James Pokiak is proud to be Inuvialuit, which means "real people."
The Inuvialuit are the most westerly Canadian Inuit. He lives in the hamlet of Tuktoyuktuk, NWT, which is above the Arctic Circle on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The community is often just called Tuk to save time. Even though he lives in town now, James grew up on the land, learning the traditional values and survival skills of his people. In this book, the fifth in the The Land is Our Storybook series, James and his daughter, Rebecca, go on a trip to harvest beluga whale. Harvesting and preparing beluga meat together as a family is an integral part of what it means to be Inuvialuit. Join James and Rebecca and learn about how the beluga whale is interlinked with Inuvialuit culture and history.
Mindy Willett
lives in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. She is a teacher at heart although no longer in the classroom. She first came north to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut in 1987 and most recently taught in Kugluktuk, Nunavut from 1996 to 2000. Mindy stopped being a classroom teacher when she had her son Jack. To remain home as much as possible, she started her own home-based business, writing educational materials.
Tessa Macintosh
is an award-winning northern photographer who raised her family in Yellowknife. In 35 years she has been fortunate to photograph many wonderful northerners and fantastic places across the North. Tessa loves to float a canoe on Great Slave Lake as the full heat of the long summer sun builds. This is to prepare for the cracking solid -35-degree winter nights filled with dancing aurora.
"Proud to be Inuvialuit is a beautiful photo-essay about a traditional community of Beluga whale hunting Inuvialuit in Tuk, short for Tuktoyaktuk, on the Arctic coast of the Northwest Territories of Canada. In addition to details about a modern whale-hunting expedition, there are traditional stories and definitions of Inuvialuit words and other bits and pieces of traditional lore associated with Beluga whale hunting by this aboriginal people. Particularly interesting is the dual ability of the Inuvialuit to live bestriding two cultures and two time frames, traditional Inuvialuit and the dominant culture, and ancient times and modern days. Translating some of their stories and traditional ways can help explain how the Inuvialuit respect and conserve the Beluga whale population while they rely on it for good, tools, and a sense of real community connectedness with nature and the world. Proud to be Inuvialuit is a fine addition to any native American studies curriculum for elementary school students."
— THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
"Text, illustrations, and captions work together well to present the Inuvialuit way of life. . . An informative introduction to an Inuit community today."
— Booklist
"The text's conversational writing style is almost like having a personal tour of the area. Appended facts provide additional information. A map and excellent colour photographs help readers to see the community with its pingoes and ice roads, and to better understand the steps in the harvesting and processing of the whale. A blue floral border along the top of each page is a detail from a baby belt belonging to James's daughter, Rebecca. Worthy of purchase for the elementary school classroom or library, Proud to be Inuvialuit affords readers a rare glimpse of an Arctic community and its culture.
Recommended."
— CM Magazine
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