| Friendsh Fram pate 3 have never seen anvthing like Vancouver betore. “Its really cool” said 17- year-old Marina Pischuk. “It's my first ime here.” Said Mishae! Gordon, 17, “It's weird. because you're always surrounded by some- thing.” Gordon said she felt Yelosed ing but net in a bad way. It’s just different.” The West Van stuaents tapped family, friends and North Shore businesses to help finance the evening's buffet. The money raised will also help defer the fees for a planned camp-out, Other planned activities include a hike up Black Tusk, a picnic and a trip to Plaviand. But the real purpose behind the Invit teens’ visit isn’t all fin and games, said Jacintha Howard. “(It's) to Jet them know that Rankin isn’t the only place for then to live in,” she said. “I want them to see the outside world so that they can open up and, hopefully, they'll go fur- ther than where they are.” The program coordinator for the Rankin Inlet Drop-In Centre, Howard sees only pos- itives in exposing the youths to “southern culture.” “A lot of them actually did- n’t want to come to the south, because it’s just too big, too much rushing and too many temptations. So I’m hoping they hear from the B.C. kids that you can stay away from temptation,” she said. The federal government’s youth exchange program pro- vided airfare for both tips. “I wrote an application to the YMCA (Visions Youth Exchange),” explained — the baldheaded Chisholm, whose Inuit nickname is Qautuug (Big Forehead). “For us to do this without (help) ... would have cost about $2,000 per person, round trip.” Chisholm first hit upon the idea of a cultural exchange through a friend living in Nunavut. He, and fellow youth worker Wanda Phillips, accom- panied the West Van teens to Rankin Inlet, with a population of about 2,500, fora glimpse at how the Inuit live. They camped for three days on the Reverse Osmosis STERILIZED sanitizing service, REFILL RATES: 5 gal. 33 3 gal. $2 AND BELOW... © Water coolers ¢ Botdes/Dispensers * Shower fitters * Filtration Systems * Filter Cartridges * And more...! | Tet: 983-2010 | | oWATERLAND] E §=1266 Marine Dr. (Pemberton Plaza) North Voncouver § — se We specialize in custom designed jewelry. 2435 Marine Dtive - West Vancouver (BACK LANE) eee 992-3014 ie ty ins tundra, constructed their own outhouse and helped the foals track down canbou. According to) Chisholr, Nunavut abounds with wildlite. which can be a title hairs. “We never saw a bear, but a polar bear had been in town the week before.” he said. “They're nor like our bears, thev’re a jot moore aggressive and they're bigger. So vou real- ly gotta: watch what you're doing. (Also) the bugs were pretty bad, but we were told they weren't as bad as they could have been. Especially because we Were on the CONST . inland thevy"re even worse.” Chisholm said the biggest difference between the two communities may have been the pace. “I's soo much slower,” he said. “I think there's one four- way stop in all of Rankin Inlet and that’s it.” For the rest of the trip, they billeted with Rankin Inlet fam- ilies and Jearned about Jife in an Inuit community and sampled local cuisine. “The raw caribou wasn’t my favorite,” Chisholm said, (bur) the raw Arctic char was like really good sushi meat.” Situated some 200 miles north of the tree line, north- west of Hudson Bay, Rankin Inlet forms a rugged landscape of moss, rock and rolling hills. “It’s a totally different real- ity. You can’t compare it,” vol- unteered 14-year-old Julian Levy. “It’s like a different plan- et.” Levy, who enjoyed “hang- ing out” with the locals last summer, is planning to return to Nunavut with some of his friends next year. Others have expressed similar desires. In fact, according to Chisholm, the West Van kids had a hard time leaving the northern town and their new ; Indide Skyline Sports) f° PEBAIGSTs 2 FACTORY FUTON Entrance in rear lane Hon.- Sat. 1l-Gpm Senday 12-5 pm trends. “When owe were in Winnipeg they were saving, “Can we jump the plane and tly hack 19 Rankin??7 “Is a small community” explained Gordon, “Hts all familiar (so) you feel more part of the community.” The well-travelled teen believes that the city kids could learn trom the Inuit to be more open to people, more consider: ate. “They know everybody, it’s SO awesom: did 14-year-old Lina Miller. “It’s so easy to make friends there. Everybody's friendly.” While all the: Inuit teens seemed well versed in English, the West Van vouths have developed only a modicum of Innuktitut, the official lan- guage of the Inuit. In Nunavut, families are given the option of speaking English or Innuktitut for the first five vears. Yet most Inuit are functionally bilingual. According to team leader Noah Tiktak, the Inuit youths engage in an English- Innuktitut hybrid or slang, that the elders disparagingly refer to as “Kuraktut” or baby-talk. For Tiktak, self-identity through the protection of the language isn’t just a question of surviving as in-tividuals, having himself’ lost a sister to suicide, but also surviving as a culture in the face of increasing, outside pressures. Yet he is optimistic that the ancient culture will endure and remain a strong and indepen- dent presence in Canada’s far north. Meanwhile, one 14-vear- old West Vancouver girl (who asked not to identified) demonstrated her dexterity with an Inuktitut phrase, which, loosely translated, reads: “Good morning ground squir- rel, what's up? Are you horny?” w Ooo 267 €. Ist. W¥an 304-4504 Pw ee re ee eee n= 4 99 The Great Canadian ij @IL_ CHANGE oF Since 1978 LTO. $42 OFF petro Canada 10W30 Plus lanes and envita tees ° With this coupon + For most vehicles OREN MON: SAT. 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