUNGUNAKTUT. KAYAKTUKNAIKMIYUK HIKULIKMAT TAGYUK. INUGIAKHIKNIAKMIYUK EKALOKTOTIAK. KATIMANIAKMATA. NAGUYUMIK TINGMIYAVUT ILAA. ANIAGUT AKUGIHIVAKTUK ILAA. ILANUAVUT TAMAKATALIKTUT. TAPKUAT ILAIYAKHIMAYUT NAMAKLUHI. KUVIAHUGALUKPAKLUHI AYUKNAKMAT. PITIAKLUHI. MUNAGILUGIT ILANUATIT. IHUMALUKHIMAITUMIK. AKHUKPAKLUHI. MUNAGITIAKLUGIT. PULAKATAKLUGIT ILAIYAKHIMAYUT. INUGALINIAKTUGUT TAMAPTA HAMANI. NIGIAKPAKLUHI TEETUGIAKPAKLUHILU. KOANA INUIN IKAYUKPAKTUT EKALOKTOTIAMILU HUMILIKAK. HAMLATKKUT IKAYUKPIAKPAKTUT KUYAYUGUT AKHUTAK. TAPKUATLU AKHALUTIKAKTUT, IGAVAKTUTLU KOANA. ATUGIAKTUKPAKLUHI AVALIGNITUTIT. KAKUGU TAKUNIAKTAFFI. INGUTANUAGA HEIK ANIVIA OCTOBER 11MI TIKINMIYUK KILAMINUAK. PIHIKTUNAITUT ILAA INGUTANUAVUT. ILAA NAMAKLUHI. INUTIAKLUHI. PITIAKPAKLUGIT ILATIT. NAVALALOK TITIGAKTUK EKALOKTOTIAMIT.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with family and friends. And to be thankful for all we have, especially for our children and loved ones, even those who have left us to go to a better place. Be thankful that we had the chance of being with those loved ones.

Nowadays we celebrate Thanksgiving with turkeys and lots of good food and family gatherings, and a long weekend for those who work every weekday or on weekends. But you deserve that break cause that's what makes our community be together at times like this. Now we have to wait for Halloween! Yes it's time soon again for "trick or treat." I remember someone singing a song about Halloween, I think my sister-in-law Komik - "Trick or treat, trick or treat... give me something good to eat... not too big... not too small... just the size of community hall!

Weather is cooling off pretty quick here, some days we have warm weather when it rains and then it's muddy for couple of days, then it starts to snow and the mud freezes, so just look out your window before going out 'cause you never know what this crazy weather will be like up here. But that is home sweet home for us who were born and raised here. But we have never seen these types of weather changes before, so as long as you are safe and happy and have a home to be in, be thankful.

Plus those who don't have jobs or any sort of income, it is not all that bad, each day passes and something good will make you happy and each day gets better. At times when people are so bored, especially our younger generation who have left or quit school and have not much to do, try and keep busy, be positive and get a hobby of some sort. There is not much to do recreation-wise for those who don't do sports. Soon the arena will be open again, and probably hockey will start up. Today we have televisions but that's not good either, so ladies let's get some sewing classes started! I know I am interested, are you? Call me. In the old days kids would play out a lot until they became pre-teen age and go hunting with your fathers for the boys, and the girls would be with their mothers and grandmothers learning to sew and cook.

When I look at the old photographs of our relatives back in the '50s and '60s and '70s everyone wore only homemade parkas and kamiit and poaloks. I remember my dear mother Nogahak always use to sew new parka for us every year and kamiit and poaloks for us 10 kids! Every year at Christmas, Easter or if we were going back to Inuvik for school, we had new parkas then to wear to Inuvik. But that didn't last long cause all our homemade parkas were taken away from us and never seen again, I think they were thrown out back then. It was sad to get our beautiful homemade clothing taken away and thrown out because all that work our mothers and grandmothers did sewing each stitch by stitch was very hard work, and long hours too.

Today we treasure a lot of what was made for us and keep them for family or relatives or friends, handed down from generation to generation. Today I have a grandson who is just turning one year old and I am able to hand down his father's parka and kamiks, mitts, hats and some clothing, so always keep those special items for hand-me-downs. Today many of us don't know how to sew and we need to get that tradition back and learn from our elders who know the skills that they can hand down to us and so on and so on.

There is funding available to all kinds of projects, etc. for us, we just need to get together to hold these type of teachings so that they don't disappear. Today the store-bought coats are used to pack babies in are warm but not our tradition. That is what we need is to show our young mothers how to make AMAUTIKHAK for our babies, especially when they are not walking yet up to two years old we pack our babies. I think maybe we can start with small sewing items such as mitts, hats, purses, duffles and once we get the knowledge of stitching, we can then begin to make bigger projects like parkas, kamiks, etc. Unless you are so energetic and excited we can start right away to make parkas and kamiks.

Take pride in your culture and traditions, 'cause it's such beautiful one, Inuit are so beautiful and we have such a beautiful homeland. Don't ever be shy of your culture or don't ever be shy to speak your own language. I couldn't speak Inuinnaqtun when I came home from hospital and residential school. I really wanted to learn our language, so I tried and tried and staying with elders, and your parents listening to it everyday made it easier. I hope that someday all our children and families in the communities will be able to speak their own Inuit language. I know children and youth who still have their parents and grandparents who speak to them in Innuinaqtun really do understand and do speak a little bit are so lucky to have that skill. Let's get together and do learn to sew, speak Innuinaqtun and get our youth to build aliatnik, tools, etc. and to go out on the land more often. We are beautiful people and enjoy life like our ancestors, parents and grandparents and forefathers wanted us to. So here is our first word for a lesson - KANURITPIN - which means "how are you" in Innuinaqtun.

Remember ladies, let's get together and start getting ready for Christmas, plus the Christmas bazaar has now been scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Phone me if you are interested in sewing. We can produce beautiful gifts for each other, we can help each other also if we are just learning. Lots of patterns out there we can help each other with. Just bring yourself and your energy and ideas. Take care.

I wish to bring special greetings to all the families who have lost loved ones over the past few months. Our prayers are with you all. Take good care of each other, always be good to one another cause you never know when our day will come that we leave this earth. Be careful. Live a good life, be happy and stay strong for one another also. Take care and God bless.