World class (e-mail interview with a class of students in) Nunavut.

In World Class we usually hold an e-mail interview with a class of students in another country. This issue, however, we interviewed a class of Canadian kids in Nunavut.

Nunavut used to be part of the Northwest Territories but in April 1999 Nunavut was declared its own territory.

Maani Ulujuk School is in Rankin Inlet, a town of only 2,500 people.

You can write to these kids at:

Maani Ulujuk School

Beverly Hill's Class

Bag 002

Rankin Inlet

Nunavut XOC OGO 

Q What does the name of your school mean?

A It is named after Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik. She was the oldest person at the time the school was built. She was a respected elder.

Q Is everyone in Rankin Inlet an Inuit person?

A No, there are also English people.

Q What does the word "Nunavut" mean?

A It means "Our Land". Nunavut is an Inuktitut word.

Q What are your official languages?

A We have three official languages-Inuktitut, English and French. We do not have to learn French. Up here, we have an average of more people speaking Inuktitut.

Q What does Nunavut mean to you?

A It was created for the Inuit people. It is our land and nobody can take it away. Inuit people can now govern themselves and take care of themselves. It gives us good education and celebrations. It is where people live and no-one will ever change the name Nunavut. It means peace to everyone that lives in Nunavut.

Q How do Inuit families name their children?

A Most Inuktitut names are chosen after someone who died so they can be remembered.

Q What does your backyard look like?

A We have a lot of tundra grass, rocks and moss. Our backyards don't have any down south grass or trees.

Q What is the difference between Nunavut food and other Canadian food?

A Sometimes we go out to hunt for it, and down south you have to buy it. We eat caribou, fish, seal, walrus and rabbit. Most of the kids like these foods.

Q Where do you go for special trips?

A We like to go out on the land to go hunting and fishing. We also like to go down south.

Q Does everyone learn to make igloos?

A There are some kids in the class that learn how to build igloos. Some igloos are built behind the arena. If families are hunting or if they go out on the land, they use igloos when the weather gets stormy.

Q What do you do after school?

A We babysit, go to Red Top (our only corner store), do homework, or go to a friend's house. We play outside. During the fall and winter we can go skating at our arena. On the weekend we like to have a sleepover party and play out with friends.

Q Where do you get your clothes?

A We get some of our clothes from animals. Five kids in the class have caribou clothing, and twelve have seal clothing. We also buy clothes at our Northern Store and Co-op. Some people do mail-order. Some people go down south and buy clothes too.

Q How do you get around in winter?

A People get around by Ski-Doo, truck, boat, aeroplane, helicopter, dog team, Honda and walking.

Q What differences are there between you and kids in the rest of Canada?

A Nunavut kids will put English and Inuktitut into one sentence, while down south kids will usually speak English. Kids in Nunavut can go all over town, while kids in Canada usually cannot go into the city alone.

Q Do you see a lot of polar bears?

A Here in Rankin Inlet, we don't see polar bears close to town, but we can see them out on the land. We hunt them for fur and meat. Fourteen students in the class like to eat the meat, eleven don't!

Q What else should we know about you?

A We have a strong culture as Inuit. We can live and survive on the land. Inuit people are one of the few people in the world that can be completely on their own on the land.