The University of Regina has used video material featuring aboriginal people as a base for constructing teaching resources and we invite teachers to use these resources. We also encourage teachers to use this video material to construct their own lessons.
An introduction to the DIAMA/IsumaTV and the Inuit Culture Education was made to the principal and teachers of Ataguttaaluk
Elementary School and High School in Igloolik. Two classes at the Elementary school and two classes of the High School had the chance to use the Inuit
Culture Education website.
Kelly Quewezance is a member of the Keeseekoose First Nation
in Saskatchewan. He has a degree in Social Work from the University of Regina.
In the video clips he describes his role in distributing Treaty Annuity
Payments as the North Band Governance officer of Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada (INAC).
On a rainy evening in August 2009 Tim Haywahe from Carry the
Kettle First Nation in southern Saskatchewan led a group of Little Sisters
through a tipi raising on the grounds of the First Nations University of
Canada. During this process he talked to the girls about his traditional Nakota
way of raising the tipi.
In the film, this qamutik (sled) belongs to Atanarjuat. It is made of
caribou antlers and bone carefully laced together with sinew cord. Water is
drizzled on the runners until it freezes, then made slick with a scrap of fur
so that travel over the ice and tundra is swift and smooth.
Iggak (caribou goggles) are carved from the antlers of the animal. They were
worn to protect the eyes from the harsh glare of sunlight reflected on the ice
and snow in the Arctic.
The filmmakers assembled a group of talented local artisans to re-create the
props used in Atanarjuat.
They were led by head prop-maker and artistic director James Ungalaaq, an
internationally renowned Inuit sculptor from Igloolik whose work is in numerous
museum collections of Inuit art worldwide
Made of warm wolf fur, this parka was worn by Atanarjuat on his return to
Igloolik after a long period of exile and soul-searching at the camp of
Qulitalik.
This parka is worn by the original camp leader and shaman Kumaglak. His
murder in the presence of the Evil Shaman, Tungajuaq, sparks the bloody feud
between Atanarjuat and Oki's families. The raven feathers sewn on the skin of
the parka indicate that the man wearing it is a shaman.
This winter nasaq (hood) was worn by Oki in the film. Made of wolf fur, the
hood has long tentacle-like strips encircling the neck, the effect of which is
to make Oki look fiercer and meaner.
This unusual parka is made of King Eider duck skin and covered in feathers.
It was worn by Atanarjuat's arch-rival, Oki, during the attack on Atanarjuat's
camp and subsequent chase across the sea ice. The parka floats in water!
The amauti (woman's parka) has a deep hood at the back in which babies and
children are placed. In the film, this beautiful amauti was a gift to Atuat,
Atanarjuat's first wife, during their emotional reunion after his return to
Igloolik following a period of exile and recovery at the camp of the shaman
Qulitalik.… Read more
Under the dual direction of head seamstress and Igloolik elder, Atuat
Akkitirq (nominated for a Genie Award in Achievement in Costume Design), and a
group of highly-skilled local seamstresses created the magnificient clothing
worn by the characters in the film.
